VUDU says that HDX titles include “Speed Racer,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” and “The Chronicles of Riddick” (pictured).
A few weeks back, there was a buzz that VUDU would soon add Blu-ray-quality rentals. Now it’s official.
The company just announced HDX, a new video format that delivers full 1080p at 24 fps to screens 40 inches and up—all via web distribution. Thanks to the company’s TruFilm technology, it’s supposedly the best that money can buy. Even better, it’s the same money you were spending before. That’s right; VUDU says they won’t charge extra for HDX titles.
“VUDU HDX truly raises the bar on picture quality for HD movies delivered on demand, over the air, satellite or Internet and across the entire video landscape,” said Mark Jung, CEO of VUDU. “Accelerating consumer adoption of large screen HDTVs has fueled strong demand for the kind of viewing experience and picture quality only HDX can deliver.”
For now, HDX flicks are only available as rentals. Order online, and you can have that movie waiting when you get home after a long commute. Hopefully it’s long, because delivery times can take up to a few hours. It should be worth the wait, and will also mean that it will take you some time to get through the 65 titles now available in the HDX format. By the time you’re ready for more, VUDU should have added ones they say are coming soon.
“Pay $1,000.00 so I can Rent Movies and watch on one TV. with quality below Blu-ray, Because if it doesn’t have lossless audio it isn’t Blu-ray.”
You are a little mistaken. First off, the XL version of the unit with the terabyte hard disk drive is 1,000 and a rare unit to find at that. $300 dollars gets you the standard Vudu unit available at all Best Buy retailers.
Second, Vudu is not claiming to be Blu-Ray. What they are doing however, is offering near blu-ray quality video and audio that is better than DVD. Furthermore, they’re making sure you never have to go to a video store again, or wait while your netflix movies are mailed to you.
I think it’s a hell of a product!
Pay $1,000.00 so I can Rent Movies and watch on one TV. with quality below Blu-ray, Because if it doesn’t have lossless audio it isn’t Blu-ray.
Or, I could buy a Blu-ray disc player for $300.00.
And for $18.00 per month basicily watch as many Blu-ray/DVD discs as I want thru Net Flix.
It’s a hard sell VUDO
Sounds like that would be Dolby Digital at 640kbs rather than DVD’s 448kbs, which definitely pales in comparison to the various lossless and 7.1 options offered by Blu-ray.
Bill: According to VUDU…
“HDX also offers the best available surround sound quality for Internet delivered movies with immersive, high resolution sound at a 40 percent higher bit-rate than standard surround sound DVDs.”
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I don’t really have a solution, but both Fox and ABC use the Move Networks… 
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“near blu-ray quality video and audio” remains to be seen. Perhaps the video is close (assuming they are allocating enough bandwidth to match what Blu-ray can deliver), but on the audio side it’s very difficult to suggest 640kbit Dolby Digital is “near” lossless PCM, Dolby TrueHD, or DTS-HD MA in quality.