How many GB is an ATV2 movie download?

SD movies will average maybe 1-1.5GB.

HD around 3-4 GB.

As far as I know rentals are virtually the same size as purchasable movies/shows in itUnes so figures there might also guide you.

The only thing I would add is that AppleTV2 works best with a fast connection as if you've done something after a movie starts to download like watching local itunes content/playing music, the download can get flushed from the device and needs to start from scratch. It doesn't warn you so you can end up using more bandwidth to watch something than you think unless you start to watch straight after renting.

AC

For what it is worth, I have kept a log of my Netflix viewing on my Apple TV2 just out of curiosity. I recently started using Netflix and Apple TV and wanted some idea of how much bandwidth was being used.

I have watched a cumulative total of 24 hours of Netflix viewing so far and have used a total of 19.9 Gb of bandwidth. This is a mixture of standard definition (30%) and HD (70%) viewing. I am averaging fairly consistently around 0.83 Gb per hour of viewing. All this is exclusive of my normal average non-Netflix bandwidth usage.

Useful info.

I don't have Netflix being in UK so can't say for sure, but I was under the impression Netflix video may adapt quality wise (and hence stream size) depending on the available bandwidth for the connection, so between users with quite different speeds there may be a significant difference in total data quotas used up to watch the same content. Any idea what kind of sustained transfer rates you can get on your internet connection (i.e. actual not advertised).

AC

My Internet service is "up to 7.5 Mbps download speed" and the ISP's speed test usually shows at least 7.0 Mbps. Just now it reported 9.39 and 9.28 Mbps in two successive tests, possible due to the included Powerboost feature (" a five- to 20-second burst of download speed when you need it.") I am quite happy with my Internet service and it seems to deliver as advertised.

I believe that it is correct that Netfix's adaptive stream quality is beneficial for delivering an uninterrupted stream and therefore may result in reduced bandwidth usage.

I get very few pauses while viewing Netflix content. I believe my network constraint is my older 802.11g wireless router. I should like to try an ethernet connection and plan on doing so when the 75' cable I have on order arrives.

Here's an update on my Netflix Internet bandwidth usage streaming to Apple TV2 over wireless "g" network and over ethernet.

On the wireless network for just over 27 hours of viewing the bandwidth usage was 21.73 Gb for an average of *_0.8 Gb per hour_* of Netflix viewing. About 70% of the programming was High Definition.

A week ago I switched my Apple TV2 to an ethernet connection. Since then for 10-1/3 hours of viewing the bandwidth usage is 12.4 Gb for an average of *_1.2 Gb per hour_* of Netflix viewing. About 85% of this programming was High Definition.

So, disregarding the difference in the proportion of HD versus SD viewing, the bandwidth usage using an ethernet connection is 50% higher than with a wireless "g" connection. However, with the ethernet connection I have experienced noticeably faster response and media loading times and absolutely zero pauses or drop outs. Also, subjectively speaking, the video quality is noticeably better.

For what it is worth, this is my experience.

Interesting - suggests your wireless connection is rate limiting for your broadband usage compared to ethernet.

suggests your wireless connection is rate limiting for your broadband usage compared to ethernet... I was under the impression Netflix video may adapt quality wise (and hence stream size) depending on the available bandwidth for the connection, so between users with quite different speeds there may be a significant difference in total data quotas used up to watch the same content

Stated stats sound correct to me. Intermittent or unreliable WiFi handshaking forces NetFlix to step down the streaming of data automatically. This decrease in transmission rate (i.e., less data per unit of time) is designed to increase transmission reliability by increasing effective buffer for latency (i.e., increase effective buffer time per unit of data). This lowered data rate translates to less bandwidth used. Since the ethernet connect is more reliable, it does not force any lowering of the data rate and thus retains greater quality at the expense of greater bandwidth usage.

Jon Walker wrote:

suggests your wireless connection is rate limiting for your broadband usage compared to ethernet... I was under the impression Netflix video may adapt quality wise (and hence stream size) depending on the available bandwidth for the connection, so between users with quite different speeds there may be a significant difference in total data quotas used up to watch the same content

Stated stats sound correct to me. Intermittent or unreliable WiFi handshaking forces NetFlix to step down the streaming of data automatically. This decrease in transmission rate (i.e., less data per unit of time) is designed to increase transmission reliability by increasing effective buffer for latency (i.e., increase effective buffer time per unit of data). This lowered data rate translates to less bandwidth used. Since the ethernet connect is more reliable, it does not force any lowering of the data rate and thus retains greater quality at the expense of greater bandwidth usage.

So in essence it's working as we expected - and seems to do so effectively. Presumably if the wi-fi was as reliable as the wired connection then the internet connection itself would be the rate limiting step if it was lower than maximum supported Netflix speed.

Out of interest I see you still have the Sony HC-3 listed - still using it? I had to have mine repaired last year as I could not eject a tape. I'm tempted to get a good quality compact memory stick camcorder, for the times I don't want to lug all the main camera/camcorder gear around - question is, is there such a thing!?

Also, nearly bought a Nikon 990 myself all those years ago, but in the end went for a Canon G1, but the Nikon design with the twisting body was great.

AC

Out of interest I see you still have the Sony HC-3 listed - still using it?

Yes.

I'm tempted to get a good quality compact memory stick camcorder, for the times I don't want to lug all the main camera/camcorder gear around - question is, is there such a thing!?

If you can live with the technology, then there are probably several camcorders available the might satisfy your needs. For the time being, I am sticking with camcorders whose medium of storage double as the means of archival storage of source data. I love the AVCHD compressed quality but still feel it to be less than friendly for my editing purposes.

Jon Walker wrote:

Out of interest I see you still have the Sony HC-3 listed - still using it?

Yes.

Same here, but surprised me how much I now use my Canon DSLR for short clips - ergonomically for video it's pretty useless, but low light performance and overall quality is great.

I'm tempted to get a good quality compact memory stick camcorder, for the times I don't want to lug all the main camera/camcorder gear around - question is, is there such a thing!?

For the time being, I am sticking with camcorders whose medium of storage double as the means of archival storage of source data. I love the AVCHD compressed quality but still feel it to be less than friendly for my editing purposes.

I'm pretty hopeless at both importing video from the Sony and at editing it. Had a bit of a scare when tape stuck last year as without the repair facility I had quite a few tapes I'd recorded but not yet imported that I might have found trouble importing. This particular problem also poured water on my notion of keeping the tapes for source archive purposes long term - apart form their high-end cameras Sony UK had no consumer/prosumer level HDV cameras in production, there were a few Canon models but thin on then ground and expensive.

My lack of editing patience/prowess might actually be of benefit with some of the solid state camcorders as I often just convert video with minimal editing, if any.

AC

I had been experiencing bandwidth usage for Netflix media streamed via ethernet at a rate of 1.20 Gb per hour. Since the Apple TV firmware update to version 4.2 my bandwidth usage has jumped by 38% to 1.66 Gb per hour.

I must say that media streaming has been very stable and picture quality very good since the firmware upgrade -- as good or better than before. I am surprised, however, by the increased bandwidth usage.

Does anyone know of anything in the firmware update that would have made such an "improvement" in Netflix streaming? Does anyone have any stats on bandwidth usage for sources other than Netflix, say iTunes movie rentals for example?