Understandable, but since I use a distribution system to send a signal to all 6 TV's in my house, simultaneous analog output is necessary.

Most devices I use have the capability. The PS3 was an exception (and will be replacing it for a standalone) and now the Vudu is as well.

Bummer. And component doesn't output 1080p correct?

Unfortunately, that's a deal breaker for me on what looks to be an otherwise great device.

The Vudu XL can send 1080p out via component, the standard BX100 can not.

A very viable alternative would be to get an HD Fury, which will convert the 1080p from a BX100 to component 1080p just fine.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/29/vudu-ditches-the-box-integrates-into-lgs-lh50-netcast-hdtvs/


VUDU ditches the box, integrates into LG's LH50 NetCast HDTVs


by Darren Murph, posted Jul 29th 2009 at 9:00AM


After a quick test run on Entone's IPTV boxes, VUDU has now done the deed with a big time player. In a joint announcement today with LG, the outfit is announcing its first major foray into STB-less movie streaming. LG's Netflix-friendly LH50 line of connected HDTVs will act as the hosts, with VUDU's tried and true high-def streaming service acting as the highly anticipated guest. The outfit's next generation movie platform will enable owners of the 47LH50, 50PS80, 60PS80 and 42LH50 to buy or rent HD and HDX (1080p) films on demand through a refreshed user interface that promises no stutters or buffering waits. The new VUDU also brings along instant fast forward and rewind as well as instant start for all movie qualities, and as before, there's no monthly fee associated with the service. Eager to dive on in? It'll be made available for everyone (existing owners included) starting next month, and just so you know, we definitely don't envision LG being the last TV maker to slip under VUDU's covers. The full release is after the break.

Update: From the sounds of Vudu's solo PR, the LG sets are just the first off the line, so we'd expect a few more manufacturers to partner up soon.

LG ELECTRONICS FIRST TO BRING VUDU HD MOVIE SERVICE TO BROADBAND HDTVs

VUDU's Unique Streaming Movie Service, Largest Library of HD Movies,
enhance LG 'NetCast Entertainment Access' LCD and Plasma HDTVs

NEW YORK, July 29, 2009 -- LG Electronics will be the first to introduce broadband HDTVs with the instant-access high-definition (HD) movie service from VUDU Inc., a leading provider of digital on-demand entertainment services, the companies announced today. VUDU on-demand movies will be available on LG's LH50 1080p LCD series and PS80 Plasma 1080p series with "NetCast Entertainment Access," beginning next month.

"Our alliance with VUDU further demonstrates LG's commitment to delivering the ultimate HD viewing experience, by providing instant access to more 1080p movie content than ever before" said Peter Reiner, senior vice president, marketing and strategy, LG Electronics USA. "VUDU highlights the superb video quality of our 'Full HD' sets with NetCast Entertainment Access, while providing consumers with access to thousands of HD movies with the touch of a button."

The VUDU service allows consumers to instantly buy or rent from an extensive library of movies and TV titles, including an industry-leading catalog of more than 2,000 high-definition movies ? with no monthly fees and without having to buy, install, or connect any additional hardware. Consumers will enjoy movies in VUDU's unique HDX format, with Full HD 1080p resolution, plus Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround sound.

VUDU's streaming movie service delivers a near-instant viewing experience ? movies start immediately, including high definition HDX movies, and viewers can fast forward, rewind and browse chapters without the delays or the frustration associated with slow buffering. The VUDU catalog is updated weekly, and newly released movies from major studios are typically available months before they are available on subscription-based services.

"Together, LG's Broadband HDTVs and the VUDU service set the industry standard for easy access to on-demand HD movies," said Alain Rossmann, CEO of VUDU. "VUDU is blazingly fast on LG's Broadband HDTVs and makes discovering and watching new HD movies a truly exciting and fun user experience. With this partnership, VUDU is raising the bar on delivering Hollywood movies to this new class of Smart TVs."

With LG's NetCast Entertainment Access, consumers have instant access to millions of streaming movies, TV shows and web videos through an Ethernet connection. These models, ranging in screen size from 42- to 60-inch class sizes*, also include access to content from Netflix, Yahoo! Widgets, YouTube and more. With this enhanced connectivity, LG's Broadband HDTVs transform and personalize the home theater experience by offering a virtually endless array of entertainment options.
LG's 47-inch class* LCD HDTV (model 47LH50) and 50-inch class* plasma HDTV (model 50PS80) with NetCast Entertainment Access are available now at national retailers with a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $1,699 and $1,799. LG's 42-inch class* LCD (model 42LH50) and 60-inch class* plasma (model 60PS80) will be available and existing LG Broadband TV owners will be able to add the VUDU service next month.

About LG Electronics USA
LG Electronics USA, Inc., based in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., is the North American subsidiary of LG Electronics, Inc., a global force and technology leader in consumer electronics, home appliances and mobile communications. In the United States, LG Electronics sells a range of stylish and innovative home entertainment products, mobile phones, home appliances and business solutions, all under LG's "Life's Good" marketing theme. For more information, please visit www.LGusa.com.

About VUDU
VUDU is a leading provider of digital technologies and services that deliver entertainment to consumers' HDTVs. The VUDU service is designed to deliver tens of thousands of on-demand movies and TV shows directly to HDTVs. The VUDU HDX format delivers the highest picture quality for on-demand content available anywhere, with true 1080P picture quality and Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround sound. For more information, visit http://www.vudu.com.


*60PS80 60-inch class/59.5-inch diagonal
*50PS80 50-inch class/50.0-inch diagonal
*47LH50 47-inch class/47.0-inch diagonal
*42LH50 42-inch class/42.0-inch diagonal




And the best part ..."It'll be made available for everyone (existing owners included) starting next month.."

Which means they would need to increase the maximum download speed to enable the streaming of the HDX titles.

And it sounds like with the LG sets, that it will be able to bitstream the DD+ instead of transcoding to DD like the VUDU boxes have to do. Since the LG sets have HDMI 1.3 while the VUDU boxes only have 1.1 or 1.2.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/29/vudu-ditches-the-box-integrates-into-lgs-lh50-netcast-hdtvs/



And the best part ..."It'll be made available for everyone (existing owners included) starting next month.."

Which means they would need to increase the maximum download speed to enable the streaming of the HDX titles.

And it sounds like with the LG sets, that it will be able to bitstream the DD+ instead of transcoding to DD like the VUDU boxes have to do. Since the LG sets have HDMI 1.3 while the VUDU boxes only have 1.1 or 1.2.


This is amazing news.. now we have pretty much every major CE company offering streaming/downloading services to consumers through their TV sets (be it Vudu, Netflix, Amazon) and it's not really far fetched to assume LG will be adding Vudu to their Blu-ray players and other devices.

I'm curious to see the quality though.. cause HDX is pretty much on par with Blu-ray, but I can't imagine this being as good.

This is amazing news.. now we have pretty much every major CE company offering streaming/downloading services to consumers through their TV sets (be it Vudu, Netflix, Amazon) and it's not really far fetched to assume LG will be adding Vudu to their Blu-ray players and other devices.

I'm curious to see the quality though.. cause HDX is pretty much on par with Blu-ray, but I can't imagine this being as good.

HDX is HDX. It shouldn't matter whether it's on teh VUDU box or the LG.

This is amazing news.. now we have pretty much every major CE company offering streaming/downloading services to consumers through their TV sets (be it Vudu, Netflix, Amazon) and it's not really far fetched to assume LG will be adding Vudu to their Blu-ray players and other devices.

I'm curious to see the quality though.. cause HDX is pretty much on par with Blu-ray, but I can't imagine this being as good.

Not sure I would call HDX equal to BluRay - at least not on my 10 Foot screen. 5o inch flat panel maybe.

Not sure I would call HDX equal to BluRay - at least not on my 10 Foot screen. 5o inch flat panel maybe.

No not equal to a good BD on even a 37" inch screen, but it's close enough and the best thing out there for digital downloads.

Not sure I would call HDX equal to BluRay - at least not on my 10 Foot screen. 5o inch flat panel maybe.

I don't know.. I'm hard pressed to see any significant different between HDX and Blu-ray on my 106" screen and Sony HW-10 PJ. It's not the same but it's very very close, but then again we are not their target audience. The HDX has just a tad softer picture and of course doesn't have HD Audio.. but it's still very close to Blu-ray.

It's so close that I don't really rent BLu-ray movies that much anymore as I get everything on Vudu..only some really exceptional or blockbuster movies I do watch on Blu-ray so I get 100% quality, but I can't say HDX is much worse. On 50" display I'm absolutely sure that 99.9% will not see the difference as I certainly can't and I watch it on Pio Elite that's well calibrated.

I can easily see the difference on a 67" screen, a 65" screen, a 40" screen and a 37" screen, but that is also nitpicking. It looks very good.(of course it also depends on the material too)

I agree that the vast majority of people will not be able to see a difference but that doesn't mean it isn't there.

Just like with DirecTV I can easily see all the problems on a SD channel on a little 20 inch SD set, but most people won't see anything. But the stuff is still there. The same as when it's on a much larger set.

Regarding these new LG TVs with Vudu...how exactly do you get the 5.1 audio out?

There is no onboard 5.1 amp in these things, unless someone out there knows different?

SM

great question - you would need some type of cable - Cat 5/HDMI to get over to a receiver. You would hope that they would have thought this out or it is really a stupid offering except for the few people that use their internal tv stereo speakers for audio

Engadget did a demo for Vudu on LG (video):

http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/07/30/vudus-streaming-service-demoed-live-on-an-lg-tv/#continued


Looks to me they are using Silverlight 3, variable bitrate streaming depending on your connection.

So HDX will not really be HDX if your connection is slower. I'm fine with this approach overall, as people's speeds pick up they'll be able to watch better quality.

But good thing is that those of us who own Vudu boxes will be able to download/watch HDX on 20+mbps connections without speed limitations, which is awesome.

Engadget did a demo for Vudu on LG (video):

http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/07/30/vudus-streaming-service-demoed-live-on-an-lg-tv/#continued


Looks to me they are using Silverlight 3, variable bitrate streaming depending on your connection.

So HDX will not really be HDX if your connection is slower. I'm fine with this approach overall, as people's speeds pick up they'll be able to watch better quality.

But good thing is that those of us who own Vudu boxes will be able to download/watch HDX on 20+mbps connections without speed limitations, which is awesome.


So I see this article mentions how it will downgrade to 720P depending on the current bandwidth. In the past, the HD and HDX content was always 1080P.

All I know this will be much better. Now I won't have to rent HD titles when my girlfriend want's to watch something right away. Now we can rent the HDX at the spur of the momemnt since I have a 50mbs FIOS connection.

So I see this article mentions how it will downgrade to 720P depending on the current bandwidth. In the past, the HD and HDX content was always 1080P.

All I know this will be much better. Now I won't have to rent HD titles when my girlfriend want's to watch something right away. Now we can rent the HDX at the spur of the momemnt since I have a 50mbs FIOS connection.

Yeah.. but it's not bad considering that the point of entry for folks will be pretty much zero with the purchase of TV.

My only concern is that the quality of their HDX movies served this way would be like Netflix, even on my 25mbs connection Netflix downgrades the quality because of their server load.

I'm just afraid that HDX movies will not be great if it throttles. I'm hoping that we will still get hard drive usage deal so the bitrate gets constant if you use the service through the Vudu box.

I thought the advantage Vudus HDX had over its competitors was the constant 1080p resolution. I dont see this as good new.

...and what about those of us with VUDU boxes, will this news mean content will be streamed from VUDU servers, rather than the current peer to peer architecture? It would be nice to view HDX movies instantly, though...If you wanted to BUY an HDX movie, how would this be done with the LG setup?

:confused:

hdx movies still take 3 hours to download

hi,
I am new to the vudu party. Has anyone heard anything about the state of the company recently? Rumors seem to be flying, but I am trying to get a reading on whether or not they are going to be in business in 6 months.

I would think the inclusion of the decoder in the television sets is a positive step and should increase the user base because of the $0 cost of entry for end users. However, before I recommend the product to others - and potentially to clients - I would like to hear what you think..

I find it interesting that vudu scored employees Mark Donnigan and Casey Benjamin from Kaleidescape. In my mind - that is great. I have personally worked with both Mark and Casey and they are great guys to have on your team.

What is not great is that Mark has already left for another digital content company - MOD Systems. After answering questions last august about layoffs at vudu, Mark too leaves - what does he know that we don't?

Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere, but a fresh look at the topic with current info would be helpful.

Thanks!

Vudu is easing out of the h/w business as a core strategy and trying to get their technology onto other CE devices like the Netflix strategy. It will give consumers another option for streaming content while they can still keep their d/l business through their Vudu box. With the d/l and h/w business only, they were dead. With streaming and using other's devices, they have new life.

interesting, they are adjusting their business model...hope it all works out, I know I have enjoyed my VUDU box immensely...I have purchased quite a few movies.....I hope they don't go to just streaming only.....

interesting, they are adjusting their business model...hope it all works out, I know I have enjoyed my VUDU box immensely...I have purchased quite a few movies.....I hope they don't go to just streaming only.....

By streaming, I meant streaming pay per view. Not the unlimited streaming that Netflix has. I don't think they have that type of infrastructure and they won't be able to offer unlimited streaming on new titles.

I doubt they will go streaming only because many people like HDX and it's yet to be seen whether streaming HDX is near downloaded HDX quality.

Fellow VUDU owners. I love the fact that VUDU labs has Pandora. Unfortunately, my Pandora songs keep pausing or skipping to other songs. Totally useless to me right now. Anyone else having issues with Pandora?

My internet speeds are in the 5-6mbps range - not great but should be fast enough for smooth audio streaming shouldn't it? I don't have issues with any other aspect of VUDU so this is puzzling to me.

I listened to two hours of Pandora today with no issues.

I have seen RF interference cause all sorts of problems such a movie pauses, random FF and RW, etc when the sensitivity was cranked up all the way on one of my VUDU's. I fixed it by setting the sensitivity to default and pairing the remote. Before doing this you may want to make sure your antenna is firmly seated on the back of the VUDU.

Here is a link to the instructions for paring the remote:

http://supports.vudu.com/questions/167/What+do+I+do+in+my+VUDU+remote+control+stops+working%3F

You can also try switching frequencies on the VUDU remote:

http://supports.vudu.com/questions/178/I+have+two+VUDU+boxes+and+the+remotes+are+controlling+both+u nits.

Fellow VUDU owners. I love the fact that VUDU labs has Pandora. Unfortunately, my Pandora songs keep pausing or skipping to other songs. Totally useless to me right now. Anyone else having issues with Pandora?

My internet speeds are in the 5-6mbps range - not great but should be fast enough for smooth audio streaming shouldn't it? I don't have issues with any other aspect of VUDU so this is puzzling to me.

It's been a while since Vudu added any new services to Vudu labs.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fasterforward/2009/08/roku_player_brings_mlbtv_to_th.html

I recently purchased a Mitsubishi TV and they are offering a free Vudu player and $50 in content. I can also choose a $100 AMEX card as an alternate. Would you guys suggest I go ahead and get the Vudu? I currently have DirecTV and a PS3 conected to 10MBit internet connection. I know I can get content through DirecTV VOD or PS3, so is the Vud something I should definitely get?

Also, I saw on the Vudu website that they have a IPhone app. Does anyone know if there is a plan to support the Blackberry Storm?

We dropped the premium channels on Dish and got vudu. We saved a bunch of money. We have since added a Roku unit with the $8+ monthly subscriptions to get more movies. We like watching when we want rather than when they are scheduled. You can check out the Vudu website to see what movies they offer.

Ray

I was having a difficult time seeing the pricing plan on their website. Can someone explain it to me? Why did you need to add the ROKU?

I would also suggest getting the VUDU. Since there is no monthly subscription and you only pay for what you watch you can't go wrong.

On the App for the Blackberry. I haven't seen anything announced. I know there were a lot of folks looking for apps for both the Blackberry and Windows mobile when VUDU announced the iPhone app.

One thing that I know some folks do is to use the browser in the phone to hit the VUDU site where you can still browse movies and rent/purchase from the site if you want. I use skyfire in my phone and it browses the VUDU site ok.

I recently purchased a Mitsubishi TV and they are offering a free Vudu player and $50 in content. I can also choose a $100 AMEX card as an alternate. Would you guys suggest I go ahead and get the Vudu? I currently have DirecTV and a PS3 conected to 10MBit internet connection. I know I can get content through DirecTV VOD or PS3, so is the Vud something I should definitely get?

Also, I saw on the Vudu website that they have a IPhone app. Does anyone know if there is a plan to support the Blackberry Storm?

I was having a difficult time seeing the pricing plan on their website. Can someone explain it to me? Why did you need to add the ROKU?

If you are talking about the pricing plan of the VUDU there is no "subscription", its pay as you rent/purchase. Pricing of the movies for rental range from 2.99 to 5.99 for SD to HDX quality. Purchases depends on the movie and format.

I would also suggest getting the VUDU. Since there is no monthly subscription and you only pay for what you watch you can't go wrong.

On the App for the Blackberry. I haven't seen anything announced. I know there were a lot of folks looking for apps for both the Blackberry and Windows mobile when VUDU announced the iPhone app.

One thing that I know some folks do is to use the browser in the phone to hit the VUDU site where you can still browse movies and rent/purchase from the site if you want. I use skyfire in my phone and it browses the VUDU site ok.


Do you work for Vudu? If so, how do I get my free player when the Best Buy I purchased my Mitsubishi from doesn't sell them?

I was having a difficult time seeing the pricing plan on their website. Can someone explain it to me? Why did you need to add the ROKU?

I see someone already described the pricing plan. In our case, we don't watch that many movies so we didn't use all the money we saved by dropping the premium channels from dish. The Roku player lets you watch instant movies from Netflix and Amazon. In the case of Netflix you need a monthly subscription which runs $8+ for the cheapest plan. You only get one DVD in the mail at a time with this plan but you can watch an unlimited number of on line movies. Again, you need to look at the Netflix site to see the movies that are offered for instant viewing. Amazon also offers instant viewing using Roku at a per view rental, like Vudu.

I am not sure what you mean my free unit. You have to buy these units from Vudu, Roku or at a retail facility.

Ray

I am not employed by VUDU. But from what I understand that the promtion for the free VUDU with the purchase of Mitsu TV's expired on August 10th based on what I read on this press release:

http://www.twice.com/article/314901-Mitsubishi_Vudu_To_Kick_Off_Joint_TV_Promotion.php

Do you work for Vudu? If so, how do I get my free player when the Best Buy I purchased my Mitsubishi from doesn't sell them?

I tried purchasing a Vudu unit on-line, only to find out after the order was sent in, that the unit was backordered. Looking at the Vudu site forum, it appears that the Vudu unit has been on backorder for many weeks and Vudu management still doesn't know when they'll get more in. Is this the end of Vudu's set top boxes?

Please oh please oh please give me VUDU access through my PS3!

Darn I whish you would have posted this over the weekend. Best Buy had VUDU's in stock on their web site and was offering them for $20 off. This was only good Sunday and Monday. I just checked thier web site and they are still available but the sale is over.

Also 3 of the 6 Best Buy's within driving distance form me have them in stock. You may want to try a local Best Buy.

I tried purchasing a Vudu unit on-line, only to find out after the order was sent in, that the unit was backordered. Looking at the Vudu site forum, it appears that the Vudu unit has been on backorder for many weeks and Vudu management still doesn't know when they'll get more in. Is this the end of Vudu's set top boxes?

Regarding these new LG TVs with Vudu...how exactly do you get the 5.1 audio out?

There is no onboard 5.1 amp in these things, unless someone out there knows different?

SM

great question - you would need some type of cable - Cat 5/HDMI to get over to a receiver. You would hope that they would have thought this out or it is really a stupid offering except for the few people that use their internal tv stereo speakers for audio

I was wondering this too. It is a little perplexing....

This goes for Netflix and Youtube also, even though Vudu is the only one that does 5.1 audio.

If these services are built into the TV...how exactly does the audio get output through your receiver-->speakers?

It would really suck to use Vudu and not be able to use your 5.1 speakers and be limited to the internal TV speakers.

So how in the hell does a receiver based home theater work with these built in streaming features? If there isn't a work around, these features are damn near pointless to those of us who use receivers in our setup.

I also agree this is a big concern. Almost every HD Panel I look at supports a coax or optical out but only for over the air content. I would definatly want to send the audio to my audio system vs. listen to the built in speakers.

I guess we will have to wait to see what the panel vendors have in store in this area.

I was wondering this too. It is a little perplexing....

This goes for Netflix and Youtube also, even though Vudu is the only one that does 5.1 audio.

If these services are built into the TV...how exactly does the audio get output through your receiver-->speakers?

It would really suck to use Vudu and not be able to use your 5.1 speakers and be limited to the internal TV speakers.

So how in the hell does a receiver based home theater work with these built in streaming features? If there isn't a work around, these features are damn near pointless to those of us who use receivers in our setup.

I also agree this is a big concern. Almost every HD Panel I look at supports a coax or optical out but only for over the air content. I would definatly want to send the audio to my audio system vs. listen to the built in speakers.

I guess we will have to wait to see what the panel vendors have in store in this area.


Don't know about your set (or most sets for that matter) but I get optical out from my Sony to my AVR. It's not just over the air. The only inputs to the TV that I have used is HDMI and the TV has no idea where the content is coming from.

Don't know about your set (or most sets for that matter) but I get optical out from my Sony to my AVR. It's not just over the air. The only inputs to the TV that I have used is HDMI and the TV has no idea where the content is coming from.

Yes, but are you sure you're getting DD 5.1 via your set's optical output from any source other than the internal tuner? Most TVs will only output 2 channel stereo from external sources.

^^^

FWIW:

I sent an email to LG support to see if they had any answers regarding this issue. We will see if they actually respond.

Yes, but are you sure you're getting DD 5.1 via your set's optical output from any source other than the internal tuner? Most TVs will only output 2 channel stereo from external sources.

You may be correct. I didn't play with it enough to really know. There is sound coming from all five speakers (no sub yet) but I do not know whether it is surround DD5 or just one or two tracks being duplicated by the AVR. The AVR is a short term interim solution so I am not that familiar with it. I have moved the Vudu box back to the theater so I can't check it now. Sorry if I misled anyone.
Ray

Vudu Instant 1080p Streaming Goes Live On Connected LG TVs

Check your sets, LG people: the Vudu widget, which lets you buy 1080p films for instant streaming without any kind of subscription, has been quietly pushed out into the world.
http://gizmodo.com/5350158/vudu-instant-1080p-streaming-goes-live-on-connected-lg-tvs

Anybody with one of these sets care to comment on how it is

LGs official site shows VuDu support coming for their Blu-ray player, the BD390 !

It looks like Vudu is on their way to becoming something very big. I wonder who is going to buy them! :-)

Two 1080p Mitsubishi HDTV models shipping in September will be enabled with VOD content service Vudu, right our of the box, the companies announced Sept. 3.

The Unisen Diamond LCD models LT-46249 and LT-52249 also will include two months of free service from Vudu, to give consumers a taste of the 16,000-title service, the companies said.

“We are always looking to elevate the large screen experience for consumers, and the Mitsubishi Vudu-enabled TVs will combine unprecedented HD program choice with unparalleled picture performance,” said Frank DeMartin, VP of marketing for Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America. “Owners of Unisen Diamond Immersive Sound TV’s will now have convenient access to high quality entertainment content.”

The HDTVs come equipped with 16 speakers, and starting later in September consumers will be able to access YouTube, Picasa, Pandora, Flickr and more than 80 channels of VOD TV via Vudu on the TVs.

“Vudu’s extensive HD library of newly released Hollywood titles provides the perfect entertainment solution for the Unisen Diamond LCD TVs,” said Vudu CEO Alain Rossmann. “Through this collaboration with Mitsubishi, we are expanding the reach of the Vudu service to a broad new segment of consumers, providing an outstanding movie-watching experience.”

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/hdtv/mitsubishi-hdtvs-come-vudu-enabled-16936

Mitsubishi announced today that the VUDU on-demand movie service--normally delivered through a set-top box--will come baked into the circuitry of a couple of its new connected TV sets.

Mitsubishi says two of its new 1080p flat panel TVs--the 46-inch and 52-inch Diamond Unisen models (MSRP $2,599 and $3,099, respectively)--will come with the VUDU service inside. Both sets have an Ethernet port in back for direct internet access.

The TVs have just begun shipping to retailers, the companies say.

To warm new TV buyers up to the VUDU experience, Mitsubishi is even throwing in a couple of months of free VUDU movie rentals (up to $50 worth). VUDU says it now has more than 2,200 HD titles and 16,000 titles overall in its library. Later this month, the Mitsubishi TVs will begin streaming internet services from YouTube, Flickr, Picasa and Pandora as well.

VUDU and Mitsubishi have previously had a working relationship, wherein Mitsubishi shipped VUDU set-top boxes with some of its new TVs.

VUDU said earlier this summer that its service would be baked into LG's LH50 LCDs and PS80 plasma sets. A VUDU spokesperson says the VUDU service has just become live on the LG sets in the last few days. Vizio has also announced that its new sets will come with the VUDU service, but no word yet on when those sets will show up in stores.

VUDU's recent alliances are just the latest incremental developments in the movement of internet video into the living room TV. A group of major content players including YouTube, Netflix, Amazon VOD have moved quickly this year to supply the content. Virtually all major HDTV players have now announced content deals to feed video and other content to their "connected" TVs.

These direct-to-TV content agreements remove the need for a set-top box. When you think about it, the set-top box was always a bad idea, an awkward interim step. I'm surprised the things have lasted as long as they have.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/171360/vudu_movie_service_baked_into_new_mitsubishi_hdtvs.html

Does anyone know what version of the Vudu software these TV sets are running? Are these versions proprietary? If other than 2.2.0 I wonder if there are new and/or enhanced features that will migrate to the Vudu boxes. It's been a while since we've seen a software update for the boxes as it appears that Vudu is concentrating on software development for 3rd party devices.

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

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

But how will you do HDX movies with no ability to store the download?:eek:

But how will you do HDX movies with no ability to store the download?:eek:

I am guessing there is not an HDX option on those devices.


Another story with info: http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6695618.html

But how will you do HDX movies with no ability to store the download?:eek:

There is not need to "store" the movie on the embeded VUDU service. The embeded version of VUDU uses a CDN approach vs. the P2P approch used in the VUDU STB.

So if you have the bandwidth you can stream HDX movies. From what I understand if the software detects bandwidth issues with streaming, it will offer a suggestion to switch to HD or SD.

There is not need to "store" the movie on the embeded VUDU service. The embeded version of VUDU uses a CDN approach vs. the P2P approch used in the VUDU STB.

So if you have the bandwidth you can stream HDX movies. From what I understand if the software detects bandwidth issues with streaming, it will offer a suggestion to switch to HD or SD.

You cannot stream HDX movies, that is the point!

You cannot stream HDX movies, that is the point!

What he is saying is it looks like they do allow streaming of HDX with these new devices.

What he is saying is it looks like they do allow streaming of HDX with these new devices.

I will believe it when I see it, pun intended!:D

There will definitely be HDX streaming.

Yes there is HDX streaming on the embedded VUDU software for the LG and Mitsu products. I am waiting for the LG Blu-Ray BD390 (ordered last week) and the software update it supposed to be delivered to it later this month. If it works as documented I will move one of my dedicated VUDU's into the play room and keep the BD390 in the home theater.

So if you have the bandwidth you can stream HDX movies. From what I understand if the software detects bandwidth issues with streaming, it will offer a suggestion to switch to HD or SD.


Here comes that old bandwith bugaboo again. :eek:

Well I am being SCREWED by Mitsubishi. I purchased a WD-82837 back in September during the Vudu promotion. I sent in my claim form and a copy of my receipt. Mitsubishi called me today and told me that the WD-82837 was not a qualifying TV for the promotion. It seem that Mitsubishi has a newer promotion that began September 4th that only applies to their LCD TV's. That is great I told them, but last month the Vudu promotion included all 837/737 DLP TV's. The CSR told me he had no idea what I was talking about. No problem I thought. I know the second page of the claim form clearly lists the WD-82837 as a qualifying model. But to my surprise, the claim form has been completely removed from the Mitsubishi website. It isn't even listed under previous promotions like the Big Bertha golf club is. What kind of crap is this?

So if you have the bandwidth you can stream HDX movies. From what I understand if the software detects bandwidth issues with streaming, it will offer a suggestion to switch to HD or SD.I think the real question is will streamed HDX movies be of the same quality of downloaded HDX movies? Such as would the file size be the same for both methods. I think their site states your need 4.5Mbps to stream HDX... if my math isn't too bad I think you would need more bandwidth than that to maintain the same quality.

Well I am being SCREWED by Mitsubishi. I purchased a WD-82837 back in September during the Vudu promotion. I sent in my claim form and a copy of my receipt. Mitsubishi called me today and told me that the WD-82837 was not a qualifying TV for the promotion. It seem that Mitsubishi has a newer promotion that began September 4th that only applies to their LCD TV's. That is great I told them, but last month the Vudu promotion included all 837/737 DLP TV's. The CSR told me he had no idea what I was talking about. No problem I thought. I know the second page of the claim form clearly lists the WD-82837 as a qualifying model. But to my surprise, the claim form has been completely removed from the Mitsubishi website. It isn't even listed under previous promotions like the Big Bertha golf club is. What kind of crap is this?

You may want to do a web archive search to see if it is cached somewhere... http://www.archive.org/web/web.php

I think the real question is will streamed HDX movies be of the same quality of downloaded HDX movies? Such as would the file size be the same for both methods. I think their site states your need 4.5Mbps to stream HDX... if my math isn't too bad I think you would need more bandwidth than that to maintain the same quality.

I think the idea is that they would be the same quality.

Probably not something DSL users would want to attempt. With DOCSIS 3.0 rolling out at a fairly fast clip, this probably won't be an issue for folks with a decent level of broadband service from cable providers.

I know Comcast is supposed to be totally complete with their DOSCIS 3.0 roll-out by the end of 2010.

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/

Glad to hear this is finally confimed. It makes sense because of it having HDI 1.3 which the VUDU box does not have.

Vudu account issues

I have been trying to add money to my account since Friday via PayPal generated credit card: it does not work and Vudu confirms it is broken...with no idea when it will be fixed

very disappointing

That is strange. Is it just the PayPal card or other cards also?

Vudu account issues

I have been trying to add money to my account since Friday via PayPal generated credit card: it does not work and Vudu confirms it is broken...with no idea when it will be fixed

very disappointing

That is strange. Is it just the PayPal card or other cards also?

you cannot update or edit your account via the website: you can call customer service to do it by phone

http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/30/engadget-hd-reviews-vudu-on-the-lg-bd390-blu-ray-player/

you cannot update or edit your account via the website: you can call customer service to do it by phone

Glad you got it updated. I got the same information that you did form their customer support that they can do it over the phone.

I have a pioneer products and an xbox360. I currently stream movies from netflix but I want more. What are some of the new devices that I might be able to get vudu on. I planning to purchase a new laptop soon do you think VUDU would be available on the platform. I do know want to buy to many devices if I do not have to. Thanks

I have a pioneer products and an xbox360. I currently stream movies from netflix but I want more. What are some of the new devices that I might be able to get vudu on. I planning to purchase a new laptop soon do you think VUDU would be available on the platform. I do know want to buy to many devices if I do not have to. Thanks

Your best bet is to get a Blu-ray player with Netflix, Vudu, etc on it.

Even if you don't use it for Blu-ray, you will have access to the streaming services and be able to use it to replace your DVD player (so no additional boxes).

From Vudu's perspective they want to be on every device, but so far it seems Pioneer isn't interested in adding those types of features to its Blu-ray players. I would expect to see it on Samsung next and then Sony.

From Vudu's perspective they want to be on every device, but so far it seems Pioneer isn't interested in adding those types of features to its Blu-ray players. I would expect to see it on Samsung next and then Sony.

I would like to see Panasonic add Netflix and Vudu. They make a great Blu-ray player and I hate the units that have the drop-down door in front. That door is the sole reason I am passing on the LG-390.

I would like to see Panasonic add Netflix and Vudu. They make a great Blu-ray player and I hate the units that have the drop-down door in front. That door is the sole reason I am passing on the LG-390.

I could see Panasonic adding these, not sure why they haen't already.

Why do you have the drop down door so much? It isn't like the IR receiver is behind the door like on the Samsung.

I am all hooked up. After arguing with Mitsubishi they finally made it right and gave me my free Vudu player. A few questions...

I currently have my Vudu hooked up to my TV through HDMI with digital coaxial output to my AVR. I played the HDX demo but noticed I was not getting digital sound. Does anyone know why? My other question is, why would you want Netflix and Vudu?

I am all hooked up. After arguing with Mitsubishi they finally made it right and gave me my free Vudu player. A few questions...

I currently have my Vudu hooked up to my TV through HDMI with digital coaxial output to my AVR. I played the HDX demo but noticed I was not getting digital sound. Does anyone know why? My other question is, why would you want Netflix and Vudu?

If you are hooked up with coaxial sound to your AVR you have to be getting digital sound. Do you mean that you aren't getting Surround Sound or DD?

On the netflix vs. vudu that question has been flying around the VUDU support board for two years now. The best way to answer it is that some studio's think that VOD movies will cut into DVD sales if they are released at the same time. So what happens is that VUDU and other VOD vendors do not get the movie or it can only be offered for purchase until the studio licenses it for VOD rentals. Sometimes this is one week other times its a month, what drive the time frame, who knows? By that time it could have been rented on Netflix if the movie was in your queue.

Let us know if you have any other quesitons...

I am speaking of DD. I should have been getting DD 5.1 to the receiver through the digital coaxial, but the blue digital light on my receiver was not on when I was running the HDX demo.

I am speaking of DD. I should have been getting DD 5.1 to the receiver through the digital coaxial, but the blue digital light on my receiver was not on when I was running the HDX demo.

Have you tried any movie rentals outside of the HDX demo? I've been renting a few HDX movies lately and so far all of them were in 5.1.

I'll check myself tonight to see if the HDX demo on my VUDU's play 5.1. It may just be the demo.

Thanks. That will tell me if I have a set-up problem

Thanks. That will tell me if I have a set-up problem

I ran the HDX Demo and my receiver showed and played 5.1. I did validate that my audio setting were at 5.1 before I played it.

You may want to validate your audio setting just in case.

I ran the HDX Demo and my receiver showed and played 5.1. I did validate that my audio setting were at 5.1 before I played it.

You may want to validate your audio setting just in case.

Hmm... I wonder why, but I am not getting 5.1 from my digital coaxial through the TV. I have my DirecTV input to HDMI but the audio output with digital optical to my receiver. When I am watching the DirecTV and switch the receiver to the digital coax input I am not getting 5.1 either.

Hmm... I wonder why, but I am not getting 5.1 from my digital coaxial through the TV. I have my DirecTV input to HDMI but the audio output with digital optical to my receiver. When I am watching the DirecTV and switch the receiver to the digital coax input I am not getting 5.1 either.

There were two HDX demos. One was stereo and one was in 5.1.
Maybe you have the stereo version.

At one point I had both of them but deleted the stereo version.

The 5.1 titles are listed as surround sound in the description.

I could see Panasonic adding these, not sure why they haen't already.

Why do you have the drop down door so much? It isn't like the IR receiver is behind the door like on the Samsung.

I like to eject the disc with the remote from across the room. These players take too long to do anything. I don't want to get up and stand in front of the player waiting after I've flipped down the door and pushed eject. I really don't see the need for a door anyway. What purpose does it serve anyway? The disc drawers are almost invisible when closed anyway.

Hmm... I wonder why, but I am not getting 5.1 from my digital coaxial through the TV. I have my DirecTV input to HDMI but the audio output with digital optical to my receiver. When I am watching the DirecTV and switch the receiver to the digital coax input I am not getting 5.1 either.

So you are cabled from the VUDU to your TV and then from the TV to your AVR? If this is the case then it may be your TV's decoder is only sending 2.0 to the AVR out the coax connection. I had a Panasonic that did this. If I ran HDMI into the pannel the coax out would only do 2.0. I had to run a seperate cable from my STB to the AVR. It did the same for my DVD player.

Yea, I am becoming convinced that this is the case. My TV won't pass through DD 5.1 for some reason.

Yea, I am becoming convinced that this is the case. My TV won't pass through DD 5.1 for some reason.

Most TVs will not pass the DD5.1 signal from an external device through the TV and out to a receiver. A few will do it but it is not the norm with most TVs. Typically you have to be using the internal QAM/ATSC tuner to get the DD5.1 output.

I can think of a few more useful features that can be added to the Vudu Boxes, but I guess I'd be glad to get Rotten Tomatoes Reviews if Vudu actually updates the Vudu boxes with the Tomatometer. We have not seen an update in quite some time.

Tomatometer (http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/13/vudu-throwing-rotten-tomatoes-reviews-on-every-movie-it-sells/)

I can think of a few more useful features that can be added to the Vudu Boxes, but I guess I'd be glad to get Rotten Tomatoes Reviews if Vudu actually updates the Vudu boxes with the Tomatometer. We have not seen an update in quite some time.

Tomatometer (http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/13/vudu-throwing-rotten-tomatoes-reviews-on-every-movie-it-sells/)

There has always been a big question on where the VOD companies get their "star" ratings from. VUDU made big headway a while back allowing us to rate content after watching it so we can compare user ratings against the "critics" rating. Also they added the 100 most popular category on the VUDU.

Now with the launch of embedded VUDU into the LG and Mitsu products I hope that VUDU brings the dedicated STB up to date also. I would really like to sort on Rotten Tomatoes Reviews and user reviews to do a comparison.

I just got the lg390 blu-ray player and was looking at trying out vudu. How much speed do you need for HD download. I have about 1.5mbp and can upgrade to 3mbp.

I just got the lg390 blu-ray player and was looking at trying out vudu. How much speed do you need for HD download. I have about 1.5mbp and can upgrade to 3mbp.

For Streaming

SD needs 1 mbps to 2 mbps

HD needs 2.25mbs to 4.5mbs

and HDX needs 4.5 mbps to 9 mbps


http://supports.vudu.com/questions/233/What+bandwidth+do+I+need+to+use+the+VUDU+service%3F

Can you tell me what happens if you order the HDX version, but for some reason you can't watch it. Can you downgrade the order to the HD version? Do you have to pay for that again? Or once you order the HDX, you have access to the HD and SD versions?

Can you tell me what happens if you order the HDX version, but for some reason you can't watch it. Can you downgrade the order to the HD version? Do you have to pay for that again? Or once you order the HDX, you have access to the HD and SD versions?

For streaming, when watching the HDX version, you can downgrade in realtime to HD or SD quality while watching.
You paid for the HDX version so that is what you get or any qulaity below. But if you pay for HDX and watch the HD version, you won't be getting a dollar back. You purchased the HDX version. If you don't watch that version, that isn't VUDUs fault.

I'm finding something quite interesting....I'm participating in the beta test for streaming to the VUDU box. I have a 20mbs FIOS connection, no other device/computer is using it at any time I'm watching movies, and box is hard-wired to router .....When I'm using Brazil(the streaming interface) I get buffering messages when I watch HDX movies.....I see only one bar at top of screen, in Amadeus,(the peer to peer interface) the box performs normally.......There also seems to be a lot of activity on my router to the VUDU box.....Any Ideas?

I'm finding something quite interesting....I'm participating in the beta test for streaming to the VUDU box. I have a 20mbs FIOS connection, no other device/computer is using it at any time I'm watching movies, and box is hard-wired to router .....When I'm using Brazil(the streaming interface) I get buffering messages when I watch HDX movies.....I see only one bar at top of screen, in Amadeus,(the peer to peer interface) the box performs normally.......There also seems to be a lot of activity on my router to the VUDU box.....Any Ideas?

That is why they call it BETA Testing, you are helping VUDU flush out bugs. You may want to post your experiances on theVUDU form instead of here so you can help make the product better. The folks at VUDU monitor the forum closely and many times an engieer has reponded to posts.

http://forum.vudu.com/

I'm finding something quite interesting....I'm participating in the beta test for streaming to the VUDU box. I have a 20mbs FIOS connection, no other device/computer is using it at any time I'm watching movies, and box is hard-wired to router .....When I'm using Brazil(the streaming interface) I get buffering messages when I watch HDX movies.....I see only one bar at top of screen, in Amadeus,(the peer to peer interface) the box performs normally.......There also seems to be a lot of activity on my router to the VUDU box.....Any Ideas?

go into the VUDU network settings and change the DNS server IP addresses to what FIOS uses, instead of the gateway IP which it would pull up automatically.
Once I did this I always get three bars on HDX with my 25/15 FIOS connection. Initially it always starts with one bar, then in a few seconds it goes to three bars and stays there with no hiccups.

I have two VUDU boxes running Brazil(my thrid one never pulled down the beta for some reason) and the LG BD390.

With my DNS IP addresses changed, it solved any streaming problems for me.

aaronwt, thanks for the tip.....I'll try that.....RonV., I did submit a report on the form VUDU has, even checked the box advising them to contact me if they need any other info....P.S. being a PC tech, I know what beta testing is.....I do let the folks at VUDU know what's happening on my end.....

aaronwt, thanks for the tip.....I'll try that.....RonV., I did submit a report on the form VUDU has, even checked the box advising them to contact me if they need any other info....P.S. being a PC tech, I know what beta testing is.....I do let the folks at VUDU know what's happening on my end.....

donthetech,

Thanks for the update. I never know if folks know about the VUDU forums or what experiance they have with beta software...I didn't mean to insult anyone's experiance...

Vudu to add Wikipidia to its UI. (http://www.gearlog.com/2009/11/vudu_users_will_get_a.php) Has anyone's Vudu box been updated with this new firmware yet?

OK, doesn't a 30 day rental mean 30 days? I started a movie I had rented but got interrupted. I stopped the movie and turned off the Vudu. When I went back to watch the movie, it was gone. If this is the case, it is stupid.

OK, doesn't a 30 day rental mean 30 days? I started a movie I had rented but got interrupted. I stopped the movie and turned off the Vudu. When I went back to watch the movie, it was gone. If this is the case, it is stupid.

You have 30 days to "start" the movie, and then you can watch it as many times as you like within 24 hours after you start it.

So it has to be "watched" within the 24 hour window after you start it.

OK, doesn't a 30 day rental mean 30 days? I started a movie I had rented but got interrupted. I stopped the movie and turned off the Vudu. When I went back to watch the movie, it was gone. If this is the case, it is stupid.

Once you start viewing the countdown clock starts for 24 to 48 hours depending on the title. This is how it works from every VOD source I've used.

Once you start viewing the countdown clock starts for 24 to 48 hours depending on the title. This is how it works from every VOD source I've used.
Yup. One nice thing about the Apple TV that I wish the others would provide is that you only have to start finishing the movie within the 24 hour windos and you will not be cut off even if you go over 24 hours. It would be nice if everybody did this.

Vudu to add Wikipidia to its UI. (http://www.gearlog.com/2009/11/vudu_users_will_get_a.php) Has anyone's Vudu box been updated with this new firmware yet?

I have a LG 42LH50, purchased on 10/31, and it has VUDU with Wikipedia. Very cool. All the links work, so you can surf Wikipedia, but I don't believe you can input search terms.

I've been quite pleased with the VUDU picture quality. I have only a 1mps connection so I can only watch in SD, but compared to Netflix it is far superior.

Im giving up on vudu. Twice I've rented something and it would not play past the intro. Then vudu says to try later. Later? Friends are here NOW to watch a movie. This has happened both times I've used vudu. Its ok for free trailer watching, but that is about it. Oh.. I have max speed isp connection thru mediacom so I know that is not the issue. And switching to wired connection does not help matters at all.
I finally had to rent our movie thru directv and it played flawless. BTW, I rented the SD version from vudu just to avoid issues. Didnt matter.
Im using vudu thru a LG BR 390. Netflix always plays 100% perfect.
So as to vudu... whats the point? Obviously they are not up to par.

Im giving up on vudu. Twice I've rented something and it would not play past the intro. Then vudu says to try later. Later? Friends are here NOW to watch a movie. This has happened both times I've used vudu. Its ok for free trailer watching, but that is about it. Oh.. I have max speed isp connection thru mediacom so I know that is not the issue. And switching to wired connection does not help matters at all.
I finally had to rent our movie thru directv and it played flawless. BTW, I rented the SD version from vudu just to avoid issues. Didnt matter.
Im using vudu thru a LG BR 390. Netflix always plays 100% perfect.
So as to vudu... whats the point? Obviously they are not up to par.

I'm not an expert with the vudu interface on the 390, but I have read and heard that the LG players vudu implementation does not work well if DNS entries on the player are your router/gateway and to change the DNS settings to the ones your ISP provides.

Im giving up on vudu. Twice I've rented something and it would not play past the intro. Then vudu says to try later. Later? Friends are here NOW to watch a movie. This has happened both times I've used vudu. Its ok for free trailer watching, but that is about it. Oh.. I have max speed isp connection thru mediacom so I know that is not the issue. And switching to wired connection does not help matters at all.
I finally had to rent our movie thru directv and it played flawless. BTW, I rented the SD version from vudu just to avoid issues. Didnt matter.
Im using vudu thru a LG BR 390. Netflix always plays 100% perfect.
So as to vudu... whats the point? Obviously they are not up to par.

I have the 390 and since I connected via ethernet cable I have vitually no problems. I have watched 5 full HDX movies with only 4 total brief 'glitches' that didn't stop the movie but looked messed up for a couple seconds. Overall very happy with Vudu..far better than Comcast On Demand for pay movies! Vudu has the best user interface in the biz. Just wish they had a better selection of big name movies for rent. If Comcast was smart they would team up with Vudu and use their system for pay per view movies.

Is there any way to tell on Vudu if a title is archivable or not before a purchase?

Is there any way to tell on Vudu if a title is archivable or not before a purchase?

Not that I am aware of.

I just purchased a Vudu BK100 box last night at Best Buy. I was told by customer service that the box is capped at a download speed of 4Mbs, so some HDX movies are taking 6 hours to download to my box even though I have a 25Mbs connection. The only other option appears to be to get the beta OS (Brazil) and then I will be able to stream HDX, but not store it on my hard drive. Is this correct ?
Seems like a really limited piece of hardware.

I just purchased a Vudu BK100 box last night at Best Buy. I was told by customer service that the box is capped at a download speed of 4Mbs, so some HDX movies are taking 6 hours to download to my box even though I have a 25Mbs connection. The only other option appears to be to get the beta OS (Brazil) and then I will be able to stream HDX, but not store it on my hard drive. Is this correct ?
Seems like a really limited piece of hardware.

I would hope that after the Brazil beta is done that they would make some changes to BX100 to allow it to stream or download and store.

I would hope that after the Brazil beta is done that they would make some changes to BX100 to allow it to stream or download and store.

I also hope that this is the case. It would be nice to get Brazil's (instant HDX) stream functionality on top of the existing p2p functionality of the current BK100 boxes. I have not tried Brazil, but it "appears" that it only streams content. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

As it stands, given a choice, I'd choose to keep the existing p2p model. My fear (I'm speculating here) is that Vudu "might" be looking to "completely" replace p2p with streams.

I also hope that this is the case. It would be nice to get Brazil's (instant HDX) stream functionality on top of the existing p2p functionality of the current BK100 boxes. I have not tried Brazil, but it "appears" that it only streams content. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

As it stands, given a choice, I'd choose to keep the existing p2p model. My fear (I'm speculating here) is that Vudu "might" be looking to "completely" replace p2p with streams.

I would hope not. I enjoy our vudu HDX experience for what it is. I tried Brazil, it worked ok, but we lost access to the stuff stored on the drive (rentals not watched yet) unless we switched back to Amadeus. Honestly, I don't see any roadblocks in offering both options on the BX100.

I'm going to get Brazil, hopefully today. I didnt realize that I could boot into either system, Brazil or the p2p one. I'll bet that they are integrated some day.
One thing that I do wish they would change: On the p2p system, if you start a download of a HDX movie... thats it for the box until that movie is 100% downloaded. You can not stream anything else. I wish for the ability of the OS to interrupt the HDX download while you were streaming say an HD movie,, then start it up again when the movie was done.

My Vudu box repeatedly crashed during my use of the Beta Brazil software, and last night it crashed permanently.

Today, I found out from customer service that Vudu does not offer a repair service, so the only option I would have to replace my unit would be to buy a new box, or a refurbished one. So it appears that the Vudu box you buy today, should be considered to be a disposable item. :(

sorry to hear

or you could pick up an LG 390: they can transfer any purchased movies to the new box

Fortunately I hadn't purchased any movies, so the only thing that I have put effort into is my wish list.

I hadn't thought about the LG, that is an option. Has anyone had both the box, and an LG player? Can you stream HDX on the LG?

Fortunately I hadn't purchased any movies, so the only thing that I have put effort into is my wish list.

I hadn't thought about the LG, that is an option. Has anyone had both the box, and an LG player? Can you stream HDX on the LG?

VUDU HDX streaming on the LG BD390 is great so long as your bandwidth supports HDX.

Thanks, I just tested at 28mb, so no problem there!!

Question on the LG, are you able to preview a title before buying, as you are on the Vudu box running Brazil?

My Vudu box repeatedly crashed during my use of the Beta Brazil software, and last night it crashed permanently.

Today, I found out from customer service that Vudu does not offer a repair service, so the only option I would have to replace my unit would be to buy a new box, or a refurbished one. So it appears that the Vudu box you buy today, should be considered to be a disposable item. :(

That is not true. If I bought one today I would have a one year warranty. Now the three units I got two years ago are out of warranty. So I would expect if I had any issues they would be toast. A new unit is under $150. It wouldn't be worth trying to repair an old unit since if there were repairs it would be over $100 anyway.
My three boxes have been working fine with Brazil.

Question on the LG, are you able to preview a title before buying, as you are on the VUDU box running Brazil?

The embedded version in the LG is like Brazil. Well actually Brazil is like the embedded version since the embedded version was out before Brazil.
Plus isn't Brazil still Beta

Anyway, to answer the question, yes you can preview the first few minutes of many titles.

That is not true. If I bought one today I would have a one year warranty. Now the three units I got two years ago are out of warranty. So I would expect if I had any issues they would be toast. A new unit is under $150. It wouldn't be worth trying to repair an old unit since if there were repairs it would be over $100 anyway.
My three boxes have been working fine with Brazil.

In my opinion, one year is not old, even for electronics, and a one year old item should at least be repairable, not disposable, but I guess that is the mindset in current society.

The embedded version in the LG is like Brazil. Well actually Brazil is like the embedded version since the embedded version was out before Brazil.
Plus isn't Brazil still Beta

Anyway, to answer the question, yes you can preview the first few minutes of many titles.

Thanks, that is good to know. Yes Brazil is still in Beta, and my experience has been that it is rather buggy. I also found it disconcerting that the Vudu tech, I talked to today, said he hadn't heard of any crashes with Brazil, but all you have to do is go on Vudu's own discussion forum, and read the beta thread, and see all the people who have had the same problem.

It is unfortunate, since I think Brazil has real potential. If the LG works without lag, frequent interruptions, and crashes, that seems to be the obvious choice. Perhaps it is a hardware limitation within the Vudu box, that the LG doesn't have?

Vudu is moving away from the stand alone box, which is probably why there isn't a repair service.

Thanks, that is good to know. Yes Brazil is still in Beta, and my experience has been that it is rather buggy. I also found it disconcerting that the Vudu tech, I talked to today, said he hadn't heard of any crashes with Brazil, but all you have to do is go on Vudu's own discussion forum, and read the beta thread, and see all the people who have had the same problem.

It is unfortunate, since I think Brazil has real potential. If the LG works without lag, frequent interruptions, and crashes, that seems to be the obvious choice. Perhaps it is a hardware limitation within the Vudu box, that the LG doesn't have?

I have zero problems with Brazil and my three VUDU boxes. For me it works they same as my LGBD390 does. Although the LB can bitstream the DD+ while the VUDU boxes transcode it to Dolby Digital.

In my opinion, one year is not old, even for electronics, and a one year old item should at least be repairable, not disposable, but I guess that is the mindset in current society.

Repairs are expensive, and when you have a lower cost item, it makes more sense to replace when the repair cost approaches the price of a new unit.

Why repair an item if you can get a new one for around the same cost with a new warranty. It wouldn't make much sense to repair it.

I would have no problem repairing a more expensive item since it is cost effective.

I have zero problems with Brazil and my three VUDU boxes. For me it works they same as my LGBD390 does. Although the LB can bitstream the DD+ while the VUDU boxes transcode it to Dolby Digital.

Amazing!! Since many others report problems with both devices. Maybe, what others see as problems, you don't??

Or, as you said over on the Vudu forum:

"I haven't watched too much with those VUDU boxes, but I have watched the trailers with zero issues, used the menu navigation with zero issues and watched most of two or three movies with no issues."

Have you watched more titles on those Vudu boxes, not just trailers? My experience was from watching many titles, as not every movie would cause a crash, and re-boot. But, perhaps I just got a bad one.

Repairs are expensive, and when you have a lower cost item, it makes more sense to replace when the repair cost approaches the price of a new unit.

Why repair an item if you can get a new one for around the same cost with a new warranty. It wouldn't make much sense to repair it.

I would have no problem repairing a more expensive item since it is cost effective.

How do you know what the repair cost would be, since it is not offered? Even if the repair cost is half of the cost or more of a new device, it is a good thing to keep used equipment out of landfills.

Amazing!! Since many others report problems with both devices. Maybe, what others see as problems, you don't??

I have no reboots, I have no streaming issues. I only use my VUDU boxes for watching movies/TV shows. So as far as watching movies/TV shows there are no issues. I always get three HDX bars(initially it starts with one HDX bar and after a few seconds it jumps up to three HDX bars and stays there). I can even have two boxes streaming simultaneously and will get three HDX bars on each one. Now if I try streaming with three of them they will drop down to one or two HDX bars.

The only issue I had in the beginning was with the DNS servers. I needed to manually change the DNS servers to what my ISP uses.(otherwise I would not consistently get three HDX bars) But once I did that I had zero issues streaming.

So I can watch an HDX movie from beginning to end with no restarts or buffering. I don't know how other people could see any problems from that. I just know I have three VUDU boxes and one LG BD390 and I have no issues streaming movies to any of them. I don't know why other people might be having problems. I have around seventy devices on my gigabit network now with Internet access and my DLINK DGL4500 gigabit router and twelve gigabit switches have no problems with any of the devices. I easily hit 850mbs+ throughput speeds between the PCs on the network. 100mbs speeds are certainly no issue with those slower devices.

How do you know what the repair cost would be, since it is not offered? Even if the repair cost is half of the cost or more of a new device, it is a good thing to keep used equipment out of landfills.

The true Labor cost alone for any electronic device is rather high. Plus the cost of the parts and then you have the cost of shipping both ways for an out of warranty repair. All that adds up.

Out of warranty repairs for other electronic devices can bet rather high and I would expect the VUDU box to be no different if they had that service. They obviously don't want to deal with the hassle.

Amazing!! Since many others report problems with both devices. Maybe, what others see as problems, you don't??

Or, as you said over on the Vudu forum:

"I haven't watched too much with those VUDU boxes, but I have watched the trailers with zero issues, used the menu navigation with zero issues and watched most of two or three movies with no issues."

Have you watched more titles on those Vudu boxes, not just trailers? My experience was from watching many titles, as not every movie would cause a crash, and re-boot. But, perhaps I just got a bad one.

When I wrote that(which has been awhile now), yes I had only watched the trailers. I've watched easily over twenty HDX titles since then because of the 99 cent HDX titles that were offered. As well as a few full price HDX titles. I did have an issue with one title, but it was a problem with the encoding of the title where the audio and video were out of sync by seven seconds. They were going to submit a bug report to re-encode the title, but I ended up renting the title from Netflix and watching the BD instead. So I never tried that title again on the VUDU.
They gave me a credit for the rental after I contacted them.

EDIT: Splinter was the title I had problems with that was encoded improperly

Well.. that is good to know. Perhaps I just got a lemon. Hopefully my future experience will be better.

I just ran across this new box that's supposed to hit the market in March for $129 and it supposedly can browse content on "local" devices. It does not come with an internal hard drive, but it has USB ports for external drives. The UI looks interesting too.

http://www.gearlog.com/2010/01/watch_out_roku_here_comes_popb.php
http://gizmodo.com/5439293/syabas-popbox-get-ready-for-the-new-media-streamer-champ

I just ran across this new box that's supposed to hit the market in March for $129 and it supposedly can browse content on "local" devices. It does not come with an internal hard drive, but it has USB ports for external drives. The UI looks interesting too.

http://www.gearlog.com/2010/01/watch_out_roku_here_comes_popb.php
http://gizmodo.com/5439293/syabas-popbox-get-ready-for-the-new-media-streamer-champ

The Popbox is/will be a media streamer. Like the Xtreamer, A110, etc. VUDU is a different type of product.

Given that it has a hard drive, I wonder if this one will support p2p and video purchases.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/06/new-lg-bd590-blu-ray-players-sports-a-250gb-hard-drive/

Home Theater System:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/06/vudu-comes-to-lg-blu-ray-home-theater-systems/

At CES today Vudu announced streaming to a number of BD Vendor's players and to selected TVs. I have a Samsung(Vendor included in announcement) 2550 that can stream from Netflix and Pandora. Is the Vudu streaming such that I will be able to have a firmware update and pick up Vudu streaming capability?

Jack

So is the Vudu set top box pretty much done with now? It seems like its either incorporated into a Blu-ray player or into some of the newer TVs.

So is the Vudu set top box pretty much done with now? It seems like its either incorporated into a Blu-ray player or into some of the newer TVs.

A while back a Vudu official announced that Vudu was a "Software & Services" company not a Hardware Products company. Supposedly the Vudu Box will continue to be supported, but it now looks more like a proof-of-concept and not the way forward for Vudu.

Here is an article in today's NYTimes Gadgetwise about Vudu's services expansion.

http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/06/vudu-expands-its-service-to-more-tv-makers/

A while back a Vudu official announced that Vudu was a "Software & Services" company not a Hardware Products company. Supposedly the Vudu Box will continue to be supported, but it now looks more like a proof-of-concept and not the way forward for Vudu.

Here is an article in today's NYTimes Gadgetwise about Vudu's services expansion.

http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/06/vudu-expands-its-service-to-more-tv-makers/

WOW! That will be a big expansion!

“We are going to be in millions of devices by end of 2010 and tens of millions by 2011.”

Will Vudu apps be supported on their own box? Dissapointing if it does not.

Will Vudu apps be supported on their own box? Dissapointing if it does not.

I agree, I'd like to get an upgrade from Vudu Labs to Vudu Apps, without having to give up Amadeus for Brazil.

Video of a not very impressive demo of Vudu Apps on a Misubishi LCD.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/07/vudu-apps-demoed-on-mitsubishis-2010-lcd/

My question to VUDU:
"Will I be able to use VUDU Apps on my LG 42LH50 TV, which currently has VUDU access? Can I expect an update?"

VUDU's response:
"Thank you for contacting VUDU Customer Care. At this time the VUDU labs are currently unavailable on the LG devices due to licensing restrictions, we hope to have this issue worked out with the various companies and services that make up the VUDU labs but currently do not have any timeframe in which this may occur."

So, who knows, might or might not happen.

I can not watch vudu because of constant buffering on HD and HDX. I have a lg390 with charter cable. Speedtest gives me a constant 13mps downstream. I have a belkin gigabit router.

The DNS server on the player is the same as on my router.

Any help?

The only issue I had in the beginning was with the DNS servers. I needed to manually change the DNS servers to what my ISP uses.(otherwise I would not consistently get three HDX bars) But once I did that I had zero issues streaming.


How do you do this?

How do you do this?

Go into the network settings of the BD390 and manully enter the DNS servers IPs that are listed in your router. The DNS Ip addresses that your router pulls from your INternet provider.

This is what I had to do and once I entered those DNS Ips, I had no problem getting 3 HDX bars consistently without any issues during the length of a movie.

Hmmm... I just tried that, and I am still only getting two bars, max. I have tested download speeds of 20-28mbps.

I haven't had any crashes lately, but the Brazil software is still laggy, and there are occasional buffering pauses.

Go into the network settings of the BD390 and manully enter the DNS servers IPs that are listed in your router. The DNS Ip addresses that your router pulls from your INternet provider.

This is what I had to do and once I entered those DNS Ips, I had no problem getting 3 HDX bars consistently without any issues during the length of a movie.

I tried that, no luck. I think it is subjectively actually slower since changing the DNS. Thanks for the help though.
Is the service just not ready for prime time?

I tried that, no luck. I think it is subjectively actually slower since changing the DNS. Thanks for the help though.
Is the service just not ready for prime time?

It works great for me with my LG BD390 and my three stand alone VUDU boxes. I have no issues streaming HDX with any of them. I can stream two of the concurrently and get three HDX bars on each. If I stream three concurrently, then they drop down to one or two HDX bars.

Hey aaron, why don't you just put that in your signature, so you don't have to keep repeating it. ;)

hey aaron, why don't you just put that in your signature, so you don't have to keep repeating it. ;)

:)

It works great for me with my LG BD390 and my three stand alone VUDU boxes. I have no issues streaming HDX with any of them. I can stream two of the concurrently and get three HDX bars on each. If I stream three concurrently, then they drop down to one or two HDX bars.

Were the bitrates of each quality/bar level ever determined? I've seen some suggest the first bar is ~4.5Mbps and the third bar is ~9Mbps, but what about the second bar?

Hmmm... I just tried that, and I am still only getting two bars, max. I have tested download speeds of 20-28mbps.

I haven't had any crashes lately, but the Brazil software is still laggy, and there are occasional buffering pauses.

I think some members are reporting "Powerboost" results with their speed tests, which are not representative of available throughput for streaming service. Many cable providers like Cox, Comcast, and Charter temporarily boost throughput for the first 15-30 seconds of any new transfer. This produces speed test results that overstate sustained throughput by 200-500%.

The only simple way to get a realistic picture of throughput on many providers is to download a file that takes significantly longer than 15-20 seconds to transfer. You might try this 1GB file (ftp://ftp1.optonline.net/test1024) at this ftp site (ftp://ftp1.optonline.net/). Take note of the throughput after the first 30 seconds.

Were the bitrates of each quality/bar level ever determined? I've seen some suggest the first bar is ~4.5Mbps and the third bar is ~9Mbps, but what about the second bar?



..................

Yes the HDX is between 4.5mbs and 9/10mbs. I would think that 2 HDX bars is in the middle of that.

Here is the solution that worked for me from Vudu support. I have not yet watched a full movie, but it work when I watched the trailers, no more buffering. I get 3 bars for HD, 1 for HDX with the rare buffer:

"Thanks for your patience while we troubleshoot this issue. Typically, the DNS that your router pulls from your ISP work well but they might be routing you incorrectly to the VUDU servers. Let's try the following:

1. Open up a web browser and clear the history and cache.

2. Navigate to http://speedtest.vudu.com/cdn1/ and run a bandwidth test. What results do you get?

3. Run the Google DNS benchmark utility to see which DNS servers work best for your connection. This test will take up to 15 minutes and will give you a list of 3 DSN servers that will give you the best results.
http://code.google.com/p/namebench/

4. Set the primary and secondary DNS servers in your router settings according to the Google benchmark results.

5. Finally, try watching an HDX trailer on VUDU to see if you get better streaming results."

Anyone know a way to see what the current $.99 rental is each day from the web site? I have been renting alot of these lately but I am travelling a bunch over the next couple of months and would like to take advantage of them when I am back on the weekends.

Anyone know a way to see what the current $.99 rental is each day from the web site? I have been renting alot of these lately but I am travelling a bunch over the next couple of months and would like to take advantage of them when I am back on the weekends.

I know you can see it here
http://twitter.com/vudufans

but I don't know how you order it from the website. Kind of annoying honestly cause there have been a few I would have liked to rent at lunch and have them ready when I get home.

Anyone know a way to see what the current $.99 rental is each day from the web site? I have been renting alot of these lately but I am travelling a bunch over the next couple of months and would like to take advantage of them when I am back on the weekends.

Its real easy to order movies from the web site. I do this with HDX on my dedicated VUDU boxes so they are ready when I get home. Just follow the VUDUFans twitter and head over to the website and order....

Its real easy to order movies from the web site. I do this with HDX on my dedicated VUDU boxes so they are ready when I get home. Just follow the VUDUFans twitter and head over to the website and order....

Hmm, odd, when I got to the vudu site and look at the movie listed as the 99cent MOTD it shows up full price.

Hmm, odd, when I got to the vudu site and look at the movie listed as the 99cent MOTD it shows up full price.

I just checked online and "Knocked Up (Theatrical)" is listed as 99 cents on the web site. There are two versions of this movie. Maybe you were looking at the Unrated version.

Maybe that's the problem I've been having. But in the past when there has only been 1 version, I don't always get the 99cent price on the website. I wonder if possibly the website is being cached at work and I'm getting stale pages.

Maybe that's the problem I've been having. But in the past when there has only been 1 version, I don't always get the 99cent price on the website. I wonder if possibly the website is being cached at work and I'm getting stale pages.

Yes that could be the issue. I know that some of the clients I work at have caching proxy servers and sometimes I get yesterday's news site for the first few loads.

Yes that could be the issue. I know that some of the clients I work at have caching proxy servers and sometimes I get yesterday's news site for the first few loads.

Yep, I bet that's it and since I only go to vudu site once in a while from work I'm not noticing it. Eithe way, I'll just go there from my phone now. Wish they'd come up with an android app like they did the iphone.

Maybe that's the problem I've been having. But in the past when there has only been 1 version, I don't always get the 99cent price on the website. I wonder if possibly the website is being cached at work and I'm getting stale pages.

I think that is my issue, I have now ordered two since posting and they came up at the .99 price. However, I am travelling and not on the newtwork as usual.

Thanks

Say hello to the Vudu-Mart service... W-M is not a brand that I want to be associated with... but if the support for the Vudu "box" continues and the video quality of the service is not degraded... When my friends ask... I guess my excuse will be that I bought the "box" and the service before the take over.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/technology/23video.html?ref=business

^^^

WOW congratulations to Vudu :)

does this mean the end of the 'after dark' menu?

does this mean the end of the 'after dark' menu?

Most likely... W-M has a history of censoring content. They're a "Family Values" kind of company if you ask me. I never understood how anyone gets their "Family Values" from watching video content. I can already envision episodes of the Sopranos with Tony saying... "God darn it... this is freaking unacceptable... Christopher we need to have this son of his mother hung by his genitals until he freaking goes to meet his maker..." What about the Bada Bing scenes... will we get fully clothed pole dancers?... Nonsense... I feel the same way about what is happening to Tiger Woods... No golfer I know buys products that Tiger endorses because they think he's faithful to his wife or because he's a model citizen. Golfers buy what he endorses because they envision that the products he endorses and "supposedly" uses will enhance their GOLF GAME... not their freaking moral values. Get over it... Conservative Corporate America!... Mind your own freaking family business.

My apologies for straying off topic...

not a big deal anyway if we lose the after dark channels

The big news is that Vudu will continue to be a player in this market and hopefully the quality of their service is maintained

The announcement is all over the news shows this morning

not a big deal anyway if we lose the after dark channels

To me it is a big deal... not necessarily because of loosing the After Dark channels or any porn content... but because W-M might remove offensive language from the videos. They already do so for music CDs that have language that "they" consider offensive. Given the size of their market content owners might compromise the integrity of the content (the director/musician version) to one that pleases the owner of such large distribution channel. In my book when a distributor "changes" or removes content instead of rating it for certain audiences as in... "Material not suitable for those under 18"... I call that preemptive censorship. I'm an adult... I do not need "ANYONE" to hold my hand while I cross the street... No matter how you slice it... if they remove the content without giving existing costumers a choice (refund or alternative channel)... it is censorship.

Tamanaco,

If a distributor wants to sell alternate versions of a product (music, movie, etc.) that they believe their customers would be more likely purchase and the product/content owner agrees to have their product/content modified, then that is their right.

If the government forced someone to alter their product, that would be censorship. Walmart is not forcing any movie producer or musical artist/s to change their product/content. They do not have to agree to have their product/content altered.

No one is forcing you to purchase a product from Walmart. Your choice is to buy it somewhere else.

You have the freedom to purchase what you deem to be valuable. Walmart (and all businesses) have the freedom to negotiate with the providers of products/content to maximize sales or for any other reason.

Unless the government is forcing you to do it, it is not censorship.

Does Wal-mart not currently sell unaltered rated R films?

But back to the main story. Yes, this is a good thing. It should make people more confident in getting devices that support Vudu.

Tamanaco,

If a distributor wants to sell alternate versions of a product (music, movie, etc.) that they believe their customers would be more likely purchase and the product/content owner agrees to have their product/content modified, then that is their right.

If the government forced someone to alter their product, that would be censorship. Walmart is not forcing any movie producer or musical artist/s to change their product/content. They do not have to agree to have their product/content altered.

No one is forcing you to purchase a product from Walmart. Your choice is to buy it somewhere else.

You have the freedom to purchase what you deem to be valuable. Walmart (and all businesses) have the freedom to negotiate with the providers of products/content to maximize sales or for any other reason.

Unless the government is forcing you to do it, it is not censorship.

You are comparing apples to oranges. I already own Vudu box and when I bought it I made sure that Vudu was not censoring the content. If the service is going to be modified (Censored content - I'm going to get "less" than what I paid for) then a refund is in order so that I can execute the "rightful choice" that you mentioned above.

Government is not the only factor that impacts your freedom... when a company becomes as powerful as W-M your choices might be taken away. W-M is known for going into small communities and destroying the existing ecosystem of small business... so in effect... once they come into your community you get no choice of where to buy your goods after a few months. They drive small grocery stores, video stores, hardware stores... Mom and Pop stores out of business. This is not as apparent in large urban areas, but in smaller communities in rural America there are no other brick and mortar stores left after W-M comes in and so folks are "forced" to shop at W-M or online if possible. W-M is also know for using their muscle to force manufacturer and distributors to lower their prices by pitting them against each other unfairly. They put them separated meeting rooms at the same time while the W-M executives move from conference room to conference room asking the prospective supplier that they just got a better price from a competitor that's sitting next door. They keep playing musical chairs until they get the last penny from their cost. Everyone loses because these suppliers end up making goods where they make very small profits and have to get rid of workers or pay them less to be able to meet the cost demands of W-M... So... NO!... I don't believe that a company as powerful as W-M should have the freedom to dictate what I consume or on how they can change the ecosystem of small business while using such unfair business practices. Yeah, I can get a DVD player for $30, but what have I compromised? US jobs, US salaries, US worker's benefits, fair business practices, variety in the small business market place, personal helpful service instead of "Look in Isle 23" and my integrity... I refuse to do so.

well we are getting too far off topic now: enough please

FYI

As youve seen in recent press, we are shifting away from selling devices built by VUDU towards embedding our service in devices built by others. You can already find VUDU on Blu-ray Players and HDTVs from several manufacturers and it should be available more broadly in the coming weeks. In light of this change, VUDU will no longer be
manufacturing or selling VUDU-branded devices. As a result, well be
closing the online store for purchasing VUDU boxes and accessories on March 1st 2010.

Kobie

will you continue to support Vudu boxes already in the field?

FYI

As youve seen in recent press, we are shifting away from selling devices built by VUDU towards embedding our service in devices built by others. You can already find VUDU on Blu-ray Players and HDTVs from several manufacturers and it should be available more broadly in the coming weeks. In light of this change, VUDU will no longer be
manufacturing or selling VUDU-branded devices. As a result, well be
closing the online store for purchasing VUDU boxes and accessories on March 1st 2010.

I expected this to happen at some point but as long as I can still use my three VUDU boxes I will be happy.

If they stop providing content for the existing VUDU boxes then that would be very surprising. Although I also have an LGBD390 that streams content from VUDU. The actual boxes are nice since I can download something ahead of time and take it with me to my girlfriends to watch. Since her 1mbs DSL connection is too slow to stream HD content.

Kobie

will you continue to support Vudu boxes already in the field?

To expand on this question... will they continue to support Amadeus (p2p model) on the Vudu box going forward or are they shifting completely to streaming (Brazil)?... A hybrid system (p2p & Stream) using the Vudu box, without having to reset the box, would be optimal. Short of that, expanding the services (Vudu Apps) to match those in Brazil is also acceptable. I have enough bandwidth, but my sister's house is too far away from the telco's local office to get faster DSL service. Her speeds peak at about 1Mbps from time to time and so the p2p model has been working perfectly for her. Streaming will probably not be an option that her Vudu box can handle given the bandwidth limitations.

Kobie

will you continue to support Vudu boxes already in the field?

Sorry. I wasn't clear with that post. We are a VUDU dealer and that was an excerpt from an email we received from them.

Sorry. I wasn't clear with that post. We are a VUDU dealer and that was an excerpt from an email we received from them.

Too bad. However, I can bet a new, cheap standalone box (ala Roku) is on the drawing board as we speak....wouldn't surprise me to see WM gobble up a small company like Roku just for that reason (one that doesn't have their own streaming tech but just provides the "portal"...

Sorry. I wasn't clear with that post. We are a VUDU dealer and that was an excerpt from an email we received from them.

Too bad. However, I can bet a new, cheap standalone box (ala Roku) is on the drawing board as we speak....wouldn't surprise me to see WM gobble up a small company like Roku just for that reason (one that doesn't have their own streaming tech but just provides the "portal"...

Vudu update with Twitter and Facebook integration. http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/02/vudu-rolls-in-facebook-and-twitter-integration/ Not that I care much for it, but is this an update that will be offered on Amadeus. I need to let everyone of my Vudu viewing preferences like I need a hole in the head. There have been so many "useful" features requests by Vudu users, but I don't recall anyone asking for Facebook and Twiter integration. But... I might be wrong. How do these features enhance my viewing experience?... I already have enough online threads to follow during the day... I don't need another thread to follow. For me... TV viewing is a "passive" entertainment experience and so I'm not too crazy about the idea of having the entertainment industry trying to make it into an "interactive" one. Again... that's just me.

I think this application services the crowd that love to document every move they make on facebook and twitter. Once I retire - I may have more time to play around with social networking sites but for now it is pretty uesless to me. Also, If I want to find out what people really think about a paticular movie - I find the netflix rating system a better guage.

I think that with socal nets, that are of close friends, this is a great feature for the VUDU, but I am not a big fan of "publishing" all of your life events on the internet.

I have a friend that has his music, driving, and exercise events logged to twitter. Do I really need to know how far he drove, where he drove to, how many calories he burned while lisiting to what songs on his iPod? Microblogging is ok as long as it doens't go overboard.

I'm hoping to find a good deal on an XL box now that they are being discontinued. Perhaps we'll see dealers offloading current inventory and demo units in the near future as a result of the announcement.

Jeff

Kobie,

I'm still hoping you guys can swing a deal with Sony similar to what Netflix did. I'd love to watch VUDU stuff over my PS3.

That would be surprising to be available on the PS3. Although maybe it will come to the new TiVo Premiere? With 1080P output and HDMI 1.3 it will be able to output it at the HDX resolution of 1080P24 and bitstrream the DD+.

BB still has the Vudu box on their website. Should I order that or wait for the WallyWorld special to come out maybe at some point. Is the HDX really that good ?

They are not making the VUDU boxes any more. They will still support them but they are concentrating on the embedded versions of VUDU that are in the TVs and BD players.

And yes, HDX is the best quality you can get except for a BD.

Well, after 3 months of trouble shooting looks like VUDU streaming in its current state is impossible for me. It should also be very difficult for any member on the east coast, that has Comcast.

What has been uncovered it that cross country streams are next to impossible for Comcast to support at this time. Their service is very good locally and speeds streaming anything up and down the Eastern seaboard is fine. However, once you try LA or SF things fall apart.

This activity was confirmed by senior tech visit. I informed him that Walmart just bought VUDU and they'd be getting a lot of calls if the service doesn't improve. He said most people can't even plug in a DVD player and isn't to worried about it.

My only hope is Fios one day comes to my neighborhood or VUDU builds a server farm on the east coast. Not holding my breath on either.

I just did a quick review between Vudu and Xbox's Zune HD video here if anyone wants to check it out.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=18267188#post18267188

I just did a quick review between Vudu and Xbox's Zune HD video here if anyone wants to check it out.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=18267188#post18267188

You said "...So much so that I am now going to be selling my Vudu box.
Not because it isn't worth it, but because I already have a Xbox and don't see the justification of owning basically two identical movie downloading services.."


I have both plus other VOD services. the reason to have both VUDU and the Xbox 360 is because, no service gives you all the movies available. You need a combination of services to be able to watch all the good titles from a Digital download.
I use VUDU streaming as my primary source with the Xbox 360 as my secondary and the PS3 as my tertiary source.

None of the services are identical, and actually VUDU has the most HD choices of any of them. Which is why VUDU is my primary source since they have the widest amount of HD choices available.

I don't have the vudu so I can't speak to its catalog but isn't the real difference between them and zune the older stuff? I looked at a few of the recent movies and they seem to be on both for the most part (now that zune got fox on board I believe they have all the major studios). Or are there newer releases only on vudu?

Personally the older movies I get on netflix streaming.

Well, after 3 months of trouble shooting looks like VUDU streaming in its current state is impossible for me. It should also be very difficult for any member on the east coast, that has Comcast.

What has been uncovered it that cross country streams are next to impossible for Comcast to support at this time. Their service is very good locally and speeds streaming anything up and down the Eastern seaboard is fine. However, once you try LA or SF things fall apart.

This activity was confirmed by senior tech visit. I informed him that Walmart just bought VUDU and they'd be getting a lot of calls if the service doesn't improve. He said most people can't even plug in a DVD player and isn't to worried about it.

My only hope is Fios one day comes to my neighborhood or VUDU builds a server farm on the east coast. Not holding my breath on either.

I have FIOS and have some difficulty with HDX movies. No problem at all with HX movies (East Coast--NJ). But I didn't have any problem with HX movies with Comcast either. HDX didn't arrive until after I switched to FIOS so I can't really make a comparison.

I also have FiOS and wasn't able to make it through an HDX movie without rebuffering a few times. VUDU recommended I switched from Verizon's DNS servers to google's. I haven't watched a movie since I made the switch, but I have had less problems with DNS latency on my PC since.

How do you switch servers like you descibe?

Jack

I switched DNS servers, second attempt, seems it's working out much better this time. Was able to watch a HDX movie for the 1st time since Nov of 09 without interuption.

I can't imagine most Walmart customers will be able to do this. While it isn't difficult it does require some technical know how and the ability to trouble shoot the issue. I doubt most people will get that far.

I wonder why a dns change is even necessary for this.... unless the same content is coming in from multiple places dns should have little bearing on the speed.

I switched off my cable companies dns servers a few years ago to the opendns ones and page loads did become much faster but my download speed is the same.

How do you switch servers like you descibe?

Jack

Google has directions on their site.
http://code.google.com/speed/public-dns/docs/using.html

I wonder why a dns change is even necessary for this.... unless the same content is coming in from multiple places dns should have little bearing on the speed.


I agree 100%, but I guess that is exactly what they are doing and when the DNS is delayed it is causing buffering when the source is switched.

Isn't Vudu P2P? That's like the original music pirating service; I forget the name. Getting pieces of the source from multiple locations helps performance I think I remember reading once. It can play havoc with some neighborhood wireless(Wi-FI) services though. I was told that it would bring some systems with limited bandwidth to their knees. I once started a email discussion with Vudu Patrick on this matter but never completed it as my access changed from wi-fi.

Jack

Isn't Vudu P2P? That's like the original music pirating service; I forget the name. Getting pieces of the source from multiple locations helps performance I think I remember reading once. It can play havoc with some neighborhood wireless(Wi-FI) services though. I was told that it would bring some systems with limited bandwidth to their knees. I once started a email discussion with Vudu Patrick on this matter but never completed it as my access changed from wi-fi.

Jack

The original Vudu software was P2P, and the "new and improved" Vudu software that is being imbedded in TV's (and can also be used on the classic Vudu hardware) is NOT P2P.

The original Vudu software was P2P, and the "new and improved" Vudu software that is being imbedded in TV's (and can also be used on the classic Vudu hardware) is NOT P2P.

When you say "new and improved" I guess you mean for those that have the new devices with embedded Vudu software. Most if not all of these new systems lack sufficient local storage to support the old P2P model. At least for now... as some of these new devices have USB ports for external storage, but they're rendered useless with the restrictions that studios put on streaming media distributors (Most or all studios do not allow the storage of streamed (rented content) in removable storage) Correct me if I'm wrong, but the P2P model works better for those that do not have extra bandwidth and adequate internal storage. I guess Brazil is the future of Vudu, but I believe the old system has its Pros. The new model requires a more reliable and robust connection that the the old one. This is the reason for recent complains about buffering. Has Vudu given up on the P2P model or can those of us with the classic Vudu box expect a hybrid system (without the need to reset the box) that will give us the best of the streaming & P2P worlds?

The original Vudu software was P2P, and the "new and improved" Vudu software that is being imbedded in TV's (and can also be used on the classic Vudu hardware) is NOT P2P.

I'd like to add to this..If you have a VUDU box, the new software is Brazil, the original software is Amadaeus....Brazil is still in beta at this time, there are still bugs that need to be fixed...

I hope the team at VUDU will double their efforts to fix these problems, because as more and more people access VUDU via TV or set-top, continued glitches will create more support calls.....

Isn't Vudu P2P? That's like the original music pirating service; I forget the name. Getting pieces of the source from multiple locations helps performance I think I remember reading once. It can play havoc with some neighborhood wireless(Wi-FI) services though. I was told that it would bring some systems with limited bandwidth to their knees. I once started a email discussion with Vudu Patrick on this matter but never completed it as my access changed from wi-fi.

Jack

The embedded version of VUDU uses a content delivery network and streams directly. No more waiting for HDX if you have the bandwidth.

The VUDU set top box has a beta that you can sign up for called Brazil. The original VUDU software is called Amadeus and you can switch between the two versions anytime just by selecting a menu option.

Since Vudu has stopped making the retail hardware - will they drop support for existing hardware?

What about the VuDu XL. I'm trying to get away from the monthly charges - I only want to pay for what I watch so I'm considering the Vudu XL - is it still available?

I'm not sure if I want it as an earlier post mentioned with a 15Mbps connection it took 3 hours to download a HD movie - is that correct?

In theory - if you want to watch a 2 hour HD movie you'd have to let it buffer for 1 hour before watching it. Is there anything out there that is any better?

I have an XBox 360 (in another room) but do not pay the $50 membership. I'm looking fo HD VOD but I don't see alot out there (yet)

Why doesn't Vudu support HTPCs via a software app? If they did this then most of the issues/problems discussed in this forum would be resolved? It is absolutely criminal that providers are going the route of requiring the customer to buy specific hardware in the form of a specific model of TV or Bluray player in order to use their service (personally I do not plan on ever buyinh a bluray set top box, why should I when I can for a fraction of the cost use a bluray drive in my HTPC). With the planned obsolescence of these devices (most of which CANNOT be updated) it will result in a lot of pissed off customers. The advantages of supporting HTPCs via software app:
- easy updates to support new features
- can then download to disk instead of only having direct streaming option (which would alleviate several of the issues discussed in this forum)
- would place burden of disk storage on customer (where it is easiest/cheapest to address)
- would remove Vudu from having to support specific hardware
But most importantly for Vudu; would instantly open up MILLIONS of new potential customers for their service.......

Why don't we bombard them with an email campaign asking that they do this???

Why doesn't Vudu support HTPCs via a software app?
<cut>
But most importantly for Vudu; would instantly open up MILLIONS of new potential customers for their service.......

Why don't we bombard them with an email campaign asking that they do this???
Don't take this the wrong way, I like the idea of HTPC support... but....

Wal-Mart, and the Vudu marketing team before them, are heavily market (profit) oriented. If you could actually show them a plan to get "millions" of customers and still make a profit - they would be there in a heart beat (as would any for-profit competitor).

Can you be more specific about the "millions" of customers willing to pay?

I am eager to see HTPC support myself, but profit oriented businesses really care about the buck.

LT

I believe the reason there is no software app is a "restriction" put in place by the content owners not the content providers. Having streamed "purchased" content in a regular PC/HTPC hardware opens the door to unauthorized copying. In order to avoid this issue content owners require that streamed purchased content be tied to one "specific" piece of hardware where the content is held encrypted. This is the case with DVRs from cable companies. You can not take the hard drive of one cable company DVR and use in a different (same model) DVR and display the content. It won't work... the content is encrypted using an id that is unique to the specific DVR where the content was recorded. Just like cable companies don't provide users with applications to record cable encrypted content like video On-Demand, HBO, Showtime etc... so does Vudu. Remember, with a HTPC you can only record UNencrypted content from cable.

One way around this restriction is to use some kind of portable encryption/decryption key. This can be accomplished with hardware like a smartcards or USB drives that hold a unique id/key. You can then take the key and the content and play it anywhere you want as long as the player has hardware to accommodate the content and the key (USB ports and/or smartcard slots) You won't be able to watch the encrypted content unless you have the key that's is associated with it. This enforces the usage of only one copy at a time... no-key no-play. If you notice most DVRs and even the Vudu box have smartcards and smartcard slots.... It could be (I'm speculating here) that these smartcards already hold the key or part of the key to lock and unlock the content... But as far as I know, no video streaming content provider has implemented a portable key system based on portable keys or smartcards. The reason might be that the content owners do not yet allow it.

I actually asked Vudu exactly this question and the answer was there just aren't enough HTPCs out there. They'd rather try to get on TVs and Blu-ray players.

I actually asked Vudu exactly this question and the answer was there just aren't enough HTPCs out there. They'd rather try to get on TVs and Blu-ray players.

Most the "millions" of PCs and Laptops out there "are" capable of playing video AND recording video off the net... The main difference between a HTPC and a PC is the incorporation of TV turners with recording software... and now-a-days you can even get USB TV turners with the recording software for a couple dollars.

The TVs and Blu-rays that Vudu is talking about are "closed" systems.

On another note, Just want to give kudos out to the VUDU team for getting Avatar to own in HDX....I was shocked to see this, especially with the studios push for Blu-Ray adoption..I have the set-top box, and it doesn't seem VUDU is leaving us behind....I have a Samsung BD/HD player and I bought an Avatar blu-ray, got a message a firmware update was needed, I fired up my VUDU box, saw the movie was available to own in HDX, streamed it and watched in HDX glory....I will download it when I get the opportunity.....Needless to say, the disc is being returned.....Thank you again, VUDU, for making me a happy camper!!!

On the original VUDU box downloading was restricted to 4 mbps when running the "Amadeus" software. VUDU continues to support their existing hardware they even have a public beta called "Brazil" that will allow the VUDU box to stream content in the same way that the embedded VUDU does in DVD and display panels.

The great thing about streaming is there is no wait for buffing HDX movies as long as you have the bandwidth. You may want to check this out on their web site and sign up for the public beta.


Since Vudu has stopped making the retail hardware - will they drop support for existing hardware?

What about the VuDu XL. I'm trying to get away from the monthly charges - I only want to pay for what I watch so I'm considering the Vudu XL - is it still available?

I'm not sure if I want it as an earlier post mentioned with a 15Mbps connection it took 3 hours to download a HD movie - is that correct?

In theory - if you want to watch a 2 hour HD movie you'd have to let it buffer for 1 hour before watching it. Is there anything out there that is any better?

I have an XBox 360 (in another room) but do not pay the $50 membership. I'm looking fo HD VOD but I don't see alot out there (yet)

Why doesn't Vudu support HTPCs via a software app? If they did this then most of the issues/problems discussed in this forum would be resolved? It is absolutely criminal that providers are going the route of requiring the customer to buy specific hardware in the form of a specific model of TV or Bluray player in order to use their service (personally I do not plan on ever buyinh a bluray set top box, why should I when I can for a fraction of the cost use a bluray drive in my HTPC). With the planned obsolescence of these devices (most of which CANNOT be updated) it will result in a lot of pissed off customers. The advantages of supporting HTPCs via software app:
- easy updates to support new features
- can then download to disk instead of only having direct streaming option (which would alleviate several of the issues discussed in this forum)
- would place burden of disk storage on customer (where it is easiest/cheapest to address)
- would remove Vudu from having to support specific hardware
But most importantly for Vudu; would instantly open up MILLIONS of new potential customers for their service.......

Why don't we bombard them with an email campaign asking that they do this???

With cloud computing and now an entire slew of pad devices coming out - isn't the PC headed for extinction. I am not sure how adoption of HTPC's is a big market

I'd have to agree on the coming uselessness of HTPC's.

On the original VUDU box downloading was restricted to 4 mbps when running the "Amadeus" software. VUDU continues to support their existing hardware they even have a public beta called "Brazil" that will allow the VUDU box to stream content in the same way that the embedded VUDU does in DVD and display panels.

The great thing about streaming is there is no wait for buffing HDX movies as long as you have the bandwidth. You may want to check this out on their web site and sign up for the public beta.

Any disadvantages switching to Brazil? I am worried about losing quality with streaming. I don't really care that much about the couple of hours it takes to download. If I really need instant - there is always sattelite.

Im in that boat. I'll keep downloading HDX to the BX100 until I have enough speed to stream (can only get 6mbps DSL in my area). If I could get 20mbps cable I'd go for it.

Any disadvantages switching to Brazil? I am worried about losing quality with streaming. I don't really care that much about the couple of hours it takes to download. If I really need instant - there is always sattelite.


Richard, just be aware that Brazil is in beta at this time, there are bugs to contend with....I have been playing around with different functions and when it does go to commercial release, it should be very good.....I like the ability to either download a film I purchase to my box HDD, or stream it instantly from VUDU servers...Expect occasional buffering, reboots, etc, if you don't get these issues, great.....At first, these things were really bad, they have slowly been worked on....There is no loss in quality....As I said in an earlier post I viewed Avatar in HDX, the experieince was fantastic, really showed me what HDX can do.....

I have a FIOS connection, 25/15, it's been sometimes frustrating to use the Brazil beta, but if you understand it's still beta, I think it's worth your time to try it....

This is interesting. I've had the Vudu XL box for about a year and streaming just does not work on it, too many buffering issues. I can download and HDX title in about 10 hours, and the quality is nice but it's annoying to have to wait almost a day to download the movie. Now I tried the Brazil software update to allow HDX streaming but it was painful and I returned to the original software which was a few months ago and I just decided to forget about Vudu for now.

I recently purchased an LG-BD550 blu-ray player with Netflix and Vudu support. And interestly enough I was able to stream previews and trailers in HDX without an issue. This was before activating the player. I couldn't believe that it was working so good but again I had not activated the player. Tonight I activated it and bam as soon as I did that network errors, buffering problems etc. Almost everything has buffering issues and is unwatchable. The only thing that plays reasonably well are the Avatar trailers but that's about it. I can't believe this.

Oh and btw Neflix is just a joy to use. It works so well with no annoying issues like with Vudu.

If HDX was downloading in 10 hours, that means you are getting on the under 2mbps speed, which is too slow. Sounds like your HSI speed could be part of the problem.

This is interesting. I've had the Vudu XL box for about a year and streaming just does not work on it, too many buffering issues. I can download and HDX title in about 10 hours, and the quality is nice but it's annoying to have to wait almost a day to download the movie. Now I tried the Brazil software update to allow HDX streaming but it was painful and I returned to the original software which was a few months ago and I just decided to forget about Vudu for now.

I recently purchased an LG-BD550 blu-ray player with Netflix and Vudu support. And interestly enough I was able to stream previews and trailers in HDX without an issue. This was before activating the player. I couldn't believe that it was working so good but again I had not activated the player. Tonight I activated it and bam as soon as I did that network errors, buffering problems etc. Almost everything has buffering issues and is unwatchable. The only thing that plays reasonably well are the Avatar trailers but that's about it. I can't believe this.

Oh and btw Neflix is just a joy to use. It works so well with no annoying issues like with Vudu.

There must be some issue. I have no problems streaming multiple HDX titles concurrently and get no buffering problems. I'm on a FiOS 35/35 connection. HDX streaming is between 4.5mbs and 9mbs.

There must be some issue. I have no problems streaming multiple HDX titles concurrently and get no buffering problems. I'm on a FiOS 35/35 connection. HDX streaming is between 4.5mbs and 9mbs.

Hey aaronwt,

how do you have your DNS servers set up? Did you change them on the WAN side of your router? I take it you have the Actiontec? Also, what about the network settings on your BX100 boxes? I'm in a tweaking mood......;)

Don

On another note, are there any thoughts about this (FCC Approves MPAA Request, Opens Window for Pre-Disc VOD) and VUDU? I think it's great news.....There is a separate thread discussing this.....

If HDX was downloading in 10 hours, that means you are getting on the under 2mbps speed, which is too slow. Sounds like your HSI speed could be part of the problem.

Alright then can you postulate why then I was able to play new trailers in HDX without an issue as well as the run the "preview before you buy" option without any hiccups prior to activating. If indeed my speed is so bad then surely I would have had an issue with these items as well.:confused:

Can someone explain why the DNS settings and in particular DNS servers are being focused on as a source of potential performance issues? Is the device constantly invoking a client resolver to acquire data from Vudu? Is this significant because of the peer to peer nature of Vudu?

Hey aaronwt,

how do you have your DNS servers set up? Did you change them on the WAN side of your router? I take it you have the Actiontec? Also, what about the network settings on your BX100 boxes? I'm in a tweaking mood......;)

Don

I'm using a Dlink DGL4500. But whether it's the Dlink or the Actiontec it works fine. I think in Amadeus I set the DNS to the same as my router. But I don't think those settings are there in Brazil, and I really don't know if it carries over.
I know with my LG BD390 I had to set the DNS servers the same as the router(which uses the FIOS DNS addresses) for it to work flawlessly.

I'm using a Dlink DGL4500. But whether it's the Dlink or the Actiontec it works fine. I think in Amadeus I set the DNS to the same as my router. But I don't think those settings are there in Brazil, and I really don't know if it carries over.
I know with my LG BD390 I had to set the DNS servers the same as the router(which uses the FIOS DNS addresses) for it to work flawlessly.
Thanks for the info.....I'll see what I can do.....

I just purchased a used Vudu STB and had an audio question: I currently have Amadeus on my box (have requested participation in Brazil beta-still waiting for update) and watched my first downloaded movie "Bad Lieutenant" last night (ahhh Eva Mendes :eek:). I noticed that my Yamaha RX-V665 receiver was reporting the sound as Dolby Digital 5.1.

My question is: does the Brazil firmware pass Dolby Digital Plus audio (IOW is Brazil audio rendering superior to Amadeus)?

I'm pretty sure is not possible, but maybe I missed something... so I have to ask. Can one view Youtube Channels via Vudu Labs?

I just purchased a used Vudu STB and had an audio question: I currently have Amadeus on my box (have requested participation in Brazil beta-still waiting for update) and watched my first downloaded movie "Bad Lieutenant" last night (ahhh Eva Mendes :eek:). I noticed that my Yamaha RX-V665 receiver was reporting the sound as Dolby Digital 5.1.

My question is: does the Brazil firmware pass Dolby Digital Plus audio (IOW is Brazil audio rendering superior to Amadeus)?

That would be huge if they could - one step closer to BluRay if they could. This is the first I have heard of it. I have a Vudu STB also but have not downloaded the Beta version yet. I did not see any benefit to it - but better audio would surely be a tangible benefit for me. The audio from Vudu is not even close to the audio I get out of my bluray players which deliver uncompressed formats

I'm pretty sure is not possible, but maybe I missed something... so I have to ask. Can one view Youtube Channels via Vudu Labs?

Yes.

Yes.

Hmmm, I'm not home right now to double-check. This morning I tried to access (find) the Youtube GoogleDeveloper's channel (http://www.youtube.com/GoogleDevelopers), but the youtube search in the Vudu box did not return the "live" link to this channel. Could you tell me, exactly, how to connect to it (find it), so that I can try it when I get home.

I may have misunderstood the question. Im not sure on "channels", just youtube vids.

I may have misunderstood the question. Im not sure on "channels", just youtube vids.

My bad... I was not clear enough... I should have said Youtube Live Streaming Channel.

I'm using a Dlink DGL4500. But whether it's the Dlink or the Actiontec it works fine. I think in Amadeus I set the DNS to the same as my router. But I don't think those settings are there in Brazil, and I really don't know if it carries over.
I know with my LG BD390 I had to set the DNS servers the same as the router(which uses the FIOS DNS addresses) for it to work flawlessly.

aaronwt, thanks for the info....I tried it and VUDU streaming is smokin'!!!! Basically, I already had changed my DNS servers in my router using DNSBenchmark, I changed the DNS in Amadeus, I don't know if it carries over either....I tried streaming a movie and no problem!!! :DThanks again !!!

I just purchased a used Vudu STB and had an audio question: I currently have Amadeus on my box (have requested participation in Brazil beta-still waiting for update) and watched my first downloaded movie "Bad Lieutenant" last night (ahhh Eva Mendes :eek:). I noticed that my Yamaha RX-V665 receiver was reporting the sound as Dolby Digital 5.1.

My question is: does the Brazil firmware pass Dolby Digital Plus audio (IOW is Brazil audio rendering superior to Amadeus)?

The BX100 boxes only has HDMi 1.1(or is it 1.2?). You need HDMi 1.3 to be able to bitstream DD+. So the BX100 transcodes the DD+ to DD for output.

Now if you have VUDU in a TV or BD player, those devices typically have HDMI 1.3(I know my LG BD player does) So those devices are able to bitstream the DD+ audio.

I have Vudu Streaming in my new Samsung LCD, and I get constant streaming issues when trying to watch an HDX movie. I have Time Warner Cable Turbo service and average between 15 and 20 down and 1.9 up. Is there anything I can do to tweak my router to solve the buffering issue? I let my router assign its own dns.
Thanks

I have 6 mbps AT&T DSL and have never had a problem with Vudu HDX. Only a couple times from Netflix who would probably have a lower bitrate stream but that problem might have been at the server.

Are you getting full HDX PQ at 6mbps, or something thats a little lower? Ive never used streaming HDX, but I understand there are bars somewhere for levels of streamed PQ.

Has anyone had any success when changing the DNS in your router from what you had to Google's DNS servers? I mean for streaming HDX movies.
Thanks

Are you getting full HDX PQ at 6mbps, or something thats a little lower? Ive never used streaming HDX, but I understand there are bars somewhere for levels of streamed PQ.

I think the highest bitrate HDX is 9mbs. Minimum is 4.5 or 5mbs if I remember correctly. Not sure what the middle quality is. But I know the difference is noticebale between the Highest quality HDX and the lowest quality HDX.

Are you saying that Vudu adjusts the stream rate according to the connection? I thought that someplace on their site it said that 4.5 mbps was all that was required. It's not Bluray quality but still very good. Depending on the film I may just rent the HD version which still looks good.

It is my understanding that there are levels of HDX, depending on internet speed. I chose to keep the BX100 for downloads, because Im not confident my HSI would allow the top tier HDX. Im fine just downloading the full version and watching it later.

I recently purchased an LG-BD550 blu-ray player with Netflix and Vudu support. And interestly enough I was able to stream previews and trailers in HDX without an issue. This was before activating the player. I couldn't believe that it was working so good but again I had not activated the player. Tonight I activated it and bam as soon as I did that network errors, buffering problems etc. Almost everything has buffering issues and is unwatchable. The only thing that plays reasonably well are the Avatar trailers but that's about it. I can't believe this.

I watched The Blind Side as the first VUDU movie on my BD550 last night and had a similar experience. Network and buffering issues out the wazoo. It was just regular HD, not HDX. The box kept telling me it was having network problems and asked if I wanted to switch to SD, but even that didn't help. Then it would give up and say watch later. I'd start it again (thank goodness it knew where I left off), and it would have problems again almost immediately. It got so bad I swapped out the 5-port hub I was using and put tried a switch, thinking a dedicated channel might help, but it didn't seem to make a difference.

I have FiOS at 15Mbps down, but tests usually give 20+, so I did not anticipate a problem, but it was horrible. Buffering, loading, or network error every few minutes, sometimes every 15-30 seconds. It took me over 3 and a half hours to watch a 2:09 movie with all the interruptions.

Then my GF watched it again this morning (she had fallen asleep) and reported zero problems. If it is just that the network was busy, then that's not good. Not being able to watch a movie on Saturday night is a major problem.

Shot in the dark, but maybe make sure and shut down your e-mail program (which generally checks for mail every few minutes depending on settings)

Doesn't explain your GF's success, unless she watched it without the computer on.

4HiMarks

You might check your DNS settings. I was having the same problem when I had my router set to Verizon's DNS servers, using Google's seems to work better.
http://code.google.com/speed/public-dns/

I think it is very lame that Vudu's service is so sensitive to slow DNS servers, but according to Vudu support, it is a known issue.

4HiMarks

You might check your DNS settings. I was having the same problem when I had my router set to Verizon's DNS servers, using Google's seems to work better.
http://code.google.com/speed/public-dns/

I think it is very lame that Vudu's service is so sensitive to slow DNS servers, but according to Vudu support, it is a known issue.

Are you talking about the DNS on the LG box (which is set to my router) or on the router itself?

Are you talking about the DNS on the LG box (which is set to my router) or on the router itself?

Either, I changed by router's so all my computers could appreciate the speed improvement. It is actually noticeable, as most sites start to load faster -- obviously they load just as fast, just doesn't take as long to start loading.

Are you talking about the DNS on the LG box (which is set to my router) or on the router itself?



For some reason you need to set the DNS servers on the LG to the same address that the router uses for the DNS servers. I had the same issue with my BD390. Once I manually changed the DNS IP from my gateway IP(which every other network devices uses with no issues) to the DNS IPs set in the router, I had zero issues. Any time of day it streams HDX with no issues.
I use the default FiOS DNS IP addresses that the router gets automatically.

is there still no way to watch vudu on wmc? i have a very good blu-ray player in my theater already so if i want vudu i am not sure how i am supposed to do that. it seems like the only options are to get a new br player since they discontinued their set top box and don't support WMC, XBMC, Playon or Boxee (i think).

greg

I keep getting an error "Try again later - ERROR 0".

Anyone else successfully using it for renting/purchasing?

Today I tried playing several youtube videos via Vudu Labs (including some that played fine before) but all I keep getting is a message saying "This video is not playable". I tried rebooting my Vudu box, but no cigar. Is the Vudu Labs youtube service currently up and running?

Edit: All is well today... I changed nothing on my end.

Just tried out Vudu for the first time and Im hooked! I just wish they had a monthly fee, instead of pay per movie! :-P Great service, so much better then Netflix!

Please excuse my newbie status...

I am hooked on the "idea" of Vudu (HDx streaming to my HD TV), and have limited my search for a new BD player to only those that offer the Vudu app (currently Samsung and LG, I believe). However, there seems to be all sorts of "issues" with these streaming BD players, and I would prefer to get a separate unit like a Rotu HDx, but I have no idea if one exists that currently supports Vudu and Netflix (YouTube, Hulu Plus, and Pandora would also be great) all in one box.

Is there anything like this available?

Please excuse my newbie status...

I am hooked on the "idea" of Vudu (HDx streaming to my HD TV), and have limited my search for a new BD player to only those that offer the Vudu app (currently Samsung and LG, I believe). However, there seems to be all sorts of "issues" with these streaming BD players, and I would prefer to get a separate unit like a Rotu HDx, but I have no idea if one exists that currently supports Vudu and Netflix (YouTube, Hulu Plus, and Pandora would also be great) all in one box.

Is there anything like this available?

First of all, you are correct in your idea about VUDU HDX streaming. It is amazing! Unfortunately, though, there is no box available of the kind you describe. VUDU is only available on certain Blu-ray players, TVs and home theater in a box type systems. Here is a link to the current options from the VUDU web site: http://www.vudu.com/devices/Devices.html
None of the blu-ray players listed would be my first choice, but I have the low end Samsung just for VUDU.