This. I have a boxee (with a dying wireless card) and i really dislike using my wdtv live (current gen) since i can't login, I would use my appletv more and airstream but it flakes out every once in a while and drops the end of eps. Super excited for the ps3 app.

Kinda sad news, but ps blog posted the news of crunchyroll and another anime subscription service as coming in fall. The ps blog commented that the summer release for crunchyroll was a discrepancy.

Technically, CR has until September 21 to get the PS3 app and still be true to what they originally said. While I expect releasing it that late would disappoint those that expected to watch at least some of the summer simulcasts on their PS3, it would still have it up and running enough in advance of the fall simulcasts that any undiscovered bugs would become known.

I expect that other anime subscription service is Viz's Neon Alley, since it is the only other one announced. If that is the case, however, I have to wonder if the PS blog isn't redefining fall, since it has been confirmed that Neon Alley will launch in September. A lot of people tend to think of summer as June-August (and fall as September-November), despite that not being correct.

Just posted the same thing in the PS Blog on this...

I swear it is all how you see Summer or Fall and where you live of when Summer ends and Fall begins. AS for me summer ends with the summer lineup and begins with fall lineup.

Viz confirmed Neon Alley will be on the PS3:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-07-14/viz-neon-alley-to-run-on-playstation-3-console

They are being rather stingy on the free trial; only one week, vs. the one month CR has said they will initially offer (and vs. the usual two weeks CR offers).

IGN preview of the PS3 app
http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/07/27/watch-all-the-anime-you-want-with-crunchyroll-on-ps3



I was anticipating the app until I read this. That comment about 480p being standard is completely false for anime produced in the past few years. I'm not subscribing until 720p is available.

The majority of frame animations are still done at low resolutions like 480p or 540p and then upscaled by the Japanese anime studios before being sent out to all of the content providers. Even big money making shows like Naruto, Bleach, and Fairy Tale are animated at a lower resolution and then upscaled.


I have a 55" 1080p TV and when it comes to CR, I only notice a difference between the 480p stream and the 720p when I sit 7 feet or closer to the TV. At 55", 7 feet is pretty damn close so I sit around 12 feet away and can not tell the difference between 480p or 720p streams on CR. (The 1080p streams are a joke IMO).


But then again, my glasses are 3 years old and my new prescription is quit a bit stronger (I'm blinder than a bat) so I may see a difference once I get my new pair of glasses from Costco.

Well, you will notice less of a difference from a distance, but i like watching things close..so i can go blind =P.

I have a 37inch HDTV --1080p(biggest waste of money ever back in 2007 lol), that I sit 6-7 feet away from my tv. because of the way my room is setup. I noticed the difference is significant at this range, but this was when I was using huluplus (accel world 480p/720p) at the ps3s native resolution...maybe its the huluplus streams..dunno.

Not only the stream, but sometimes the show can make a difference.

Even when comparing a dvd to a blu-ray, for some anime it is very hard to distinguish between the two because of the PS3s great upscaling ability for DVDs. Animated films are also a lot easier to upscale than live action films.

However, I have compared some DVDs to Blu-Rays where you could tell the difference from a mile away like as if my PS3 had no idea how to properly scale the video. I'm not really sure what makes such a big difference. My best guess it how good the quality of the transfer was to the disc. (One section that you will see on many blu-ray review is about the quality of the content transfer)


However, for a service that costs as little as less than $5 a month to be able to have another device to watch CR from at no extra charge (Add that on to almost a dozen other devices by now), I think that the 480p quality is great. Eventually CR will introduce the 720p and 1080p streams, but my best guess right now is they are only offering 480p at first so that they can judge how many extra servers they need to purchase to support the PS3 customers.

You have to keep in mind that CR is opening up an entirely new platform for their service that will bring in a lot more viewers that will require a lot more server bandwidth which costs money. I am actually surprised that CR is not charging an extra fee for streaming to PS3/Mobile devices like Hulu does.

If only CR had the amount of money that Netflix has.


I'm tired of trying to mess with the flash player through the PS3 browser or having to hook up my laptop to my TV via HDMI, so I welcome the PS3 CR app even if it only offers 480p at first.

Frankly, I consider my 37 inch HDTV (sadly only 720p) I purchased in 2006 to be some of the best money I ever spent. When I compare it in terms of money spent vs. hours of use, it is an absolute bargain compared to something like my old car.

That said, I've had an ambition for quite some time to replace it with a 55" 1080p unit. Sadly, my income has been lacking the past couple of years, beginning when my employer for the previous 2.5 years started getting behind on my pay in August 2010, leading to me leaving them in mid-2011 by which time they were 11 weeks in arrears. Between that, the unemployment I collected for about 4 months, and what little I made on my next job (which only lasted until late April of this year), my total gross income for last year was a mere $8049.

Thankfully, my living expenses are quite low. I made it on that amount last year with no problem, and no additional funds (i.e., food stamps, etc.), except for my tax refunds from 2010 (about $500 total), and even managed to save some of the money I've lived on since late April. Given that, with any decent full time job, I could save for a new HDTV in no time.

Back on topic, I sit about 6 feet from my PC, and despite noticing that 720p video is sharper, at least when dealing with video from my PC, 480p and even 360p video doesn't look bad. It, however, does a very good job of upscaling. There is also the fact that the displayed video is actually 1360x768, which no doubt softens the 720p video somewhat. On the HDMI input for my Roku, I have the input set to "1:1 mode", so I get true 720p video with a small black frame, so the differences between true 720p and 480p upscaled are more noticeable.




Regarding the PS3 upscaler, I understood it was supposed to be good, but this PS3 owner's reply to me had a decidedly different opinion on it.

In this case, the PS3 would be upscaling streamed content rather than a DVD, but I assume it uses the same circuitry and/or algorithm.



I can understand the burden of rolling out a new platform, but CR's record of following up with HD support for devices has basically been non-existent. In another topic, In another topic in this section, I just pointed to a message where it was indicated higher res video would be out for Google TV devices, but that has apparently not happened. When someone inquired about HD support for the Roku soon after it was added, we were given the expectation it would be only a matter of months, and that didn't happen. It always seem to be "coming later", and the most recent proclamation was "hopefully within the next year". Despite sales of more than 17 million Retina display iPads, no iOS app capable of greater than 480p, either. (Roku, Google TV, and even 720p-capable Android tablets are a small market compared to that).



Hulu seems to be the only service that pulls the extra charge for streaming to other devices. Netflix, by contrast, makes not distinction. Not only the same cost, but also if you can stream it on a PC, you can stream it on a device.

A better comparison would be Funimation or TAN. Speaking of which, Funimation recently released their new tablet app (both iOS and Android) that does give HD video to Elite (paid) subscribers. I know Funimation is a larger company, but CR's only business is streaming, and they have more experience at it.



Before CR even added Roku support, I decided I needed a solution for playing streaming video on my HDTV, not only from CR, but any website, so I built a PC for the task, complete with wireless keyboard and mouse (although I could also have used a wireless keyboard with a built in pointing device such as a track pad or trackball). Even with the advent of the Roku, it has proven to be very worthwhile, as I can watch standard Hulu on my TV, CR in 720p, and until Funimation launches their Roku app next month (which will also have HD), 720p videos from their site, and for the two seasons they simulcast in 720p, anime from NicoNico.com.

Frankly, if one is truly serious about their streaming video, a PC can't be beat. It is pricier than any device, however, at about $300-$400 minimum.


Update:

Apparently the PS3 app is available via the PSN Store now, at least if you search for it:
http://www.crunchyroll.com/forumtopic-767274/cr-to-launch-streaming-app-on-the-ps3?fpid=40783565

The app is online but unfortunately, it locks the system up. I tried to run one of the series' and it froze. I hope there's a fix in the works cause right now it doesn't work very well. I'll try another series, but I'm not sure it'll work.

I don't know if it's just not friendly to HDMI or what but it sure didn't like it when I tried to play something. ~_~ Any ideas?

It appears to be working for some of the other people that have tried it (see the responses in the Site New thread I linked to).

All I can suggest at the moment is removing and re-downloading the app. Some of your fellow PS3 owners in that thread may have a better suggestion.

I tried using the app today and it freezes occasionally. It also loses sync between the audio and video. Tried watching a few episodes of Naruto but eventually gave up. Video kept lagging while audio played fine. Losing sync sucks.

So far it has been working great for me.

This release was a nice surprise. I've been out all day shopping for new glasses and going to the doctor's office for tests and I had a "F*** yeah!" moment when I read the PSN blog's store update.

The video quality is really good for only being 480p.

I wonder if CR is able to just stream the iPad/iPhone videos since the PS3 and iOS devices both natively support the same video formats. Would be a great way to save on space if CR is doing this.

EDIT: And of course shortly after posting this the video I was watching started to started every now and then. It seems like a buffering issue. The audio will continue, but the video will freeze for a second or two, then speed back up to match the audio.

A couple times the video actually sped up and the audio needed to catch up.


And as I am typing this the video quality goes to crap which makes me think this is really a buffering issue. CRs servers must be having a hard time with the increased traffic.

Yeah, it stuttered when I was watching Bombshells from the Sky/Cat Girl Cuties too. I was lucky to get through the episode with as few difficulties as I did. Lucky I guess. ~_^