CBS’ TV.com says it’s streaming high-definition video in 1080p resolution. The evidence, which looks quite good, can be found on the page Beta: True High Definition Video.
So far, the TV.com page only has a couple of clips — from “CSI,” “Survivor,” “The Pink Panther” and Letterman. But the text promises, “This is Blu-Ray DVD quality, right here on TV.com — and there’s about to be a whole lot more of it.”
Of course, most people still don’t have the capability of displaying true 1080p video on their computer monitors. If you have a good CRT monitor, you’re good. Owners of Sony “Full HD” laptops (such as the VAIO) seem to be getting the true 1080p experience. Some widescreen LCDs will deliver the full monty as well. (Check the manual.) I don’t know if computer-to-HD TV schemes work, but an HDMi chord would have to be in the loop. (Anyone?)
At any rate, the 1080p offerings on TV.com seemed a clear step up from the site’s regular HD offerings. (At least the clips didn’t have the ads.) The images were clean, with the sharpness way high, flirting with jagged. There was a satisfying 3D pop to everything.
I experienced some odd and annoying stuttering as the clips played, especially when the live-action survivors were running around. In the Letterman clip, with U2 butts-down for an interview, there was almost no stuttering.
Silicon Valley Insider had worse luck with the halting images: “Their HD videos looked more like HD slideshows.”
The vintage “Pink Panther” toon looked OK, but you wonder why they didn’t include a contemporary bit of animation for show-and-tell.
Check it out for yourself: This seems about as good as it gets in online video.
TV.com recently lost content from NBC and Fox as Hulu halted feeds to the CBS site, which seeks to display shows from all networks.
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