July 2008 Reviewed by Randall Smith	Vudu Box Movie-on-Demand Service

Description Model: Vudu Box Price: $299 USD Dimensions: 8.9"W x 2.4"H x 7.3"D Weight: 4.2 pounds Features Pay as you go; no activation fee or subscription required Capable of displaying full HD video up to 1080p; upconverts SD to HD

Features (cont'd) Thousands of SD DVD-quality movies for rent or purchase; approximately 200 HD titles for purchase Plays movies instantly with no buffering, stuttering, or pixelation Audio outputs: HDMI v1.1, digital optical, digital coax, RCA Audio format source: Dolby Digital Plus Audio format output: Dolby Digital 5.1 Video outputs: HDMI v1.1, component, S-video, composite Video resolutions: 1080p/24, 1080i, 720p, 480p, 480i

Now that the high-definition disc war is over and Blu-ray is the lone survivor, the next challenge -- and the next great competition, in my opinion -- will be download services.

Soon after the launch of the VHS cassette technology in the early 1980s, rental stores such as Blockbuster and Hollywood Video became the consumer’s main sources of movie rentals. Then, in the late 1990s, Netflix was born. The difference between the Internet-based Netflix and bricks-and-mortar video stores is simple: to rent a film from Netflix, you make your selection on their website, and they mail your movie to you. A few days later you receive your film, take as long as you want to watch it without fear of late fees, then mail it back at your convenience, postage prepaid. The best part about Netflix is that you can pick a plan that lets you rent as many movies as you like for a fixed monthly fee; the only catch is that you can have only a certain number of rentals out at one time.

All of this made Netflix an attractive option compared to the average rental store, but even with a fixed monthly rate and no late fees, the Netflix business model has some drawbacks. Depending on how far away you are from the nearest Netflix distribution center, it can take several days for your movie to arrive. So rental stores still thrive in today’s world, though their market share has shrunk. But just as Netflix barged into the rental market, now in steps Vudu, a service that allows the consumer to rent or own high-definition (HD) or standard-definition (SD) movies via a broadband Internet connection and watch them instantly.

Vudu, based in Santa Clara, California, has been around since 2004. While arranging this review, Vudu requested that I perform an online speed test to determine whether my broadband connection was fast enough to let me enjoy HD movies instantly, without interruption. My connection passed quite easily. Vudu specifies that a broadband connection be capable of passing at least 4.0Mbs in order to instantly play HD content. I then contacted Vudu to give them my personal information. The next day, the setup package arrived on my doorstep.

The main feature of the Vudu package ($299) is the black Vudu Box, which measures 8.9"W x 2.4"H x 7.3"D. Inside the Box is a 250GB hard drive for movie storage. Also included are a remote control, HDMI and Ethernet cables, a composite-video with analog stereo audio cable, a power supply with AC cord, an RF antenna, and a Quick-Start Guide.

After I’d unpacked everything, the Quick-Start Guide instructed me to install the supplied batteries in the remote control. The remote’s shape -- it’s a black teardrop -- is unlike that of any other remote I’ve ever used, and fits perfectly into most people’s hands. I then screwed onto the back of the Vudu Box the small antenna, which picks up the RF signals emitted by the remote. In other words, the remote doesn’t send an IR signal, which would require that it be aimed directly at the Box. As long as the remote and the Box are in the same room, the antenna picks up the commands. The remote has only eight controls, but with these choices even a novice can easily navigate the Vudu interface. There’s a Power button, a scroll wheel that lets you scan the menu selections much as you would with an iPod, and fast-forward and rewind. To make a selection, you press the wheel. Below the wheel are four buttons: Back, Play/Pause, Vudu, and More. The Vudu button returns you to the home screen; More brings up a menu of features.

The next few steps required me to choose the audio/video outputs I would use to connect the Vudu Box to my Anthem Statement D2 A/V processor. I chose HDMI. Vudu uses HDMI v1.1, not the newer v1.3a, but this isn’t a problem -- Vudu currently provides none of the new HD sound formats, or films authored in Deep Color. Finally, I connected the Ethernet cable to the Box, which was also connected to my router. This connection provided the link to the Vudu database via the Internet. I then plugged the Vudu Box’s power cable into the wall to begin the setup routine. The Box took a few seconds to boot up, then gave me the option of choosing the size of my TV screen, the video resolution I wanted the Vudu Box to output, and whether or not I’d connected the Box to an A/V receiver capable of decoding Dolby Digital.

Once the Box was powered up and connected to Vudu’s online service, I could easily navigate the different categories of films and TV shows available. One of the first things I noticed was that some movies were not available for rent, but for purchase only. Some studios do not allow Internet-based companies to rent to their clients films that have just been released on DVD. Instead, they require cable and Internet companies to wait 30 days before releasing new movie content to their customers. 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. do make some new DVD releases available for rental via the Internet the same day they are released on DVD, while Disney and Universal have cut the standard 30 days down to two weeks, a trend that shows that studios are beginning to realize the income potential of services such as Vudu. Rental prices range from $0.99 to $5.99, purchase prices from $4.99 to $19.99. All prices are dependent on the format of the film and its release date. Once you’ve rented a film, you have 30 days to watch it; and once you begin watching the film, you have 24 hours from that moment to finish viewing it, or view it again. After that, you lose access to that title, and will have to rent it again to watch it.

After scanning the list of films, I chose to buy Juno for $19.99. Unfortunately, Juno wasn’t available in HD, so I began downloading the SD version. After twice confirming my purchase of the film, Vudu gave me the option of watching it. The film began instantly. While watching, as I casually thumbed the scroll wheel to try fast-forwarding and rewinding, a timeline appeared at the bottom of the screen to tell me exactly where I was in the movie, how much playing time was left, and how much of the film had been downloaded to the Box. From the different shades of the line, I could see that the Box had already downloaded at least 30 minutes of the film ahead of the scene I was watching. This eased any concern that I’d be interrupted while watching.

Now that Vudu had delivered on its promise of "instant movies," I turned my attention to its audio and video quality. Because I’d set the Vudu Box’s video resolution to 1080p, its Broadcom chip was upscaling the 480p SD version of Juno to 1080p. The result was not as crisp as I get from the Gennum video processor in my Anthem Statement D2. (Of course, the comparison is unfair -- the D2 costs about 23 times as much as the little Vudu Box.) After I’d reset the Vudu Box’s output resolution to 480p, the video quality improved quite a bit, but still wasn’t quite as good as you might expect from the SD DVD version of Juno.

I had the same overall experience with HD movies. Vudu currently offers 201 HD titles for purchase, though only a portion of these are available to rent. When renting or purchasing an HD film, access to that purchase is instant. When viewing HD films, I had to make sure the output resolution of the Vudu Box was set to 1080p. Though the HD titles were a definite step up from their SD counterparts, they weren’t the best HD I’ve ever seen -- not as clean or as crisp as you’d see from a Blu-ray Disc. The colors were usually softer, and the detail wasn’t as sharp. Action scenes, such as those in The Bourne Ultimatum, were still exciting to watch, but not quite up to the quality of the HD DVD version. For instance, Vudu’s HD version didn’t provide the variation of colors needed to accurately render the texture of an explosion. In sum, Vudu’s HD quality was better than its SD performance, but not as good as from true 1080p HD DVD or Blu-ray Disc.

On the other hand, the sound was surprisingly good. In the opening scenes of Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, I was taken aback by the dynamic low-frequency passages that accompany Todd’s first appearance. I was also impressed with the sound of the musical score in Semi-Pro. Although Semi-Pro was in SD compared to the HD Sweeney Todd, the soundtracks of both films had the same fixed bit rate of over 600kbs, or slightly better than standard Dolby Digital. Vudu states that the original source of the soundtrack is Dolby Digital Plus, but the output is only Dolby Digital. Never at any point during the review process was I disappointed with the sound quality of the movies I downloaded from Vudu. Dialogue was always clean and clear, and action scenes provided plenty of surround-channel activity and subwoofer punch. I dare say the sound transfer from the Vudu movies would match any of their DVD counterparts.

Comparison

My experience with HD content from the Apple TV was not that great. HD content from the Apple maxes out at 1080i, while Vudu provides 1080p. I did experience instant HD content from the ATV, but the video quality wasn’t as good as Vudu’s. Colors seemed oversaturated, visual details quite blunted. In terms of sound quality, the HD version of a ATV movie comes with a Dolby Digital track, but the SD version has only a stereo soundtrack. The Apple TV’s built-in hard drive maxes out at 160GB compared to the Vudu Box’s 250GB, but the ATV can stream content from iTunes wirelessly or via an Ethernet cable. A wireless version of the Vudu Box is available, as well as one with a 1-terabyte hard drive, but the Vudu Box is only for downloading movies. Apple currently has more HD content than Vudu, and their prices are a little lower, but neither has the catalog of Netflix or a rental store.

When I compared the video quality of a downloaded film, whether HD or SD, to that film’s Blu-ray or HD DVD edition, the differences were obvious. I’ll take a Blu-ray Disc over an HD download any day of the week -- it’s visually better in every way. Audio-wise, the SD films I downloaded compared quite well with their disc counterparts. On the other hand, the new sound formats available on HD DVD and Blu-ray are superior. I imagine that the new sound formats will eventually make their way into downloads, but when that happens, the Vudu Box will have to be replaced with one that includes an HDMI v1.3a output.

Conclusion

Audio/video performance aside, the Vudu system is designed for convenience and instant delivery -- in that sense, it’s a great system that delivers on its promise of being the best movie-on-demand service out there. You can join Netflix and pay less, but you have to wait several days for the movie to be mailed to you. You can drive to a store to rent a movie, but what if it’s already checked out, or you have to stand in line for 20 minutes? With Vudu’s movie-on-demand system, you have access to that movie instantly, at the push of a button. You may occasionally have to wait a few weeks for a new release, but I’m confident that day-and-date rights will also soon be made available to services like Vudu.

Manufacturer contact information:

Vudu Inc.
2901 Tasman Drive, Suite 101
Santa Clara, CA 95054
Phone: (888) 554-8838, (408) 492-1010

Website: www.vudu.com

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