Vudu’s New HDX Format Offers 1080p/24 Video with ‘Virtually No Artifacts’

The new format, called HDX, delivers the same 1080p/24 resolution as the company's "Instant HD" format, but at more than twice the bit rates – on average around 9.5 Mbps, and as high as 20 Mbps for "complex scenes."

The catch? As opposed to Vudu's original HD format, which allows almost instant access to high-def movies, HDX makes you wait about 3 hours until you can start watching your on-demand video.

http://www.cepro.com/article/vudus_new_hdx_format_offers_1080p_24_video_with_vi rtually_no_artifacts/

The 3 hour wait is the reason VOD will never replace physical media. I would like to view it though and see just what virtually no artifacts means.

The 3 hour wait is the reason VOD will never replace physical media. I would like to view it though and see just what virtually no artifacts means.

Can you explain your reasoning? In my experience the HDX titles I've watched were ready about 2 hours after I rented them, not 3 (I'm one of the beta testers). That sure has heck beats waiting days (or weeks) for something like Netflix to eventually deliver a disc - and there are titles available in HD and HDX that BluRay doesn't even offer. Heck, it can take 2-3 hours, plus gas money, to go out of your house and rent something (honey, while your out could you stop and get me some.....). Besides, you can now order movies for your Vudu via the web, starting the download to your Vudu hard drive immediately, so the HDX movie is completely downloaded and ready to watch when you get home. And of course the SD and HD titles are still delivered instantly.

The Vudu HD/HDX catalog is going to exceed 1000 titles this month, with over 10K total titles available when you include the SD movies (my Vudu shows 9966 titles this morning). They timed the release of HDX to go along with a nationwide roll out to Best Buy, which is selling the Vudu for $295, which includes a $200 rental/purchase credit, making the out of pocket for a Vudu $95 - same as the Roku. If you really want to see it, go to your Best Buy and check it out. Their money back offer still applies if your not happy.

Can you explain your reasoning? In my experience the HDX titles I've watched were ready about 2 hours after I rented them, not 3 (I'm one of the beta testers). That sure has heck beats waiting days (or weeks) for something like Netflix to eventually deliver a disc - and there are titles available in HD and HDX that BluRay doesn't even offer. Heck, it can take 2-3 hours, plus gas money, to go out of your house and rent something (honey, while your out could you stop and get me some.....). Besides, you can now order movies for your Vudu via the web, starting the download to your Vudu hard drive immediately, so the HDX movie is completely downloaded and ready to watch when you get home. And of course the SD and HD titles are still delivered instantly.

The Vudu HD/HDX catalog is going to exceed 1000 titles this month, with over 10K total titles available when you include the SD movies (my Vudu shows 9966 titles this morning). They timed the release of HDX to go along with a nationwide roll out to Best Buy, which is selling the Vudu for $295, which includes a $200 rental/purchase credit, making the out of pocket for a Vudu $95 - same as the Roku. If you really want to see it, go to your Best Buy and check it out. Their money back offer still applies if your not happy.

My reasoning is this - I can go to the rental store and get a movie in about 15 minutes, bring it home and watch it as many times as I want. If I rent a Blu ray disc I WILL get 1080p 24 not virtually 1080. I don't have to deal with the compression artifacting common in downloaded/streaming video either. Physical media offers me much more flexibility and I can purchase it therefore own it if I so choose to watch it all of it's HD glory. No monthly service fees, no waiting when I want to watch it etc.

Do you work for Vudu?

My reasoning is this - I can go to the rental store and get a movie in about 15 minutes, bring it home and watch it as many times as I want. If I rent a Blu ray disc I WILL get 1080p 24 not virtually 1080. I don't have to deal with the compression artifacting common in downloaded/streaming video either. Physical media offers me much more flexibility and I can purchase it therefore own it if I so choose to watch it all of it's HD glory. No monthly service fees, no waiting when I want to watch it etc.

Do you work for Vudu?

I'll answer your second question first - no, I don't work for Vudu. I'm one of the volunteer moderators on the forum.vudu.com discussion board, and I've got a ton of experience with the product. I am very qualified to thoroughly answer any question about the Vudu box without being biased by a pay check. I don't blame you for asking, as I have been a pretty strong fanboy for Vudu here, but that's just because I am really enjoying the product - a satisifed owner.

Now, as to physical media, let's first agree that this isn't an either/or situation (i.e. you can only own a BluRay or own a Vudu - that's not the case), it's an and/both decision - is it worth a net cost of $95 right now to have instant access to tons of entertainment content that will never be available on BluRay? You can go ahead and purchase those BluRay discs, but if you choose to limit yourself to physical media, you are choosing to have access to less content - specifically HD and HDX titles that are being delivered on the Vudu that will never make it into a BluRay production line. There should be over 1000 HD/HDX titles on the Vudu within the next few weeks - which I believe tops BluRay's catalog.

Now, even if you don't agree with me that it's an and/both decision, you still haven't given a justification why you think users are not going to be interested in renting an high quality VOD movie that is only delayed by a couple hours. My proof against your original position would be the numerous posts over the last year on the Vudu forum from real Vudu owners asking specifically for this feature - higher quality content with slightly longer downloads. And more recently, the positive feedback from Vudu owners that have just now experienced HDX for the first time. From here on out they are looking at having 3 VOD options when most movies are released - Instant SD at a lower cost, Instant HD for a buck or two more, or wait a couple hours for HDX at the same price as HD - that's choice, which is a good thing. Besides, I believe we are going to see more and more consumers with FIOS type speeds, which would make it feasible to deliver instant HDX (~8MB download bandwidth) in the near future.

I hope you'll try to find a Best Buy with Vudu setup on the floor so you can see it yourself. If that's not an option, the money back guarantee really makes this a no risk scenario to give it a test drive.

To each his or her own.

So what are the costs to rent an HDX movie here?

There are people that still prefer maintaining their own copy of their movies. Rental DLs will not change this. Sure there are people that will be happy with DLs, rental from Netflix, or just watching movies they get on HBO, Showtime, Cinemax....This system, HDX, offers just another source of rental by DL.

There will also be other consumers that would want to take advantage of several different options and not limit themselves to one option, such as rental DLs. I rent through Netflix, own movies (DVD & blu-ray), and also have the total HD package with DishNetwork. I would also be interested in DL of complete movies to own, and possible rent if it can beat Netflix total price of $2.00 rental (averages out per DVD). Whatever comes out, for the foreseeable future, I will maintain a copy of my movies to view at my descretion.

As I said, I'm interested in DLs for ownership. Do you have any plans for this, and the cost?

So what are the costs to rent an HDX movie here?

The cost range for HDX rentals are $3.99, $4.99, and $5.99 - same as the instant viewing HD pricing. SD prices are usually $2 less, however some SD titles are 99 cents (the 99 cent collection changes every week). The whole catalog with prices is now accessible online at www.vudu.com/movies

...snip...As I said, I'm interested in DLs for ownership. Do you have any plans for this, and the cost?

Vudu has offered purchase/ownership of SD titles since day one, however HD ownership (and now HDX) has been extremely limited. We expect the limits on HD/HDX to be lifted when they release support for external storage (overdue, expected soon). Right now folks would fill up their 250GB HDD pretty quickly with HD titles. When they can add their own unlimited storage, then ownership of higher quaility content will be feasible. The purchase prices range from $4.99 to $24.99. You can see the purchase prices in the same catalog link www.vudu.com/movies

And yes, I agree with you. Download providers are just one piece of a total home entertainment system.

Hi,
right now i am mostly buying (not renting) my movies. But i am price driven, so if i could get Blu-ray like quality via downloads at a better price, i would look into the offers for "d/l to own models" .

I am wondering what happens if your (external) harddrive crashes. I just read through the faq at vudu.com and they state:

We are exploring solutions to take advantage of external hard drives. Currently, you may archive or delete purchased movies or TV shows to free space on your hard drive. Archiving is available for all TV shows and select movies. Archived titles are stored in the VUDU Vault. You may dowload them again at any time free of charge. Deletion is available for any title. Deleted titles are permanently removed—they are not transferred to the VUDU Vault and no longer appear in My Movies. You would have to pay to rent or purchase a deleted title again in order to watch it.

So i guess for movies that are not part of "select movies", the files can get lost in a hdd crash and need to be re-bought. This would be a rather big hindance for me to consider buying a movie this way. HDD tend to fail rather often. With a disc i can influence its lifetime, if i handle it with care. With HDD, not so much. It would make it much easier to consider "d/l to own" models, if they offered a complete backup (free re-downloads) in these cases. At least as long as the provider is active, there would be some kind of insurance.

....snip.... It would make it much easier to consider "d/l to own" models, if they offered a complete backup (free re-downloads) in these cases. At least as long as the provider is active, there would be some kind of insurance.

The exec's at Vudu have already been hinting at this - lifetime warranty on purchased content. A google on "vudu lifetime" will get you articles like this http://www.cepro.com/article/vudu_plans_1000_hd_titles_lifetime_content_recover y/

If I were a betting man, I'd say this lifetime warranty would be announced at the same time they release external storage support. I think the next big consumer electronics show in Vegas would be the right time for such an announcement (I have no insider knowledge on the lifetime warranty or the public release date for external storage support). I do think the combination of being able to use my own hard drives for unlimited storage and having lifetime warranty on purchased content would pretty much overcome the reasonable naysayers.

The exec's at Vudu have already been hinting at this - lifetime warranty on purchased content. A google on "vudu lifetime" will get you articles like this http://www.cepro.com/article/vudu_plans_1000_hd_titles_lifetime_content_recover y/

If I were a betting man, I'd say this lifetime warranty would be announced at the same time they release external storage support. I think the next big consumer electronics show in Vegas would be the right time for such an announcement (I have no insider knowledge on the lifetime warranty or the public release date for external storage support). I do think the combination of being able to use my own hard drives for unlimited storage and having lifetime warranty on purchased content would pretty much overcome the reasonable naysayers.

That sounds good. :thumbsup:

do we need such high qualities?

do we need such high qualities?Clearly, if you don't "need such high qualities," other options are available with lower quality.