Do you Vudu?

[MatthewB]

Okay so the last few months I've been on an uploading movies to the cloud kick. One I can upload my dvd's to almost Bluray quality for 2.50 a movie and my family is linked to my account so they can all enjoy my huge collection ( my mom hates the Batman movies sorry Chris). I've seen the AVS threads on comparison pics of streaming services like iTunes HD, Bluray and Vudu. Now I have Flixster, CinemaNow and Vudu and way prefer Vudu because they have Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 where the others only offer stereo.

The reason for my thread is I just bought IronMan 3 and after the movie I switched my PS 3 from Bluray to Vudu and the audio sounded better on Vudu then lossless on the Bluray. I know that's not possible but the Vudu version had more impact with Bass then the Dolby TruHD version. I know its dependant on movie but from the research I've read Sony will soon start offering 4K movie streaming but you'll need 30Mbps or faster ISP to stream that much content.

I've also read that optical media is on its way out and streaming will soon be the way of all media. In fact there were plans to have the new XBox and PS4 to need constant internet connection but public backlash cancelled that. I've been thinking about it and it's been years since I actually bought a CD (almost ten now). I look at UVswap to see if I can purchase a new movie before going to the store and I have so few DVD's left to watch because the majority are now HDX quality in the cloud and no need to upgrade my current DVD's when I can upgrade for so cheap on the cloud.

The picture comparisons I've seen are so minute between the Physical Bluray and streaming HDX I'm wondering what to do with the Blurays. Sure some action movies I'll keep for the lossless audio but if IronMan 3 is any indication I may have to give up on the Blurays.

What say you guys?

 

[MatthewB]

Here are some examples (stolen from AVS on the PQ of Bluray versus streaming formats. Django Unchained.

 

[Rope]

Does it count if I ROKU instead of Vudu?

Rope

 

[lulimet]

I don't Vudu because I find it very expensive. I buy my blurays when they are discounted to around $5 and rip them to mkv with MakeMKV. They movies reside on my NAS and I can access them from anywhere with an internet connection and a browser.

 

[MatthewB]

Rope doesn't Roku do Vudu. :happy-smileygiantred:

 

[Haywood]

I don't Vudu because I find it very expensive. I buy my blurays when they are discounted to around $5 and rip them to mkv with MakeMKV. They movies reside on my NAS and I can access them from anywhere with an internet connection and a browser.

I buy most of my Ultraviolet movies from third parties, such as video rental stores that buy retail discs. This only works for new releases, but codes run about $5. The rest of my Vudu movies are from the disc-to-digital program, which lets me buy an HDX copy of a movie that I already have on DVD for $2.50 or that I already have on Blu-Ray for $1 (until January 31). I have about 86 eligible movies left to convert, which will bring my Vudu library up to around 400 movies. I've only purchased two movies from Vudu directly.

I still want Blu-Ray for the movies I care about most, but it is really hard to argue against $5 for a new release. The convenience of having all of those movies available on demend anywhere in the house or on the road is also very nice and ripping 400 Blu-Rays to comparable quality would take a LOT of disc space.

 

[Flint]

Sound quality ---

Matt - If the Vudu audio was a mere 1dB louder than the BluRay audio, everything you described would be heard by everyone on this forum. Also, I know that Vudu uses a lossy audio encoder which, inherently, has less resolution, dynamic range, and breadth of sound. The BluRay version will be more dynamic with more detail and content in the audio. The Vudu version will be more sparse and lack the dynamics. For some people, that loss of detail and dynamics results in the seeming quality of being "punchier" or "more impactful" because the bass and treble are less nuanced and more "thud" and "ping". Don't be fooled. You may prefer the lower quality Vudu audio, but that doesn't make it more true to the original soundtrack.