HDX Movies?!

[Nded]

Re: HDX Movies?!

Why are there titles in HDX with stereo sound? I feel that no title in HDX should have this audio tag or HD for that matter. I tried my first HDX this last weekend and I have to say it was very impressive. Go VUDU

This will likely happen with some "older" titles that were not recorded with equipment that was 5.1 capable - face it, the good old days where not that good in some ways. I still like being able to watch the higher quality video content, even if the studio just can't deliver the type of audio we would want to hear.

[aaronwt]

Re: HDX Movies?!

Dolby Prologic IIx-cinema does a great job converting 2.0 to 7.1
Of course 5.1 or 7.1(in the case of BD) is preferred, but DPLIIx-cinema is the next best thing.

[HeadHodge]

Re: HDX Movies?!

That would put it at 4 lbs. so far. I can't help but wonder if perhaps this is really some sort of sick twisted viral marketing attempt by the Hodge who is hiding his majority shareholder stake in the scotch whiskey cheese blend factory....

Too bad you invested so heavily in Leman Bros. I would have thought you learned your lesson after Enron.

Just for the record Arron is not betting against me, so it's only 3 lbs so far (not four).

[mebby]

Re: HDX Movies?!

I think there must be some confusion on my stand. I'm very happy that HDX is $5.99 and I definitely am not advocating a price increase for it.

What I'm predicting is that the price for HD will be reduced to $4.99 (Hopefully for me before Christmas). It's not really an argument between the instant vs non-instant aspect as much as pricing for differential picture/sound qualities and market competition.

I'm having a very hard time understanding why anyone would want to pay $5.99 for a movie if they could get the same movie for $4.99 instead.

I fully understand what you're saying and I'm not completely disagreeing with it. I mean - what consumer wouldn't prefer for all prices to drop at any given point in time? But you're also helping to make my point here.

You are focusing solely on cost as the only decision making factor and that may be the primary decision making factor for you. For me it's not. I take several factors into consideration when deciding what to buy and what not to buy. When it comes to Vudu I can honestly say that if they decided to drop HD prices to $4.99 and keep HDX at $5.99 it would not sway my decision on which format to rent. What WOULD sway my decision is whether I wanted instant streaming or not. If I'm sitting at work and I decide that I want to watch a movie later that same night then I'd consider HDX versus HD. Today, with the prices being the same the only real decision to make is whether I have enough time to get the movie seeded before I want to start watching it. If they drop the price in the future then I'd have another factor to consider - is the upgrade in video and audio quality worth my extra $1. But come on... ONE dollar?? Face it - most of the people buying this box don't sweat $1 decisions and further, most people (that own this device) are going to select quality over price as long as it's within reason.

But putting all that aside - I really and truly believe that HDX and HD should always be the same price as long as the perceived value of instant gratification and the value of higher audio/video quality are equivalent. If at any point in time that equation changes then the pricing structure may change. For now - I think they've got it just right. Furthermore I think this adds some serious value to the box b/c now the consumer has the right to decide what is more valuable to them - time or quality. Both offer significant value to me so I'm a satisfied customer.

And no cheese for me - it just slows up the system a little too much for me if you know what I mean.

[kikar]

Re: HDX Movies?!

...... I really and truly believe that HDX and HD should always be the same price as long as the perceived value of instant gratification and the value of higher audio/video quality are equivalent. If at any point in time that equation changes then the pricing structure may change. For now - I think they've got it just right. Furthermore I think this adds some serious value to the box b/c now the consumer has the right to decide what is more valuable to them - time or quality. Both offer significant value to me so I'm a satisfied customer......

I agree...

[BGTech]

Re: HDX Movies?!

The controlling interest in the title provides the content and not all of the content is delivered in 5.1. VUDU is not licensed to convert any of the content from one audio format to another.

I am just say that a movie like TROY (HDX) in stereo does not seem right.

[HeadHodge]

Re: HDX Movies?!

For now - I think they've got it just right. Furthermore I think this adds some serious value to the box b/c now the consumer has the right to decide what is more valuable to them - time or quality. Both offer significant value to me so I'm a satisfied customer.

I'm hearing the same argument from the choir. But so far it's just lip service. I think it would be interesting to get some real empirical evidence to support the position.

It would be neat if everyone could tally how many movies they rented in HD and how many they rented in HDX. So as not to skew the data, it would only be revelant to tally movies rented in HD that also had HDX available as well.

I get my point of view from my 1 college class of Econ 101. Can't even remember if it was Macro or Micro Econ.

http://www.zeromillion.com/econ/how-...tem-works.html

[jleavens]

Re: HDX Movies?!

But putting all that aside - I really and truly believe that HDX and HD should always be the same price as long as the perceived value of instant gratification and the value of higher audio/video quality are equivalent. If at any point in time that equation changes then the pricing structure may change. For now - I think they've got it just right. Furthermore I think this adds some serious value to the box b/c now the consumer has the right to decide what is more valuable to them - time or quality. Both offer significant value to me so I'm a satisfied customer.

And when it comes time to purchase HD and HDX, I'd like to be able to stream immediately but have the HDX download for future viewings.

[NA9D]

Re: HDX Movies?!

I'm hearing the same argument from the choir. But so far it's just lip service. I think it would be interesting to get some real empirical evidence to support the position.

It would be neat if everyone could tally how many movies they rented in HD and how many they rented in HDX. So as not to skew the data, it would only be revelant to tally movies rented in HD that also had HDX available as well.

I get my point of view from my 1 college class of Econ 101. Can't even remember if it was Macro or Micro Econ.

http://www.zeromillion.com/econ/how-...tem-works.html

Hodge, my choice of HDX vs HD is entirely dependent upon the convenience factor. For the most part I'm going to watch HD movies and would continue to do such regardless of price. There are some movies I would only watch in HDX because I want the PQ and am willing to wait. But regardless of price, I would still watch the same movies in HDX because I want the better PQ. The price is not the issue.

People don't buy on price. They buy on VALUE. The value is a combination of the price and features. Price is an easily quantifiable variable, but others are not and are not necessarily intrinsic to the product or service but to one's whims and needs at the moment. All of this together makes up the purchasing decision where price is just one of many variables.

The real economics here is Supply and Demand. Supply and Demand will ALWAYS equilibrate at a certain price point. So for HD movies we have a particular price point and a fairly unconstrained supply. The demand then will move to that point and all will be happy. HDX has a rather more constrained supply due to download time. The curves will meet up again. But what we are saying here is that the elasticity of our demand is rather flat. Therefore pricing doesn't necessarily play into the picture.

I think that makes sense and what I am trying to say.

It matters not that other services are slightly cheaper. Vudu may sell fewer movies at $5.99 than AppleTV does at $4.99. Keep in mind though there's far more AppleTVs on the market than there are Vudus. It is entirely possible that since Apple is working on much larger economies of scale, that they may get a lower cost price for the movies from the content providers. Vudu may choose to have a larger margin on their product. The drop in margin going from $5.99 to $4.99 would likely not be made up by the increased demand for movies. So you can't compare the two because Apple might be able to make less per movie simply because their volume of movies is significantly larger even if they have the exact same acquisition and distribution costs as Vudu.

We may all wish to pay $1.00 less as any consumer would. Facts are that it's not going to happen before Christmas...

[Nded]

Re: HDX Movies?!

....snip.... We may all wish to pay $1.00 less as any consumer would. Facts are that it's not going to happen before Christmas...

Which is why I am now focused on what menu items will go well with Whiskey Cheddar. I want to savor and enjoy my winnings. Suggestions?

[HeadHodge]

Re: HDX Movies?!

We may all wish to pay $1.00 less as any consumer would. Facts are that it's not going to happen before Christmas...

Based on your last post, you would have to admit I've finally got you thinking about it.

I'm always willing to admit I'm wrong if it comes to that and gladly pay off my bets.

But you think your getting Cheese in your Christmas stocking, and I believe I'm getting cheaper HD movies (AND Cheese) in mine.

[mebby]

Re: HDX Movies?!

Based on your last post, you would have to admit I've finally got you thinking about it.

No. I believe what he's saying (and not to put words in his mouth) is that every consumer would naturally be pleased to pay $1.00 less per movie but that it STILL wouldn't change their decision making process IF they value Audio/Video Quality and Instant Streaming equally at a minimum.

He's making or agreeing with the same point I was making and that's the perception that the selection between HD and HDX is not purely price driven. In fact it has very little to do with price - it has everything to do with the trade-off between quality and convenience.

Now... if we were to imagine a scenario where the price variance was capable of being meaningful ($20 vs $5) well at that point price could certainly become a major factor and would likely outweigh the factors of quality and convenience. But we're not in that situation so studying that scenario is a waste of time.

[HeadHodge]

Re: HDX Movies?!

I think I understand everyone's argument about instant vs quality. And it does have merit in a cerebral way. In my case the instant viewing is moot. I (as well as thousands of others) can only get 1.5mb down in my area. It's takes 2+ hours before an HD movie is available to view and about 8 hours for HDX.

It another topic for discussion, but I worry about potential blow back from advertising "Instant" viewing, when in fact it's just not possible for a large population of people who happen to not live in a major metro area.

But I still think you're possibly missing my point.

Most posters here are pioneer techno nerds. So most everyone here are abnormal (including me) and don't represent the buying decision making process of the average consumer.

The comparison chart below is probably old and out of date, but I included it to illistrate the point that I belive this is the way people decide what to buy or not buy.

The average consumer will not see or understand the subtle difference between instant vs quality. So I believe they will ultimately make there decisions on other things, price being a big consideration.

I think when it comes to pricing you have to consider the rationale of the buyer and not just it's technical merits. I would think VUDU would want to appeal to the masses and not just the techno elite.

(EDIT: I can't get the comparison chart to display properly for some reason, you can view at the provided link un the Comparison section)

http://web-star.com/columns/2008/02/...tv_vs_vudu.php

VUDU slightly edges out Apple TV in every category except for price.

Apple TV 1VUDUHardware Price (entry level)$229$295 2Capacity40 GB250 GBBuy-to-watch time~15 minutesinstantHD Movie Rentals (New Release)$4.99$5.99HD Movie Rentals (Catalog)$3.99$3.99HD Movie Purchase (New Release)N/A$24.99 3HD Movie Purchase (Catalog)N/AN/AMajor Studios SupportedAllAllRental window (once purchased)30 days30 daysRental window (once started)24 hours24 hoursSource Resolution480p, 720p480p, 1080pSource Frame Rate24 fps24 fpsSource Video EncodingH.264H.264Encoding ProfileMain ProfileMain Profile (SD), High Profile (HD)Source Audio FormatsDD5.1DD+, DD5.1Max Audio OutputDD5.1 (pass-through)DD5.1 (pass-through)HD Selection~100 titles~100 titlesSD Selection~1,000 titles~5,000 titlesDownload technologyClient/ServerPeer-to-peerUSB Ports12Remote TypeIRRF
1 - Source: Apple TV Tech Specs
2 - VUDU is currently offering The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy, both in HD, free with hardware purchase
3 - The only HD movie that VUDU had for purchase at the time of publication was The Bourne Ultimatum.

[radguy]

Re: HDX Movies?!

Waaaay back, I suggested that VUDU should either charge a bit less or come up with a new category of downloads as their HD titles were good but nowhere near the champ BLUE-RAY, well with HDX they've finally listened! These movies look great! Also they pricing structure is fair. Now let's bring on LOTs more HDX titles! Thanks VUDU, for listening to an early adopter of the best movie on demand provider out there.

Rad

Originally Posted by radguy
Way back I stated the issues with Vudu HD titles, they never compare to real HD forget about Blue Ray. Anyhoo, check this out, this may clear it up once and for all:

http://gizmodo.com/5048025/giz-expla...-very-high-def

As I stated, I like VUDU, however their HD is not really that good, neither is Apple's by the way, compared to actual HD, but they do look great on my projector. If they were say, $4 a pop I might be more willing.

[redwein]

Re: HDX Movies?!

The average consumer will not see or understand the subtle difference between instant vs quality.

I could at least see what you are saying with everything in that post but this part. It isn't subtle at all. If I choose HD and I have a 4 Mb/S connection I can begin watching it immediately. If I pick HDX I have to wait 4 hours. That's hardly a subtle difference.