i suppose the reason i am more upset than i realy should be, is why sony didnt know this wasnt going to work before netflix was released.as it looks like they were in comunication for quite a while before the release of netflix  so surely when it didnt work back then and the date in your link is 25 may 2010 , so should sony not have made their 2011 devices playready compatible knowing this was going to happen, this more than anything shows sony's lack of concern for what the customer would want in the future. could you explain why this was not considered, also according to your link they were allready using playready way back then so why was it such a surprise when they went with it?

I just wonder why we weren't told this from the start as Netflix has been live in the UK for a while so Sony must have known about the system they were using for DRM?

It would have been nice to have been told this from the start instead of it should hopefully appear soon.

I wonder if it really is impossible or Sony just want us to upgrade every year by buying a bluray player if not a new TV?  We'll see if the 2012 hardware is really different from the 2011 or if they used the same internals again.

So is that it then ? Discussion over, Sony don't give a toss about cutomers once money has changed hands and Netflix trying to be overly clever with new DRM policies that are locking out potential new customers just as they are trying to establish themselves outside The States , very clever indeed , well if they think that I am going to scream on a gadget with a tiny screen while I have lots of expensive AV equipment lying idle in a very comfortable sitting room they are seriously deluded . So back to Blurays/DVD's for me in all their glory (they are also getting cheaper by the day ) and both Sony and Netflix can take a hike .

Then again if I want to do some streaming on my 3  "internet enabled " Sony Bluray players I suppose I can thank them for at least enabling my " imagine the internet on your tv" Bluray player with Lovefilm to catch a few movies............Oh then again I live in Ireland so Billabong Golf for me

Roll on Apple TV

I have a 2011 Bravia SmartTV.

I've been waiting for ages for Netflix - since it was launched in the UK.

I've been using UK Netflix on my laptop connected to my TV via HDMI. SD content was ok.

I bought a year's subscription to unblock.us so I could access the US content and HD on Netflix. Still couldnt get the Netflix app to work on the Bravia, and HD via a laptop was really choppy - not very good.

I now have a US Netflix acount at $7.99/month and it works brilliantly. Loads of great HD content. As soon as I activated my US account it worked immediately on the Bravia. No stuttering at all, load times almost instant, Great picture quality.

Its probably costing me about £10/month all together but it's working very well and unless I get sick of the content I'm going to keep it.

You also get other services that work well with unblock.us DNS and Bravia. Better than the stock streaming apps. I have lost BBC iPlayer - but I have a V+ box too so can access that content easily.

I have read the reasons why the app can't be bakported for the UK DRM requirements, but it works very well for US content - is the DRM issue that different for the UK? The Bravia hardware can definitely cope with Netflix streaming.

A useful addition would be access to Closed Captions/Subtitles. That's the only missing thing for me.

Hi Catmambo,

thanks for being open & honest throughout this discussion, trying to answer the key questions from many disappointed Sony / Netflix UK customers.   Now the discussion has died down, I hope you will be able to respond on the following open points which I asked previously:

- Please can you share the link to this discussion with Netflix UK.  I would love to see their response.  Maybe they would consider an alternative solution if they saw the number of disappointed customers.

- Please update us on the launch timings & backward compatibility for ITV Player, 4oD & Sky's Now TV.

Many thanks.

Well, found it at last - this forum - with information about Netflix.

Not what I wanted to hear, really, having bought a 2011 Sony bluray player a few months ago.

An Alternative Future Scenario:

--------------------------------------------

Sony and Netflix worry more about commercial issues rather than getting satisfaction from complex technological advance.

I link up my bluray player to Netflix.

I become a long-term customer of Netflix.

I continue to be loyal to Sony for new hardware.

The Actual Future Scenario:

-----------------------------------------

Sony and Netflix are proud of their new technology and incorrectly assume everyone will upgrade immediately.

I cannot link up to Netflix, so I stay with Lovefilm discs in the post and some Lovefilm streaming.

Netflix do not get my custom for possibly many years (well done Netflix).

When I eventually buy a new player, it won't be Sony (well done Sony).

---

For Sony it's the last straw. I was there when Sony trashed their D-800 freeview tuner with one final OTA firmware update. This was the BEST tuner you could buy to enable a TV to receive Freeview when it all started. But this last update disabled the one week program Guide from updating - it only updated by powering down the unit, and then of course a week later the Guide would be empty again. Despite about a thousand furious customers on the forums, Sony did nothing about it. Funny thing, at the time, Sony was the only piece of kit I trusted to leave on automatic OTA update. Everything else was on manual only, so I could check out how other people were affected first.

So, I am already not confident that Sony care that much about their customers once they have had the money.

But the cake goes to Netflix for blind fiscal stupidity. They have effectively pressed the reset button and will not get any (TV sofa-watching) Sony custom until their 2012 hardware starts coming out. The existing HUGE base of Sony equipment will lay silent. I can imagine the inside of Netflix Towers - full of technical bods without a single accountant in sight (who would have a fit at the loss of opportunity).

Rant, rave...

I’m gutted I just bought a new Sony KDL-40NX723 and the person in the shop that worked for Sony made me believe it supported Netflix, had I known it didn't I would have bought the SAMSUNG that supports it instead. I'll seriously look and see if I can send it back, cause the reason I bought the TV was to watch Internet content and if it can't support the latest it is not worth it. Funny thing is this is my first time buying a Sony, if I don't send this one back be sure I won't be buying another one.