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Vudu HDX 1080p Movie Downloads Reviewed: 'Insanely Sharp'
Posted by Matt Buchanan at 2:00 AM on October 3, 2008
Vudu's new HDX 1080p movies—promised to be "Blu-ray quality"—go live today. David Pogue has the first look, and while HDX movies are not literally Blu-ray quality (which would be an impossible with our crappy broadband), they are indeed "insanely sharp" and compared to other movie downloads, it's like "seeing a movie on VHS videotape and DVD side by side."
No wonder though, the bit rate averages around 9Mbps and spikes to 20Mbps during action scenes, which totally blows away the competition. Still, that giant flood of data takes a while to squeeze through our tiny broadband pipes, so one downside is that the movie needs a bit of lead time before it's ready to be watched, though you can start the download process remotely from a computer, so it can be ready when you get home from work.
Right now, there's only 65 movies in HDX, though every new movie released will be available in HDX. And while six bucks is pricey for a rental, it's almost worth just to push Vudu to keep breaking new ground in video downloads. Pogue says that it's coming to Best Buy this week, and if you buy one from there before Dec. 31, you get your first $US200 of movies for free. [NYT]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Lupison
Posted 2:25 AM 3/10/08
WTB another installment of the Dune series on SciFi. I can't wait to see how they CGI the Worm Emporer.
Lupison
Xavoc
Posted 2:16 AM 3/10/08
@Kaiser-Machead's LEGO WALL-E: It will if they start offering Wing Commander as a streamed movie...
Xavoc
canyoncarver
Posted 2:13 AM 3/10/08
What kind of TV is he using to evaluate? I have found many cases where people have praised downloads who were using small and poorly calibrated TVs. They don't see the edge enhancement "ringing", ghosting, motion blur and other problems that are common with HD downloads.
I have a 60" calibrated LCOS TV and the difference between these "HD Lite" downloads and Blu-Ray are night and day. Blu-Ray is the real deal. HD Lite is for people with small TVs that are desperate to see some improvement over SD-DVD.
canyoncarver
zarchitect
Posted 2:12 AM 3/10/08
$6 for the movie + $20 surcharge by your i-net provider for over-using their feed... I wonder if this will take off?
zarchitect
moonphrogg
Posted 2:12 AM 3/10/08
as for the crappacity of The Chronicles of Riddick, it's a shame indeed. I thoroughly enjoyed Pitch Black . . . the bloated budget sequel was a serious letdown.
Oh, and Escape from Butcher Bay on the xbox puts the whole lot to shame.
moonphrogg
reddingofish
Posted 2:11 AM 3/10/08
Do you need a special HDTV to watch the thing? Or just a 1080i? I know that 1080i is special but it is a standard.
reddingofish
moonphrogg
Posted 2:08 AM 3/10/08
what happened to that darth vader tee? I really wanted to see that. . .
moonphrogg
Kaiser-Machead's LEGO WALL-E
Posted 2:07 AM 3/10/08
Sweet. It's just a shame that no service, or resolution, can reduce the crappacity of The Chronicles of Riddick.
Kaiser-Machead's LEGO WALL-E
pdditty
Posted 2:52 AM 3/10/08
$200 worth of free movies when you buy from Best Buy aint bad!
pdditty
mmmiles
Posted 2:52 AM 3/10/08
I don't understand, what's a DVD?
Wait what the hell's a VHS???
mmmiles
Earthslide
Posted 2:50 AM 3/10/08
Nice, but I would like a physical copy just in case this thing malfunctions. This is where Blu-Ray wins.
Earthslide
m4ximusprim3
Posted 2:38 AM 3/10/08
@Kaiser-Machead's LEGO WALL-E: Aww, I kinda liked that movie.
In a "look at the poor mexican three legged dog" kind of way, but still. It tried hard.
m4ximusprim3
Kaiser-Machead's LEGO WALL-E
Posted 2:37 AM 3/10/08
@Xavoc: Oh good God no.
Kaiser-Machead's LEGO WALL-E
r0y
Posted 3:18 AM 3/10/08
i wish i was getting $200 worth of free movies! the HDX quality is really good, compared to the normal HD downloads and miles beyond the SD stuff. some day i'll actually calibrate my TV and see if i can get 'em looking even better.
r0y
DaneB
Posted 3:29 AM 3/10/08
That's still about half the bitrate of a Blu-ray disc. So unless they've created some new encoding standard, these are not "Blu-ray quality."
DaneB
scarbrtj
Posted 3:27 AM 3/10/08
@canyoncarver:
right.
scarbrtj
pete
Posted 3:55 AM 3/10/08
While I applaud Vudu for getting out there first, this can't stand up to the PS3 + Netflix/BluRay combo for HD movies.
What are all those shiny boxes when Vudu goes tits-up (and you know it will, it's just a matter of time)?
Answer: $300 doorstop.
At least when BluRay fails (but will waaay outlast Vudu, that's for sure), you still have a PS3, and physical media you can still play/rip/copy/etc.
pete
este
Posted 4:23 AM 3/10/08
@scarbrtj:
1080p MKV and MP4s are for people with the good tv and setup, but who don't buy into Bluray bs that will be obsolete soon.
And pirates,
este
este
Posted 4:21 AM 3/10/08
@reddingofish:
Did you just use words?
I have no idea what you just tried to say, but I'll answer that if you want to watch anything in 1080i or p you need a display capable of such and the proper connections to allow it.
I don't know what a special HDTV is :\
este
Hickeroar
Posted 4:14 AM 3/10/08
@Kaiser-Machead's LEGO WALL-E:
I can think of far worse movies. CR was actually halfway decent compared to the vast majority of recent sci-fi movies out there.
Hickeroar
efenili
Posted 5:06 AM 3/10/08
You didn't mention how much lead time?
10 minutes? 20 minutes? 30 minutes?
efenili
Canoehead
Posted 6:06 AM 3/10/08
200 minutes
Canoehead
hiimcliff
Posted 6:25 AM 3/10/08
vudu is the perfect compliment for my fios. i was going to buy one a while ago, ended up getting an apple tv which i returned because its crap. Apple sold me on the ability to download movies through itunes on the pc and transfer them to the apple tv. that never worked. there was always some "authorization" problem. now im definitely getting a vudu. i had found it hard to justify buying a $300 box to rent $5 movies, but with $200 credit for movies, its worth it. i'm rooting for vudu because they're the underdogs.
hiimcliff
saeder
Posted 6:19 AM 3/10/08
@efenili: It's connection dependent... faster connection less lead time required... and seeing as how I've not tried any of the HDX movies yet I can't comment.
saeder
archetype94306
Posted 7:24 AM 3/10/08
@Kaiser-Machead's LEGO WALL-E: Hmmm, yeah I'm gonna have to go ahead and disagree with you there. CoR was pretty darn cool. Much better than the standard SciFi fair that comes along. Plus, Thandie in that oh-so-tight dress kind of got me riled up.
archetype94306
buyrihn
Posted 7:34 AM 3/10/08
@Kaiser-Machead's LEGO WALL-E: Does crappacity = craptasticness?
buyrihn
Jitty
Posted 8:15 AM 3/10/08
Well, here we are. Digital distribution of movies in HD in decent quality. And I still don't want it. I'm perfectly fine with blu-ray. I just feel better having/owing a hard copy then watching it from the hardware under my TV.
Jitty
HisBoyElroy1971
Posted 1:23 PM 3/10/08
@scarbrtj: @scarbrtj: @hiimcliff: Not sure what "authorization" problem you found, could you be more specific?
HisBoyElroy1971
FritzLaurel
Posted 5:53 PM 3/10/08
What movie is that screenshot from?
FritzLaurel
Supernautus
Posted 8:29 PM 3/10/08
Fritz, it's from the Chronicles of Riddick, as a few people mentioned
Supernautus
UnderLoK
Posted 9:52 PM 3/10/08
@efenili: That totally depends on how fast your connection is...
UnderLoK
metaslugx
Posted 12:03 AM 4/10/08
And this is why Blu-Ray fails in comparison to digital streaming.
metaslugx
LauraTubertus
Posted 3:33 AM 3/10/08
This is the real deal and very different than the bit-starved HD-Lite that you are referring to. I have a 118" JVC RS-1 Front Projector. A/B comparisons of HD-DVD version of "Chronicles of Riddick" (yes it is pretty crappy story) and the HDX version on Vudu are indistiguishable from each other. Audio is a bit better on the HD-DVD (fuller, richer), but the video is identicle. Comparing HDX to the regular HD version on Vudu is very noticeable. This is NOT HD lite. This blows away any of the current HD streaming and download formats that I have seen. I understand that the Dish 1080p 24 DOD may be similar, but I haven't compared it. Plus the only movie available on that is "I am legend". Prices are resonable for movies...older titles are $2.99/$3.99. The newer movies are priced @ $5.99, which is too high. Wait a couple of weeks and they probably will be in the lower price range. Definitely worth a look if you: -have a TV that can fully display 1080p 24 -have the bandwidth to download the large files -accept the fact that you can't watch the movie on-demand. You must let it download fully before viewing. -are ok that you can't (currently) buy the movie. Overall worth a look. Thanks, -Alex-
LauraTubertus