The holy grail of Home Theater is a user interface that would allow you to watch any movie any time. Although lots of distribution systems and HT applications provide lots of choices, more than ever before and more every day, no one has yet achieved the “any movie any time” interface. Netflix is working on it though. Twelve months ago Netflix, which is better known for the rental movies through the mail, initiated a new service called “Watch Now,” which allowed users to watch any one of over 1,000 movies instantly on their PC without downloading them first.

Since that first announcement, Netflix has added over 12,000 movies—not exactly “any movie, any time” but lots closer than any other service has come thus far. Watching movies on a PC is not anyone’s first choice, but streaming videos from a PC to an HT set up is getting easier every day. Video rental companies, including Netflix, have been struggling lately, but Netflix is determined to position itself at the front of the next wave. The service cost $9 per month. For more information or to sign up, go to www.netflix.com.