Hulu (still in beta) has introduced select HD streaming:
Today we’re excited to launch an HD Gallery featuring a selection of High Definition video clips at 1280 x 720 resolution. Those of you with a fast internet connection of 2,400 Kbps or higher, the latest build of Adobe Flash Player 9, and a fast computer can stream these High Definition clips and preview the future.
Right now, the content is pretty weak – just movie trailers. The Hulu blog indicates this is due to technical reasons as they ramp up:
We’ve limited the bitrates on these HD streams to allow as many users as possible to sample high definition streaming.
While that’s probably partially true, I’m also betting they haven’t yet determined if this H.264 content can be grabbed in whole (“buffer the stream by clicking pause”) – so they’re restricting it to advertising (aka movie previews) that can be freely swiped and shared.
Speaking of swiping content, Hulu has added additional episodes of Burn Notice. But it’s not doing me much good. I’ve seen the pilot, but I’m not ready to jump into episodes 4 and 5 without seeing 2 and 3 first. I’m fine watching the show in standard def and with Hulu’s advertising, I’m even willing to pay (iTunes, Unbox, DVD, etc) – but they’ve created a scenario in which my only option is to is visit BitTorrent. I’ll give them another week to get their act together before joining the dark side…