Anyone here have a Vudu box? A friend of mine has one and it is pretty slick. The HD and HDX quality movies are better than DVD, they have a very large library of movies to either rent or buy and you can download them quickly and easily. Anyone know if K is even planning on having a download service?
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Vudu
- Thread starter ptrubey
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Don't have Vudu, but have seen it. Not a bad service. The HD content wasn't as good as I expected, but was acceptable.
K has not ruled out the ability to someday "download," but I also have not heard of any plans to do so in the near future (not that I would). Then again, with K you never really know because as most here know, K is very "tight-lipped" about future products and services. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Jim
K has not ruled out the ability to someday "download," but I also have not heard of any plans to do so in the near future (not that I would). Then again, with K you never really know because as most here know, K is very "tight-lipped" about future products and services. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Jim
I have a VUDU box and worked at VUDU for about 6 months before a company wide work force reduction.
Basically, it's freakin' awesome. 10,000+ movies instantly available. The HD is better then the HD on Satellite, the HDX is Blu-ray quality video with 640kbps DD 5.1
If you saw the video quality over a year ago, you need to see it again, they switched encoders less than a year ago which greatly improved quality.
HD plays instantly over a 4mb internet connection, HDX takes 2hrs to download.
You pay per view, so you only pay for what you watch, unlike Netflix.
VUDU is getting out of the hardware business and focusing on getting the technology into other set top boxes and TVs. Vizio announced the VUDU service will be built into its internet connected displays. It would be great to have VUDU available on the upcoming Kscape Blue laser player.
Basically, it's freakin' awesome. 10,000+ movies instantly available. The HD is better then the HD on Satellite, the HDX is Blu-ray quality video with 640kbps DD 5.1
If you saw the video quality over a year ago, you need to see it again, they switched encoders less than a year ago which greatly improved quality.
HD plays instantly over a 4mb internet connection, HDX takes 2hrs to download.
You pay per view, so you only pay for what you watch, unlike Netflix.
VUDU is getting out of the hardware business and focusing on getting the technology into other set top boxes and TVs. Vizio announced the VUDU service will be built into its internet connected displays. It would be great to have VUDU available on the upcoming Kscape Blue laser player.
I have always heard the opinion from K* that BluRay was just a stop gap and that the replacement for DVD would be direct download. I would expect Kaleidescape will support download once they find something that is top quality and integrates well with the Kaleidescape system.
I like the on-demand aspect of Vudu but the thing that is always the deal breaker for me is the 24-hr rental window. I can't tell you how many times I watch the first half of a movie one night and the second half anywhere from the next night to 3, 4 or 5 nights later. It sounds like the quality has been upgraded for Vudu though...has it been upgraded enough to look good on a front projection system?
I have been renting from Brick and Mortar more because of Blu-ray even though Cable On-Demand has more titles same day as DVD (and many with a 48 hr rental window), but the HD quality of Cable IMO is just about equal to upconverted SD through the K. (and the sound is very mediocre - I think the LFE channel is dropped, at least it sounds that way)
I don't rent enough for Netflix even though I am starting to lean that way.
Are there any other On-Demand services out there that work well (and would look good on a 106" screen)??
I have been renting from Brick and Mortar more because of Blu-ray even though Cable On-Demand has more titles same day as DVD (and many with a 48 hr rental window), but the HD quality of Cable IMO is just about equal to upconverted SD through the K. (and the sound is very mediocre - I think the LFE channel is dropped, at least it sounds that way)
I don't rent enough for Netflix even though I am starting to lean that way.
Are there any other On-Demand services out there that work well (and would look good on a 106" screen)??
13 to 18 feet (1st row versus 2nd row) - I guess the question was more geared towards TRUE HD quality (audio and video) versus where something is touted as HD quality but when you actually see/hear it...not so much. (e.g. highly compressed HD Cable).
HD cable, movies through Kscape, and, of course, Blu looks good from both those distances in my current set up. I guess I was trying to see if there was an On Demand Movie rental setup that was a step up from HD Cable On Demand.
EngadgetHD article on VUDU HDX Quality:
http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/10/16/vudus-hdx-titles-compare-to-blu-rays-picture-quality/
In my experience, the HD video quality is very good. On the audio side, they use Dolby Digital Plus. So, you're not going to get Dollby TrueHD or DTS-HD.
The rental and closed box issues are both significant ones for VUDU. While the 24 hour rental window issues plagues all DL rental services (ridiculously dictated by the studios), VUDU is further limited by a closed environment whereby their content is only viewable on a VUDU box. No transfers to a portable device, watching on your computer, etc. While I hope we will eventually see a day when the 24 hour window is expanded to at least 48 hours (along with the 30 day timeout), VUDU still has the latter problem.
All that being said, I am a VUDU owner and have found myself purchasing fewer discs and renting more - mostly because I find that my personal desire to watch again is very low for the vast majority of titles. Out of the ~1000 titles I have on my K, I watch few of them regularly. With the HD quality from VUDU, I am pretty happy just renting and watching once.
The one other thing VUDU is missing, along with most download services I've seen, is CC. Given the tendency to watch after the kids are asleep, CC comes in quite handy in our house. Hopefully we'll see that eventually.
There's definitely a worry about VUDU's long term viability, but that being said the current cost of entry is so low ($149 and $499 with deals likely to be had form custom installers trying to move units) it doesn't really matter. If you are only renting, it's not like you'd lose a bunch of money tied up in DL purchases that now can't be watched (assuming a worst case scenario with some kind of DRM server turn off that might be required for content to be viewed indefinitely). Given the reaming the studios will likely give us via managed copy pricing, this isn't such a bad alternative...
Jeff
Good points Jeff. Mars, IMHO you sit far enough away even with a 1080P source and even at 13' away that you could see a difference in resolutiob but you probably won't notice a big difference in resolution between 1080P and 720P however you could see encoding and bandwidth related issues at that size and viewing distance. And this is even more so at your 18' distance. I wouldn't go by resolution but by the total experience. I think Jeff makes good points. It might be interesting for KScape to do some kind of partnership with Vudu and perhaps they could compliment each other.
Personally, I can't stand release windows... the issue (already raised above) where movies are available, then they're not (for often a year or more) then they (sometimes) come back into availability. It's a horrible user experience and what makes these models difficult for consumers. Music doesn't have this issue - once it's released, it's released... but the big cable channels forced this structure on the movie studios years ago and it remains. (HBO, Showtime, and Stars are the oligopoly you can thank for this structure. Antitrust-level collusion anybody?)
I'd rather wait for the DVD or BR, buy it, then watch it when I want. I don't like having a list of movies to watch, and then finding that one that was there last week is now gone this week. Try explaining to your 8-year old why the movie she loved last week (and maybe she only got through half of it) is now no longer viewable. fun. That's why I hope Kaleidescape's solution for downloads looks more like a true DTO (Download-to-own) rather than some model like Vudu's that abides by the ludicrous release windows structure.
just my $0.02.
--josh
I'd rather wait for the DVD or BR, buy it, then watch it when I want. I don't like having a list of movies to watch, and then finding that one that was there last week is now gone this week. Try explaining to your 8-year old why the movie she loved last week (and maybe she only got through half of it) is now no longer viewable. fun. That's why I hope Kaleidescape's solution for downloads looks more like a true DTO (Download-to-own) rather than some model like Vudu's that abides by the ludicrous release windows structure.
just my $0.02.
--josh
The release window is annoying but not as much as 24hr downloads. It's happened to me a few times where I could not finish the movie in 24hrs. This same limitation applies to AppleTV and Amazon as well. What VUDU does that others do not is offer a discounted extended rental, so if you rent the movie for $2.99 and cant finish it, you can re-rent it for just $.99. It's not perfect but nobody else is offering discounted extended rentals for a top tier internet rental service.
The video quality will not disappoint, especially for any relatively modern film. The SD stuff is 480p but uses the superior MPEG4 compression so in some cases, it looks better than DVD (and it's being upscaled to 1080p)
The Instant HD stuff is far superior to DVD and better then the HD you get on DirecTV.
The HDX downloads are pretty much Blu-ray quality video in a side by side comparison, minus uncompressed audio. The 640kbps DD 5.1 is superior to audio from DVD though.
All this being said, I use VUDU every week but tend to stick to Netflix Blu-ray by mail for movies that truly benefit from the improved picture and audio quality (played back on my Niveus Media Server, shameless plug)
To re-iterate..VUDU is currently seeking set top providers like Kaleidescape to OEM their technology to. Kaleidescape doesn't have the install base that VUDU needs, but I guarantee that the average Kaleidescape user would purchase a LOT more movies instantly then the average joe shmoe.
Please, Please, Please can I have VUDU catalog on Kaleidescape?
The video quality will not disappoint, especially for any relatively modern film. The SD stuff is 480p but uses the superior MPEG4 compression so in some cases, it looks better than DVD (and it's being upscaled to 1080p)
The Instant HD stuff is far superior to DVD and better then the HD you get on DirecTV.
The HDX downloads are pretty much Blu-ray quality video in a side by side comparison, minus uncompressed audio. The 640kbps DD 5.1 is superior to audio from DVD though.
All this being said, I use VUDU every week but tend to stick to Netflix Blu-ray by mail for movies that truly benefit from the improved picture and audio quality (played back on my Niveus Media Server, shameless plug)
To re-iterate..VUDU is currently seeking set top providers like Kaleidescape to OEM their technology to. Kaleidescape doesn't have the install base that VUDU needs, but I guarantee that the average Kaleidescape user would purchase a LOT more movies instantly then the average joe shmoe.
Please, Please, Please can I have VUDU catalog on Kaleidescape?
Thanks for all the info MrCaseyB. good to know about the extended rental option.
I agree with you , the release windows don't affect me as much as the 24hr rental window. I am sure I am not the target customer....the guy who watches 1 hour on Friday night and sometimes my wife and I don't watch the other hour until the following Saturday night (I am probably in the minority of the home video market on that)
I agree with you , the release windows don't affect me as much as the 24hr rental window. I am sure I am not the target customer....the guy who watches 1 hour on Friday night and sometimes my wife and I don't watch the other hour until the following Saturday night (I am probably in the minority of the home video market on that)