UHD UPGRADES!

[SinGA]

There is no reason to buy or redeem through Vudu at this point

Well, I wouldnt go that far! Vudu quality is still better than Google, eh? Dolby Vision / Atmos... Vudu seems to handle a high bandwidth stream a little better as well. Too much buffering with Google in my experience. Plus, all my stuff is already in Vudu. And because MA is limited, all my titles don't carry over to Google.

[mrewster]

I feel about the same as everyone else. I was exclusively Vudu for a long time. Now I purchase and redeem most things through iTunes for the 4K upgrade. Now I've picked up a few things from GooglePlay for the same reason. There is no reason to buy or redeem through Vudu at this point

Well, I wouldnt go that far! Vudu quality is still better than Google, eh? Dolby Vision / Atmos... Vudu seems to handle a high bandwidth stream a little better as well. Too much buffering with Google in my experience. Plus, all my stuff is already in Vudu. And because MA is limited, all my titles don't carry over to Google.

He clearly says buy or redeem, not stream...

[SinGA]

He clearly says buy or redeem, not stream...

I dont follow. If you buy or redeem somewhere else, and MA doesnt move the movies into Vudu because those movies are not supported by MA ( or its TV or something ) then how do you buy/redeem at other places, and then come back to Vudu to watch with the better quality?

[mrewster]

I dont follow. If you buy or redeem somewhere else, and MA doesnt move the movies into Vudu because those movies are not supported by MA ( or its TV or something ) then how do you buy/redeem at other places, and then come back to Vudu to watch with the better quality?

Of course if the title isn't supported by MA, then you have no choice if you want to view it in Vudu. For those that are MA enabled (or UV in the case of FandangoNow) then why would you pay MORE just to buy through Vudu? If UV is meaningless to someone then why would they redeem @ Vudu instead of iTunes & lose out on a FREE 4K upgrade?

In order to "follow" what has been discussed, you can't just jump in & read one comment without of the context of the rest of the post.

[wvblueandgold]

I was definitely talking about MA eligible movies. Obviously for titles such as the new Tomb Raider I'm going for the best deal possible. I have a 4K AppleTV, a 4K Roku and multiple 4K TVs. I have streaming options. I also have purchasing and redemption options. So if a title is MA eligible and I want to purchase or redeem it, I will start with iTunes, then check GooglePlay and come to Vudu as a last resort for the best deal. Passing up a free 4K upgrade is silly.

[davcole]

I'm sure in future they'll do it. I just wonder will it be for purchase only or also for titles redeemed?

[khundkar]

It needs to be for titles that were purchased and redeemed before and new titles. That's what apple and google are doing. Come on Vudu.. get your game on..

[jawhisna@gmail.com]

Thought this would be a good first post. I started my digital collection with VUDU, but now I pretty much refuse to buy from VUDU because of the lack of upgrades. Since Apple announced iTunes would be offering the free upgrades, VUDU has lost probably close to $1000 of my money.

[Knucklehead Fancypants]

I don't particularly want to give Walmart/Vudu any ideas, but the "compromise" seems like a no-brainer -
Walmart has, in the past, offered vudu promotions with purchases of TVs or Blu-Ray players as well as digital copies of discs purchased...
Run a promotion where the purchase of a 4K TV or 4K blu-ray player includes a code that allows you to upgrade your vudu library to 4K. But only if it's purchased in a WalMart
If necessary, make it so those 4K copies ONLY exist on vudu to try to keep customers locked in the vudu system - they of course can shop around but if the bulk of your library is only 4K on vudu, most people wlll probably just keep going to vudu.

Would that be as lucrative to Walmart as just having customers pay to upgrade titles to 4K? Probably not. Almost definitely not.
But how many of us will be doing that?
Most of us might upgrade certain must-own titles, assuming you won't want to the actual sizable difference the physical 4K disc would provide.
So they're probably doing better offering a promotion like that. Add to that the possibility of extended warranties and there's even more profit.

[RogerJ]

I have no brand loyalty. Switching to another service is literally pressing a few buttons. I go where the best deal is. Upgrades could be a great deal but not if I'm getting locked in. That was the whole point of UV and now MA.

[rdawg]

I have no brand loyalty. I go where the best deal is.

BAM! There you have it!!!

[mrewster]

I don't particularly want to give Walmart/Vudu any ideas, but the "compromise" seems like a no-brainer -
Walmart has, in the past, offered vudu promotions with purchases of TVs or Blu-Ray players as well as digital copies of discs purchased...
Run a promotion where the purchase of a 4K TV or 4K blu-ray player includes a code that allows you to upgrade your vudu library to 4K. But only if it's purchased in a WalMart
If necessary, make it so those 4K copies ONLY exist on vudu to try to keep customers locked in the vudu system - they of course can shop around but if the bulk of your library is only 4K on vudu, most people wlll probably just keep going to vudu.

Would that be as lucrative to Walmart as just having customers pay to upgrade titles to 4K? Probably not. Almost definitely not.
But how many of us will be doing that?
Most of us might upgrade certain must-own titles, assuming you won't want to the actual sizable difference the physical 4K disc would provide.
So they're probably doing better offering a promotion like that. Add to that the possibility of extended warranties and there's even more profit.

You can buy a 4K TV for under $300. I have 2500 Vudu titles, of which about 300 have UHD upgrade options. Even if they offered a $5 per title upgrade fee (which is a pipe dream) that is $1500 in upgrades. On the other hand, if I only upgrade "certain must-own titles" it would only take doing 30 @ $10 each to reach what I would have paid for the TV, and they don't have to give me a TV.

All I can say is that it's a good thing you aren't in the retail business.

The thing is, it's not costing Vudu any difference to allow you to stream UHD vs HD vs SD. It's an imaginary cost, the title licensing is what costs the money. Vudu is brilliant for charging full price to buy the next higher resolution. If you buy it, they have made more than twice the money that you have already spent for HD. If you don't buy the UHD upgrade, how is it that they care again? Trust me, they don't.