Netflix to provide downloading directly to TV

From driving to the store to downloading on the computer, renting movies has changed a lot in a short time. Now Netflix is taking it one step further by bringing the big screen straight to the small screen.\nNetflix is an online movie rental service that provides about 7 million subscribers with access to more than 90,000 DVD titles through the mail or PC. Many students on- and off-campus are already Netflix users for various reasons.\n“It’s great for new and old movies as well as TV shows,” 2007 graduate Michael Gart said. “And it’s cheap.”\nThe company will be collaborating with several electronics companies, starting with LG Electronics based in South Korea, to develop set-top boxes that will allow online rentals to be sent directly to the home TV. Subscribers will be able to rent the movies online as usual, but later this year, the choices will be sent through the Internet hook-up to the television, allowing programs to be viewed without a DVD. This will be a new option, and the others, including streaming movies on the PC and mailing DVDs, will still be available, according to the Netflix Web site.\nIU Netflix users are mainly excited about the alternative, but there are concerns.\n“I think the new adaptation is very interesting, but I would be skeptical about the quality of the picture if it was coming in through the Internet directly to my TV,” sophomore Danny Blumeyer said. “If the picture quality is as good or better than DVD, I would be on board, definitely.”\nOthers predict this is the beginning of a completely new direction for the movie rental trade.\n“The market and industry are heading this way, and Netflix is in front of it all,” 2006 graduate Kyle Vail said. “This is a great idea that will put Netflix in a position similar to Google and Apple today.”