Hulu Ready for Prime Time? I Guess So.

This morning, NYTimes.com reported that streaming-video site Hulu will launch publicly tomorrow. The Internet-video venture between Fox and NBC Universal, which offers free streaming shows and movies, has been in a beta period for the last few months, offering limited invites to users.

Full-length TV shows from NBC, including 30 Rock and The Office, have been available for viewing for many months, but tons of full-length TV episodes and movies have been added more recently. The Times also reports:

Hulu is also planning to announce that the Warner Bros. Television Group and Lionsgate will add content from their libraries.

I have have been testing Hulu for months now. Before the writers strike (oddly enough) I was watching the newest episodes of Heroes on demand on Hulu. Over the last few months I have seen Hulu add lots of functionality and new content, but is it ready for prime time?

I love Hulu’s interface. If you ask me, nothing needs to be changed from a user’s standpoint. The controls are clean and easy to navigate. See the shot below (and yes, they have Doogie Howser, M.D. and I love it).

The “lower lights” control will gray out the other controls, which is a nice addition but really doesn’t do much for me. The full-screen mode works fairly well with higher quality video such as any show that has aired the past 2 years. Classic shows (such as Knight Rider and Weird Science) don’t appear as nicely on screen. During beta testing, I’ve seen some shows supporting closed captioning, which is a first in online video, but haven’t come across it in a while.

Though Hulu isn’t promoting it right now, it can stream 720p HD content (1280 x 720). If you check out http://www.hulu.com/hd you can see a few high-definition trailers, but there isn’t much yet.

As for the video experience, this is where people might have mixed feelings about Hulu. Personally, I don’t mind suffering through some ads placed in the middle of my television show or even movie. I do, however, hate waiting for “buffering.” Even when I watch videos on my home 802.11n connection I get slight pauses in the videos. My biggest fear is that the more people that start to use Hulu, the slower the videos will load.

Apart from the potential speed issues, Hulu is ready for the spotlight.