Gizmo

Which model LG? I've had my eye on the Google version but can't find it anywhere.

I have about 100 VuDu titles. Wish some of my Flixster stuff would move over.

Mr. Cinema

55LN5700

I researched a lot of tv's before settling on this one, which is a 2013 model and is highly rated. It has all the streaming features, and recently added Amazon.

PhantomStranger

It really depends on the movie and how clean it looks, for VUDU's image quality. Some of the visually cleaner films look very, very good on VUDU, nearly as good as the Blu-ray. Then there are movies like The Lords Of Salem, in which the VUDU HDX copy looks terrible and far below the BD's PQ.

JimRochester

Agreed. Although there is the collector packaging type. Commonly found at Blu-ray.com are the people who buy and buy because of slipcovers or steelbook packaging although that is truly a tiny fraction of the movie collector. People just don't collect films any more. I don't. If many people are like me it has nothing to do with physical media vs. streaming because I don't stream anything yet. I do however already have hundreds of unwatched titles and no longer wish to add to the pile.

PhantomStranger

No, there is still a middle ground in the market but it's reserved for specific genres like family movies from Pixar and other kids' properties. The mid-market has disappeared in a lot of the other genres.

hanshotfirst1138

Some people have talked about BR basically becoming the laserdiscs of the 21st century, and at the rate we're going, that may be an inevitability.

I try to actually buy movies I really like in an attempt to genuinely support them, but since I also tend to wait until the prices go down, I'm probably not helping much.

My stuff that I got in one as the freebies seems to move to the other.

Sadly, yes. And whatever more rabid fans may think of the average mainstream, it's probably what kept the market afloat.

Studios must hate having the product devalued that much, but at the end of the day, I wonder how different it is from having it marked down five years after the fact?

If the future is all going to be in the cloud, that is a problem they're going to have to resolve at some point.

Alan Smithee

As I've said a billion times, if the future "is all in the cloud", I'll just stop buying movies. $4 for an HDX movie through someone's Ultraviolet code is a decent deal, but remember that by themselves HDX movies usually sell from $15-20. Besides the issue of having movies taken off-line at any time, what do you think will happen to the market if ONE company is in control of ALL movie-buying, which in this case would be Wal-Mart as it owns Vudu? Right now you can buy your discs at a number of different places and shop around for the best price, but if 'digital' takes over I don't see more than one provider surviving in the long run- either that or each one will start getting exclusive deals with some studios, meaning you'll get all your Disney movies from Vudu and all of some other studio's from CinemaNow, and you either pay what their asking price is or do without. Want to bring it to someone else's house, or lend it to someone? Can't do that, as you can only watch your movies on YOUR registered devices. Decide you want to sell a movie or trade for another one? Can't do that! It's amazing how much outcry there was against DIVX, but a lot fewer people seem concerned of the implications of digital taking over- it's all about "I'm so glad I don't have to mess with discs anymore!" (Don't get me wrong, I'm not COMPLETELY against streaming as it's a decent replacement for rentals or cable TV, but that's about it.) I still fell like I "own" a copy of a movie on VHS more than I do anything on Vudu.

I'd still like to see exactly how many movies are "selling" on these services (and at full price, NOT through UltraViolet redemptions or Disc to Digital), and if it's enough to make up for any declines in disc sales. I have a strong feeling if any of this stuff is cutting into disc sales, it's Netflix, which charges a pittance for access to their ever-changing selection of movies (which IS a fantastic deal, but the studios don't like it, and again it doesn't replace my media collection.)

fitprod

The trick is, they studios will not talk actual sales*, they're still talking account activations which is apparently around 15 million. WB said they "pleased" in a recent home media magazine article, but knowing the double speak in this industry, they're a little confused as to why: 1. It hasn't blown up. and 2. Why people aren't buying the streaming copies. - Here's a hint, no one is going to pay more than $5.00 for a film they don't actually own. (The sure as hell aren't going to pay $15 when it's thrown in for free with a BD/DVD combo pack for $15 to $20.)

*This similar to the double speak that is used to hype BD-Live, they're only counting the actual hits on the servers, not actually breaking it down as to who is using the stuff. (Hits on these servers occur whenever a BD is played on a player that is connected to the internet, because every studio does a BD-Live update check, it doesn't matter if you don't actually use BD-Live.)

I'm sure certain entities that are gouging the studios while making the Second Screen Apps are fudging the numbers this way as well...

fitprod

Alan Smithee

Sony seems to be scaling back BD-Live, most of their discs used to go to an area with a bunch of trailers and stuff, but now all you get is a screen saying "For information about new releases, please visit Sonypictures.com". Overall that was really clunky, and the first time I tried it, it brought to mind that Onion story about "Sony's stupid piece of shit that doesn't fucking work!"

E_v_i_l

I don't see iTunes or Amazon Instant Video going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, I recently read that Amazon has been matching some of Vudu's prices. So, the UV sites will have competition.

Not true with UV. You can share your entire UV collection with up to 5 people and in turn you'll have access to all of the movies in their collections. In addition, you can access the UV sites and play movies on any computer. You don't have to register computers, just sign in.

Gizmo

Amazon and iTunes are not UV compatible.

hanshotfirst1138

Well, up to a point, but the uglier flipside probably means that it would be easier than ever to bootleg, wouldn't it?O

I'm not in principle against it, I understand the convince of it, especially something streaming, but Netflix took down FarScape and the Jeremy Brett Holmes series before I was finished with them. Now, to be fair, it would be different (hopefully) if I own them rather than just streamed them through Netflix, but I'm still wary of not having a physical backup. If the cloud can get stuff that obviously isn't ever getting released on BR or DVD to come out, then I'll pay for the stuff, but I'd rather have that as the exception rather than the rule.

I think that various properties bouncing to various streaming services and Netflix taking stuff down and putting it back up is going to be become pretty commonplace going forward, if studios are going to have to put up with streaming, I think it could get pretty heated as the market splits up.

Bingo. And I happen to like special features, special editions, etc. That clearly is becoming a thing of the past though. The whole thing is transitory right now, I don't know if anyone is sure where all of the stream stuff is even going to go at this point or how the technology will progress.

iTunes doesn't appear to be compatible with much of anything.

PacMan2006

I never thought I'd say this, but I'm about to eBay 90% of my Blu Ray and DVD collection.

I love entertainment...been collecting for years, but it has truly gotten to a point where I'm not seeing "returns" on my investment. And by that I mean this--I simply don't want what I buy that much anymore.

For me at least, there's just too many options. Netflix, HBO, Red Box, Cinema, TV Shows, Stuff on my DVR, Playstation Store--it's hard for me to sit back and say I want to rewatch a movie I've seen 5 times already on my shelf, when I can spend that two hours watching something new. Meanwhile, I'm spending $10, $20, $30 on a Blu Ray or a Steelbook, and it never gets opened.

So I'm out. Time to move on, I guess.

PhantomStranger

The digital music industry is quite informative on this issue, as it is much older and has already hit maturity. Streaming music sites have started seriously impacting digital sales among the very youngest consumers and music labels are foreseeing a time when no wants to pay for a digital download at full price when they can stream it for much cheaper.

Streaming is going to kill the digital sales model for both music and movies.
And they never will be compatible with UV, it goes against their core business models and attempts to build their own ecosystem of products. UV was purposely designed by Hollywood as a hedge against the power of Apple's platform. They saw the music labels get taken to the cleaners by Apple and won't let that happen to them.

arminius

Owning movies, for the average guy, is no longer a priority. I think people realized that they are buying movies that they watch once or maybe twice and then they just sit on the shelf. Couple that with constant resales of movies they already own and all the streaming stuff available, owning for 15 or 20 dollars is not a good value.

I remember going crazy buying Star Trek TOS on VHS. I never even watched all the tapes I got. I would only buy something that is really niche like docs or the like. I used to buy 10 or 12 DVDs a month. Now I bought 3 blus in the last 2 years. I watch netflix, youtube, amazon or get a disk from the library.

Blu will never get to the numbers that DVD had. That was a perfect storm of quality, cost, availablity and desire.

bruceames

Owning movies is getting hit by a double whammy: 1) owners realizing how underutilized their collection is and 2) competition from streaming and other forms of digital entertainment that eats up people available time to watch their collection.

I look at my collection now and think, "wow, what a waste of money". I don't regret buying the Criterion movies though because those I do watch more than the others and I love to watch the special features on them. For for the others, I just see number of unwatched movies growing as I get sucked in by the Xmas sales, and with price erosion being what it is, it's kinda dumb to buy movies that you're not going to watch anytime soon.

JimRochester

I can't be the only one to get laid off several times between 07 and 09. That will have a dramatic effect on your entertainment spending. I still think streaming is pretty minor at this point in time but it certainly will continue to have a greater impact. I think the greatest deterrent is the $25 unopened disc sitting on the shelf now worth 25 cents

bruceames

I'm at a loss as to what UV is ultimately for. Is it just a prop for sagging OD sales? If so, then it's not doing a very good job. The decline is less than what would be expected given the YoY box office power, but just slightly so. OD as a whole is down about 6 percent this year, under flat box office power conditions. "Normally" it would be perhaps down 8 percent.

I guess their end game is to shift the window advantage to digital and hope that the consumers follows. A 2-3 week advantage isn't much but if they made it 4 weeks then you'll get people who will pay the $15 to not have to wait for the better value OD package. Also at some point they will offer special features to match the OD versions and remember the Common File Format is expected to come out very soon and that will probably be how the special features, subs and alternate audio tracks will be obtained. If that's the case, then digital ownership will seem much more attractive than it does now.

bruceames

Exactly.

PacMan2006

What's UV stand for?

Mr. Cinema

UV

fitprod

Well I have to say, good luck with convincing people that digital ownerships is actually ownership, and not a bloated rental that can be pulled when the studio wants to...

That, and when one of their host server companies goes bust and the movie vanishes, it will be gone, or held for ransom. As far as I know, no studio actually hosts their digital archives, except maybe Sony. I don't even think Warner does. Technicolor and Deluxe have been doing much of the archiving.

fitprod

Mr. Cinema

I pulled this from the UV FAQ:

bruceames

Studios legally cannot "unown" your movie, as UV is a consortium of many studios and providers. A provider, such as VUDU, can go out of business, but you can just get it from another one. Studios potentially pulling the plug on your UV movies is a myth spread by the skeptics.

And when the CFF format comes along, you won't have to depend on an internet connection to enjoy your collection.

That said, it remains to be seen how much traction digital ownership will obtain. I'm really not that optimistic either, especially if Disney keeps playing Lone Ranger, so one can just hope for the best.

TheBang

Yeah, and click through the "More Information" links to view the fine print:

http://www.uvvu.com/uv-offer-details.php

...

And, of course, there's this doozy that basically gets them out of anything:

Do you guys maybe have some other explanation for those terms? The only way I can interpret it is that the only thing you're guaranteed with UV is that you can stream it from where you bought it for one year for free. Beyond that, there might be a fee. And also, due to nebulous "restrictions" any title might be unavailable for streaming for any nebulous "period of time".

Obviously, no UV provider has yet charged a fee like that, but there's nothing in the terms that prevents that from happening in the future, once your initial one year term is past. I think that those of you who bought into UV thinking you owned something "forever" may be in for a rude awakening someday.