Taking a leap of faith with VuDu and Ultraviolet

Well, after three phone calls to VUDU customer care to discuss the details of their new Disc-to-Digital service linked to Ultraviolet, I have decided to take the plunge and took my first batch of favorite movies to Walmart to be certified for my online film library.

I started out with 6 standard DVDs that I upconverted to HD and 1 Blu-Ray.  I paid $5 for each DVD and $2 for the Blu-Ray to add them to my VUDU and linked Ultraviolet account.  Other than the obvious reason of being able to access my movies when I travel, I had several other reasons to buy into this new program supported by Walmart and most of the major movie studios:

• Sony Pictures Entertainment
• NBCUniversal
• Fox Entertainment Group
• Paramount Motion Pictures Group
• Warner Bros. Entertainment
• DreamWorks Animation
• Lionsgate

First of all, I felt the $5 upconvert and cloud storage option for standard DVDs that I own was a less expensive way to enjoy full HD versions without having to cough up $9.99 or more (especially with digital copies) for physical Blu-Ray discs.

Secondly, Ultraviolet allows up to five other people to be members of my account and enjoy my movies.  I'm hoping my son (who lives in Chicago and is an avid movie buff with slightly different tastes than I do) and I can share our movie libraries in this way. This wish to have reciprocal access was the reason for one of my phone calls.

Ultraviolet recommends setting up shared access by granting membership through the account management function.  However, I knew that I had never seen an interface option in VUDU to select a particular Ultraviolet library so I could choose between his collection and mine so I asked VUDU how to accomplish this.  VUDU tech support actually recommended sharing an Ultraviolet account with the same login name and password instead.  The technician explained that if my son and I each had separate Ultraviolet accounts, I would have to go online with my computer and unlink my Ultraviolet library and link to my son's Ultraviolet library every time I wanted to browse and watch one of his movies instead of one of mine on one of my authorized devices.  If we both used the same Ultraviolet account we could then link to it from our individual VUDU accounts and see all movies in the combined library but have individual access to VUDU for purchasing DVDs or authorizing a rental.   I suggested to VUDU tech support that a library selection function be added to the VUDU interface in the future so we could use Ultraviolet's account management function someday since it provides customized movie suggestions based on individual taste and lets each user customize the interface for their own preferences.

When I discussed this new service with my son, he wondered if the special features available on the DVD would be included in the digital online version.  He also was wondered if you had to surrender your original discs when you took them to Walmart for verification.  This prompted another phone call.  VUDU told me that unfortunately the special features were not included in the online version but I would not be asked to surrender my original disc so I could always watch the special features from the original disc.  

This was confirmed when I took my movies to Walmart.  The photo center customer service agent just retrieved my VUDU account by using my email address. I had already queued up the movies I wanted to add to my online library so she just had to enter a confirmation code.  Then, she rubber stamped each DVD around the center hole so the disc could not be used by anyone else in the future to verify a different online library and returned the perfectly playable discs back to me.  I paid the advertised rate of $5 per DVD converted to HD and $2 for the online version of the Blu-Ray.

When I got home and logged into my Ultraviolet account my movies appeared in my library.  They also appear on my VUDU account.  So I guess I'm all set.

Now playing my library with the VUDU application works on my PC or a Mac and on my Samsung TV that has VUDU already installed in its suite of internet applications.  VUDU also works on an iPad (which, alas, I still do not have, making me still a victim of iPad envy) but there is no Android-compatible version available yet and my phone and Nook color run on Android.  However, I downloaded the newest version of Flixster to my phone and it has an option under your account to link it to your Ultraviolet library and my movies appeared under "My Collection" on Flixster and I was able to play my movies beautifully on my Droid 3 using it.  

My Nook Color that I have rooted to a full Android tablet using a preconfigured SD card from Root My Nook Color, was a bit trickier.  First I attempted to update the Flixster application that was preinstalled from the Amazon App Store (because I always have better luck with it instead of the Google Play Store).  It updated OK but I discovered it did not offer me any option to play my movies, just watch a trailer.  So I launched the browser and navigated to the Android Market and updated my Flixster again and this time it was the latest version that included the option to stream or download my movies.  However, when I selected "Watch Now" it kept saying it was initializing.  If I was seriously interested in watching movies on my Nook color I would have attempted a download instead to avoid problems with wifi speed and activity.  But, I usually use my Nook color in the living room where I can watch movies on my regular HD TV so I guess it isn't critical at this point.  I will email the developer of Root My Nook Color and see if he has any suggestions to tweak the Nook color for streaming from Flixster.  I have no problem streaming Netflix on my Nook and trailers play fine on Flixster so there may be just a setting or something that needs to be adjusted.  I had also moved the Flixster application to the 16 GB SD Card I have in the Nook instead of leaving it running from the internal memory and maybe that is the problem.

There are a few things to remember about video quality differences between devices when using VUDU.  When watching movies through a web browser, the highest video quality you can currently stream is standard definition.  I expect this to change in the future.  At present, even though you can stream 3D from the regular VUDU application, 3D digital copies are not yet available through the Disc-to-Digital program.  

I also learned VUDU's HDX quality includes 7.1 surround sound if you have a home theater system capable of that quality.

Anyway, I now hope the Ultraviolet consortium (and VUDU, Flixster, etc.) is wildly successful so I can count on them to be my online movie repository.  My experiences have been quite favorable so far and I look forward to a long relationship.  Now if Disney would quit messing around with their own cobbled up system and join the party!  I bought John Carter 3D with their version of a digital copy and all it let me do was copy the movie to my own computer.  I can copy it from there to a Windows Media compatible device but that's an awful lot of wasted disk space when streaming from the cloud is so much better.  Come on, Disney!  Where's your imagineering???

Related articles

• Wal-Mart Launches Vudu Disc-to-Digital Store Program: Here's How It Works

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• Netflix Streaming Competitor Vudu Going Global

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• Hands-on with Walmart's disc-to-digital program

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Episodic online games with movie tie could snag casual gamers

The movie industry may be on to something with their efforts to tie the theater experience with online episodic mobile gaming.  This article describes a new game being prepared to tie in to the new Angelina Jolie spy thriller "Salt" and it intrigued me when "Day X Exists" is explained as a "a genre that blends online and offline clues and relies on players collaborating to solve puzzles."

[Promotional Image courtesy of Sony Pictures]

It mentions that a similar game was released for "District 9".  Although I really liked that film I somehow missed any reference to an online game.  I wonder what venue the movie studios are using to announce such product tie-ins?

Since the article mentions social networking too, I guess the collaboration part of the game is expected to take place between Facebook friends or something.  I guess I should pay more attention to Facebook but I really don't have time between my writing, photography, book reviews and household adventures.  At least I have my Flickr account and blogs connected to Facebook so links to my writing and photography make it there without me having to double or triple post.

I think the movie studios are on the right track although I was a bit offended by the following paragraph:

"On the way now, as evidenced by Day X Exists, are games that feature complex narratives and depth, but do not require a master’s degree to figure out. Women in particular are a focus. " - Using Online Games to Get Movie Audiences Involved by Brooks Barnes, New York Times.

It's as if the NYT writer is inferring that women are not as intelligent as the average male gamer.  They are correct about developing games as entertainment, though, rather than something expected to take hours before any psychological reward is offered. I think introducing the social aspect to gaming will be interesting to observe as well since females have been conditioned to be more socially aware in our society.

 I also think their efforts to utilize mobile GPS for location-specific gaming strategies is commendable as well.  I guess I'm going to have to explore this Day X Exists a little further although to be honest, I would have been more interested in the game for "District 9" or maybe "Robin Hood"!  I have to confess that I fell asleep trying to watch "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" and was equally bored with "Mr. and Mrs. Smith".  So I haven't yet been won over to the camp that view Jolie as an action hero.  It's not that she isn't a talented actress, as I found her performance in "The Changeling" quite riveting.  It's just that so many of these so-called spy thrillers have such a thin or overly cliched plot.

I wonder if they'll create a game for "Prince of Persia"?  Can you imagine that?  A game developed for a movie based on a game.  It sounds like one of those dreaded infinite loops!

Regal to install 3D projectors in Theaters Nationwide

I was really excited to read this announcement. Almost eight years ago I viewed a 3-D movie entitled "T-Rex: Back to the Cretacious" at the Imax Theater in the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas when I was attending Comdex and was really impressed with the advancements that had been made in 3-D technology even then! I felt like I was literally looking over the shoulder of the archaeologists in that film. Since then I have kept an eye out for other interesting 3D films but haven't been able to see any others. If Disney and Pixar start releasing all of their films in a 3D version that should help out with available content. Apparently the 3D process is now such that separate filming does not have to occur to produce both 2D and 3D versions. The theater owners should hail this announcement as a way to offer a viewing experience that will not be replicated in a home environment for quite some time.

"The Regal Entertainment Group, the world’s largest cinema operator, has reached an agreement to equip 1,500 screens to show three-dimensional films.

Regal will install the technology once Digital Cinema Implementation Partners, a group of theater exhibitors, completes plans for an industry conversion to digital projectors.

Studios are producing more films in 3-D. DreamWorks Animation SKG and Walt Disney’s Pixar unit pledged to make 3-D versions of every film starting next year."