VUDU readying Blu-ray quality rentals
[Thanks, anonymous]
[Thanks, anonymous]
Relevant Posts
- HD Netflix streaming coming to Samsung's BD-P2500 / BD-P2550 Blu-ray players (9 days ago - 16 Comments)
- LG's BD300 next in line for HD Netflix streaming (9 days ago - 8 Comments)
- VUDU offering select HD / HDX titles for $4.99 purchase on Black Friday (10 days ago - 0 Comments)
- Blockbuster could release its own movie set-top-box (25 days ago - 6 Comments)
- Criterion launches Online Cinematheque for online movie rentals (4 days ago - 4 Comments)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
nathan @ Sep 10th 2008 12:51AM
Hmmm.. Maybe YOU could scoot to Blockbuster and find what you want on Blu-ray. I watched the entire selection of my local store in my first month's subscription.
*If* Vudu gets the quality right, and their selection includes not only new releases but catalog titles, I'll get getting a box.
JimC @ Sep 10th 2008 1:02AM
No thanks.
Mike @ Sep 10th 2008 1:36AM
Do you have to wait for the whole movie to download before you can watch? Pick the movie and download part while eating dinner and if at least a certain percentage is done when dinner is over start watching...and at worst there is probably something on your DVR that needs watching. I don't see the download thing as a problem for those that know how to plan.
Can you schedule a download in advance? If you know you want to watch a movie being released tomorrow...can you tell it to download it when it becomes available then watch the movie when you get home.
The downloads offer a lot more flexability over rental...oh and save the gas of driving.
wreckedchevy @ Sep 10th 2008 2:20AM
i agree with you most times i'm planning to watch a movie so just start it early....
zik @ Sep 10th 2008 2:54AM
Ummm, compared to the time it takes for me to get the blurays I rent from netflix, vudu's 3 hours from order to viewing feels downright instantaneous. If they price this thing right, they'll steal netflix's dessert
Spiza @ Sep 10th 2008 8:41AM
The question is how much, and how large. Comcast is cutting people off who go over 250GB a month. I know I probably watch 6-10 movies a month with Netflix. If its really Blu-Ray quality, then that puts near if not over the max a month. I’m thinking if it takes 3 hrs at the 10Mb/s that I get, that would be about 13.5 GB download. That would put me at 18 movies a month, which would be fine, but is 13.5 GB blu-ray quality? If 3 hrs is just till you can start watching and you keep dling the rest, I’ll guess it takes about 4.5 to dl which comes to 20.25 GB and 12 movies a month. That’s with doing nothing else though, so maybe knock that down to 10 movies. I guess it would work for me if the quality is good.
Spiza @ Sep 10th 2008 8:42AM
I forgot to add if the price is right as well.
squiggleslash @ Sep 10th 2008 10:18AM
> but is 13.5 GB blu-ray quality?
Almost certainly. While some people like to quote the maximum bit-rates for Blu-ray media, in practice the maximum bit rate is only used for scenes with a massive amount of movement including new objects or objects off-screen. For example, a corn field filling up the screen with everything swaying back and forth, or, at the other end of the spectrum, the opening credits of the X-Men movies. And that maximum will never be Blu-ray's actual maximum, it'll be somewhere in the region of 30Mbps.
On average, you're looking at 10-15Mbps for a typical Blu-ray disc that uses VC-1 or H.264 compression. Some of that bandwidth is taken up with superfluous stuff that doesn't need streaming - for example, alternative soundtracks, PIP, etc.
Realistically, a Blu-ray quality movie, 1080p, two hours long, VC-1 or H.264 compression, should only take up around 10-15G. You can get an idea of what's possible by considering that a BD9 (8.5G) can store a little less than an hour and a half of Blu-ray spec movie content.
Your estimates are almost certainly right.
daaper @ Sep 10th 2008 11:29AM
Man, I wish I could get 10Mb/s dl speed. From 5pm-9pm I'd be lucky to get half that. Maybe if I downloaded over night, I could get speeds like that. If it has all night, though, I don't really how fast it goes as long as it's done by morning.
Yeah, I see the per movie price being a big factor for me. If it's the $6.99 I've seen others doing, then no thanks. That's almost half the price that I've paid for most of my BRs. At that point, I'd rather just spend another $10 and have unlimited.
Andy @ Sep 10th 2008 11:24AM
Comcast may allow 250, but smaller providers apparently cap around 50gb a month.
tlarkin79 @ Sep 10th 2008 11:39AM
And that's why bandwidth caps will help stifle innovation. I'm curious how the quality compares to an xbox live marketplace HD movie rental.
Dan @ Sep 10th 2008 6:12PM
It might be Blu-ray quality video (i doubt it) but is it Blu-ray quality audio? I think it is Dolby Digital. so it isnt.
For $18.00 a month I can watch all the Blu-ray and standard DVD discs I want from Netflix. I guess i'm old but the 2 day turn around doesnt bother me. I can make up my mind a couple of days in advance. way cheaper than the per movie price from VUDU.
nathan @ Sep 11th 2008 12:16AM
Two day turnaround from Netlflix? I'm still waiting for some Blu-rays I added to my queue weeks ago.