VUDU equips LG's BD390 Blu-ray player with movie streaming abilities

VUDU equips LG's BD390 Blu-ray player with movie streaming abilities

by Darren Murph posted Sep 9th 2009 at 3:00PM

LG's WiFi-enabled, DivX-friendly BD390 Blu-ray player has been shipping here in the States since May, but not until now have you really had a reason to pick one up. Here at CEDIA, VUDU is taking one step further away from its standalone movie set-top-box by announcing that the aforementioned deck will become the first of its kind to tap into VUDU's growing library of on-demand film rentals. Of course, adding VUDU to this player was a natural move given the built-in Ethernet port, though users will have to wait until the end of this month to suck down the free update. In case you're wondering, the VUDU interface on LG's player will be the same as the one found on the company's own hardware (not to mention a few LG HDTVs), and the $399 price point will remain the same even after the new functionality is added.

VUDU Extends Footprint of Industry-Leading HD Movie Service To LG Electronics' Network Blu-ray Disc Player

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 9, 2009 – VUDU, Inc.'s industry-leading on-demand high definition (HD) movie service is now available on the BD390 Network Blu-ray Disc player from LG Electronics, giving consumers a whole new way to access the largest on-demand HD library of Hollywood movies in their living rooms, the company announced today.

VUDU continues to work with top consumer electronics manufacturers to become more accessible to customers who want to rent or buy major Hollywood movies in high definition. The VUDU service, already available on flat-panel HDTVs, uniquely delivers the largest available HD movie library of instantly-viewable movies in 1080p with Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround sound and provides customers with VUDU's superior user experience for finding and watching movies in high definition.

"Our goal as a company is to offer the best possible HD movie service to the broadest possible audience," said Alain Rossmann, CEO of VUDU. "By adding the top-rated LG BD390 Blu-ray player to the lineup of VUDU-enabled products, we've made it easier than ever for customers to enjoy the VUDU experience."

Some of VUDU's key features include:

* Instant viewing experience: unlike typical Internet and on-demand video streaming, VUDU movies start immediately, and viewers can fast forward, rewind and browse chapters without the delays or the frustration associated with buffering
* Highest quality video: VUDU's unique HDX format delivers true 1080p resolution and TruFilm encoding enhancements, now available for the first time on an instant-start basis
* Immersive sound: VUDU is the only on-demand service to deliver Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround sound at all video quality levels
* No monthly fees: customers can instantly buy or rent from VUDU's extensive library of standard and high definition movie and TV titles without any monthly service charges
* Largest HD library anywhere: over 2,200 titles are available in HD or HDX format
* New releases: Newly-released titles from all major studios are available the same day as DVD release, typically months before they are available on subscription-based services

LG's BD390 networked Blu-ray player transforms and personalizes the home theater experience by offering a stellar array of entertainment options. In addition to its broadband capabilities, the BD390 offers exceptional "Full HD" 1080p video performance and exceptional image quality from standard DVDs with 1080p up-scaling via HDMI output. The BD390 is also equipped for easy connection to the home network and has one gigabyte (GB) of built-in memory for BD Live functionality.

Model BD390 with LG's "NetCast Entertainment Access" feature is available now at nationwide retailers at a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $399. VUDU connectivity will be available at the end of the month via a free upgrade.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/09/09/vudu-equips-lgs-bd390-blu-ray-player-with-movie-streaming-abili/

This is definitely a step in the right direction for HD downloads concerning rentals, but as much as VUDU charges for ownership I don't see this having much impact on DVD/BD purchasing habits at least for now.

HDX and TruFilm

VUDU is capable of downloading and playing movies in HDX format, a format created by VUDU which encodes titles in 1080p HD at 24 frames-per-second. This technology is the equivalent of a movie on a Blu-ray Disc, albeit provided through a broadband Internet connection.[20] VUDU utilizes the H.264 (MPEG4 p10) encoding process along with proprietary encoding techniques dubbed TruFilm.[21] TruFilm is composed of four main technologies designed to maximize the H.264 encoding standard:

• Psychovisual Processing
Improves picture quality by enhancing details in dark areas of the picture, virtually removing the dark area artifacts typical of Internet movies.

• Film Grain Preservation
Improves the cinematic experience by ensuring that the displayed picture remains true to the fine optical texture of the original film.

• Statistical Variable Bitrate
Ensures optimal video quality throughout the film by allocating a higher encoding budget to high detail and high motion segments of the film, while preserving the ability to stream it over the Internet.

• Color Gradient Processing
A unique technology used to tune the picture for optimal display on modern LCD and Plasma televisions. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vudu,_Inc.#HDX_and_TruFilm

Vudu on the LG BD390 will bitstream Dolby Digital Plus

We just heard back from Vudu and there's good news. Unlike any other implementation before it, Vudu on the LG BD390 will bitstream Dolby Digital Plus via the HDMI 1.3 port to your AVR. In addition, if you prefer LPCM the BD390 can decode the Dolby Digital Plus track in the Vudu stream as well. This is much better than the LG HDTVs or even the Vudu box itself, which were only capable of re-encoding the stream down to old school Dolby Digital before delivering it to the receiver. We were also directed to this FAQ on Vudu's site which includes all the bit rates for various quality video; interestingly it looks like you need between 4.5 and 9 Mbps of throughput to enjoy moves in HDX quality.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/09/15/vudu-on-the-lg-bd390-will-bitstream-dolby-digital-plus/