Earlier this week it was rumored that Netflix would be kicking things up to 1080p, though that rumor was sadly denied by the company.  They’ve still got 1080p streaming in their sights – Microsoft’s Zune service already does it using the same Silverlight platform – but audio will be their focus in 2010.

According to Netflix, streams will be upgraded to 5.1 channel surround by the end of this year.  There’s no set release date, and details such as bandwidth requirements are unavailable.  What we do know however, is that Netflix videos will be giving your surround speakers a workout by the end of this year.