Netflix box streams video to the TV

Movies from the Netflix website are streamed from the PC to the set-top box

Online movie service Netflix has released a new set-top box that allows users to watch streaming videos on a standard television.

The company developed the device with streaming media hardware vendor Roku, giving it the name The Netflix Player by Roku.

The box features a Wi-Fi antenna and Ethernet connection which links the box to the PC. Movies from Netflix are then streamed from the PC to the set-top box.

The device also sports RCA, HDMI and component outputs, as well as S-video and optical audio jacks.

Users will not be able to stream the movies directly from the service, but will have to download the movies to their PCs and then access them locally from the box.

The box extends the online service which Netflix launched in early 2007 to complement its hugely successful mail-order service.

The company promised in January to work with vendors on a new generation of devices to allow users to watch streaming videos on TV rather than wait for DVDs to be delivered in the mail.

"The key breakthroughs of The Netflix Player by Roku are simplicity and cost, " said Netflix chairman and chief executive Reed Hastings.

"It allows consumers to use the full power of the Netflix site to choose movies for their instant queue, and then automatically displays only those choices on the TV screen.

"That is a major improvement compared with the clutter of trying to choose from 10,000 films on the TV."

The Netflix Player box costs $99.99 and requires a standard $8.99 monthly Netflix subscription.