VUDU Now Offering 1080p Super HD Rentals
[Engadget HD] Engadget HD is reporting that VUDU has gone live with their 1080p HDX format. VUDU states in their press release that HDX delivers twice the quality available from any Internet or broadcast on-demand service. VUDU is claiming 50 films already in HDX and that every HD title in their catalog will be offered in this format. The one slight drawback would be that you have to wait three to four hours, while they download, before you can begin watching these titles. On the bright side the cost is exactly the same as a regular HD title.
So what do you think, is this something you would like to see Apple offer, a higher quality version of HD titles? Would a higher quality HD rental make a difference to all of the videophiles out there, or is this just a gimmicky selling point for VUDU. Is the quality of the current HD titles which Apple offers sufficient.
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Comments
I always download my movies hours or days in advance anyway, so I wouldn’t mind the wait at all. My HDTV is only 720p, though, so I wouldn’t benefit from the increased resolution, but I would love less compression.
I would be really happy about a better HD format. What e got now is nothing more than dvd-quality lacking sharpness sometimes, grainy pictures and artefacts. I would really appreciate an upgrade
Yes Yes Yes - that is if a 1080i TV can display it! Are they rentals only, or can you purchase these titles?
ATV’s strength is in its instant gratification factor and eye candy selection process (VS. Satellite/Cable Pay Per View delivery). Those that are OK with ordering ahead are better off with Netflix with 100,000 titles to choose from. Three to four hour downloads does not play into the ATV strategy. If they go that route they are doomed from better competition.
Furthermore, if Netflix and LG manage to get a competent HDTV delivery unit in place, and all 100,000 titles go “live” on demand, ATV will be short lived indeed. I don’t think any of us expected Apple to be dropping titles as fast as they are adding them. Very disappointing.
The bottom line is that people want both selection and quality. At this point, Netflix would be the smart bet for the very near future. Face it, we log onto this site for movie ideas, not for music or photo info. We’re movie buffs faced with the realization that Apple doesn’t appear focused on even trying to win the movie delivery war. We will end up buying another movie “box” from the competition.
I’ve all but given up on Apple TV rentals due to the quality, instead opting for Blu-Ray rentals from Netflix. Even with a 3-4 hour wait, I would definitely reconsider Apple TV rentals, especially if you can queue them up online from any computer the way you can with VUDU.
I’m from Germany and didn’t even know about other “boxes” like vudu etc. Just noticed with this very post. I just looked aroun the vudu selection and think that apple is really far behind this. I hope they’ll stock their titles up and hopefully we’ll get hd tv-show rentals. That would be a nice addition !
It still amazes me that that the ATV gets so much criticism for not being full HD. I don’t use one simply because I purchased the Mac Mini instead which does support full HD and has all the computer power of Leopard and Windows XP. Remember that they are dual boot!!! I have downloaded from the Itunes store and have compared like scenes on many videos to find very pleasing results on apples compression format (H.264) compared to DVD titles. This result alone drove me to convert 300 of my 500 DVD’s to H.264 format, .MV4 files for Apple TV, so that I could watch what I wanted, when I wanted instantly. I have 2 Sony 400 disk carosels and love the quality of the picture but absolutely hate the wait time to find the disk I want, press play and wait for the menu to finally arrive to begin playing the movie. It can take up to 3:30 seconds or more if the unit was turned of. My Mac Mini gets the movie I want, All apphabetiezed in Front Row, in about 10 seconds. Lets face it, it comes down to time for me, not so much as quality. If I do want to have the ultimate quality, I can put the new Panasonic superdrive into it and have the ultimate media center that is only 6×6x2″ setting on my cabinet. Also the Mac Mini can share files and media with my Mac Pro to take some of the burden off of the hard drive, all wirelessly. I think the Vudu will intrigue many customers, but without having a standard video compression technology it may become another brick.
As a side note re. quality, iLounge.com did a great job of comparing the video quality. HD on Apple TV fairs pretty well, it’s not Blu-ray but I bet for most people sitting at 10′ from their TV won’t be able to tell the difference.
…also a good idea for a post…
Unfortunately the ATV is too under powered to provide that level of quality — see Apple’s own specs for maximum resolution and bit-rate.
I doubt it makes that much of a difference though, in my opinion Apple should stay focused on offering the best selection, and in the future try to loosen up the DRM so you can also watch the movies on your PC/iPod.