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[Snaku]

I am a movie lover first and foremost. I would save my lunch money every week in middle & high school so that I could buy a new VHS the following weekend. In the last two or so years of high school I switched over to DVD collecting, after having amassed hundreds of VHS tapes that now just collected dust. Fast forwards another few years and I switched over to Blu-ray collecting. You can see where this is going, and so did I. I've spent far too much money on collecting movies, and then re-collecting movies, and then re-re-collecting movies over the years as each new bigger and better format rolled out. After thinking about it for a while, I realized that the resolution bumps never really mattered to me, as long as the picture and sound were clear I was happy. I never bothered watching any of the special features in those giant special editions. I just wanted a way that I could watch movies that I loved anywhere, anytime, on anything, and avoid throwing a giant chunk of my income into overpriced physical formats ever again. I've found the answer about a year ago, and I feel the need to share my experience with MovieGAF.



What is UltraViolet? It is a cloud based digital rights management system that allows users to stream and download film and television content. The less complicated answer however is that UV copies are the equivalent to owning a VHS; useless on its own, but insert it into a VCR and voila. There are many UV players to choose from: Best Buy's CinemaNow, Flixster, M-Go, Kaleidescape, Paramount Movies, and the newest addition Target Ticket. But by far the best and highest quality UV player on the market comes from Walmart...



Vudu provides the best selection of movies and television out of any streaming service, and the highest quality HD streaming. And the Vudu App is available on practically every device: PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, iOS devices, Android devices, Roku, Blu-ray players, smart TVs, toasters, etc. While it's not Blu-ray quality, Vudu's HDX stream is the next best thing and an easy concession when you consider the following...

UV movie collecting is by far the cheapest way to amass an incredibly large collection of movies and television in 1080p for the least amount of money. I have over 200 films and dozens of TV series, which would have cost me thousands of dollars had I bought them on Blu-ray, but only cost me a few hundred. This can be done in three ways: Vudu's disc-to-digtial program, buying unwanted codes off third party sellers, and taking advantage of UV promotions.

Vudu is currently running a promotion that ends at the end of January where if you convert 10 DVDs or Blu-rays using their in-home disc-to-digital software, you get 50% off. That's 10 DVDs to HD quality UV for $20, or 10 Blu-rays to HD quality UV for $10. There really is no cheaper way to future proof your DVD collection than this. And you can convert as many as you want.

Many Blu-ray buyers hate digital copies, for whatever reason. Quality isn't good enough, can make their own copies, whatever. Not long ago these people figured out they could sell their codes to buyers on various forums, online groups, etc. and make their Blu-ray purchase a little cheaper. Hell, I've seen them being sold in the Buy/Sell/Trade thread in Gaming Community. While they enjoy a small percentage in savings, UV buyers get the latest films and television for fire sale pricing. For example these are some of my recent purchases: Breaking Bad The Complete Series $40 (Blu-ray $250), The Wolverine $4 (Blu-ray $22), Friday the 13th The Complete Collection $16 (Blu-ray $110), Man of Steel $3 (Blu-ray $24). Every day is Black Friday!

Then there are the promotions that each UV service run in order to lure you into using their services for your UV viewing needs. This is an excellent way to create an instant movie collection, and give UV a try to see if it's for you. All you have to do is sign up for a UV account, and then when you sign up with these UV providers you just link your UV account with them in the sign up process.

UV Promotions
Target Ticket: Sign up and choose 10 of the following films for free (SD quality). They will play through any UV service.
21 Grams
Alien
Blow
Cold Light of Day
Conspiracy Theory
Crocodile Dundee
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Ferngully: The Last Rainforest
Ghost
Hall Pass
Independence Day
Johnny English
Legends of the Fall
LEGO: The Adventures of Clutch Powers
Man On A Ledge
Mars Attacks!
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the world
Mona Lisa Smile
Office Space
Paranormal Activity
Radio
Rango
Rudy
Soul Survivors
Space Jam
Stir of Echoes
The Arrival
The Italian Job
The Producers
The Tale of Despereaux

Vudu: Sign up and choose 5 of the following films for free (HDX quality). They will play through any UV service.
Man on a Ledge
Safe
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
Footloose (2011)
Tropic Thunder
Star Trek
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
There’s Something About Mary
Independence Day
Man on Fire
Conan the Barbarian (2011)
Adaptation
Punch Drunk Love
Last Action Hero
Death Race 2
Mona Lisa Smile
Cold Light of Day
Hope Floats
St. Elmo's Fire
Psycho (1998)
Master & Commandeer
Legends of the Fall
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Radio
So I Married an Axe Murderer
Rudy
Loser
Darkman II: The Return of Durant
The Producers (2005)
Rest Stop: Dead Ahead
Rest Stop: Don't Look Back
Blair Witch II: Book of Shadows
Mortal Kombat: Legacy

Ultraviolet may have had a rocky start, and it was deservedly mocked and derided during its first year. But it has grown into something truly special that's been overlooked for long enough.

 

[JB1981]

I totally agree. It is friggin awesome and has gotten such a bad rap online. The HDX quality streaming is great and the service is very reliable. I have been building a collection over the last few months. I need more movies though! I also love how you can convert a blu-ray (if it doesn't come with a digital copy) for $2 and have it added in HDX to your collection. Watch anywhere

 

[BronsonLee]

Vudu is the most baller digital service. They don't skimp at all.

UV is solid too. Quite fun.

 

[Soybean]

Thanks for the tip about buying Blu-ray owners' UV codes! It seems obvious, but it never occurred to me to look.

I've been meaning to do some DVD conversion too, but it keeps escaping my mind. It's nice to see there's a deal going on.

 

[megarockexe]

I got a free convert from a pizza box at Walmart. I don't quite understand why is normally have to pay to watch old movies I don't watch anymore.

 

[Van Owen]

Vudu is pretty tight.

I usually rip my blurays for Plex, but it's always nice getting a digital code for an HD version.

Digital versions have come a long way from having to use a disc to get an SD copy on iTunes.

 

[Snaku]

Thanks for the tip about buying Blu-ray owners' UV codes! It seems obvious, but it never occurred to me to look.

Yeah, and with Disney now supporting Vudu with Digital Copy+, I can literally buy a cheap code for any movie now.

 

[blainethemono]

I never use these codes, so I have stacks of them just sitting here on my shelf. A bunch of them are probably expired, but I've made like $15 over the past 2 days selling a few of them. Still trying to get rid of the Breaking Bad ones though.

 

[this_guy]

Question - can I play movies I own on one player on another player? For instance, stream movies on the Flixster app that I own on Vudu? Since Ultraviolet handles the DRM and not the individual apps I hope that's the case. I currently buy digital movies on Amazon, and I'm hoping they start using Ultraviolet as well.

 

[Zabka]

Vudu+UV really is fantastic. I dumped 30+ blurays to it earlier this year for less than a dollar a piece. Quality is damn good for streaming too.

I just found out about the UV family sharing service last night. Going to try setting that up later this week.

 

[Tablo]

So the quality is good? What's the highest bitrate it offers?

 

[Snaku]

So the quality is good? What's the highest bitrate it offers?

Vudu's HDX bitrate maxes out at around 10mb/s. Most Blu-rays average around 25-30. Encoding also makes a difference just like it does on Blu. The HDX encode of Avatar is by far one of the best streaming encodes I've ever seen, and it's really hard for me to tell the difference between it and the Blu when they're playing side-by-side.

Question - can I play movies I own on one player on another player? For instance, stream movies on the Flixster app that I own on Vudu? Since Ultraviolet handles the DRM and not the individual apps I hope that's the case. I currently buy digital movies on Amazon, and I'm hoping they start using Ultraviolet as well.

Yes, any movie that is UltraViolet compliant can be viewed through any app that supports UV. As long as both your Vudu and Flixster accounts are linked to your UV account, you'll have access to your UV library on both apps. Last year Amazon said they would be supporting Ultraviolet, but they haven't even hinted at when that might occur since.

 

[Afro]

Where's the best place to buy UV codes on the cheap? I see them in the GAF b/s/t thread, but only occasionally.

 

[AlteredBeast]

Where's the best place to buy UV codes on the cheap? I see them in the GAF b/s/t thread, but only occasionally.

Google+ groups. You will find them.

 

[Afro]

Google+ groups. You will find them.

Thx!

 

[Wellington]

Where's the best place to buy UV codes on the cheap? I see them in the GAF b/s/t thread, but only occasionally.

Google+ groups. You will find them.

I vouch for this. I have spent probably $30 bucks on a good 8-12 movies at this community https://plus.google.com/communities/104807629505033449769

 

[Afro]

I vouch for this. I have spent probably $30 bucks on a good 8-12 movies at this community https://plus.google.com/communities/104807629505033449769

Embarrassing question, but how do you even use Google+?

 

[this_guy]

Embarrassing question, but how do you even use Google+?

Just go to one of the community pages and log into your google account. You can do a search for UV communities.

 

[AlteredBeast]

It is hilarious unintuitive, but basically, people post lists of what they have, you can claim them in thwir post, but then you need to invite them via Hangouts or tell them to invite you. Then, they will give you their PayPal emails and you Friends & Family them the money. They will then post your code to redeem within a minute or two.

Only had two problems on there and both were resolved quickly between me and the seller.

 

[rjinaz]

It is hilarious unintuitive, but basically, people post lists of what they have, you can claim them in thwir post, but then you need to invite them via Hangouts or tell them to invite you. Then, they will give you their PayPal emails and you Friends & Family them the money. They will then post your code to redeem within a minute or two.

Only had two problems on there and both were resolved quickly between me and the seller.

Yep. On pc you can start a Hangout with a seller by hovering over the name and clicking the little chat bubble icon. Also, make sure you click on the seller and read the profile before you agree to send money. Make sure they have a history there or at least 20 or so people following them. The mods are very active in that particular community posted above so it's rare to see scammers posting. Where they will get you though is by sending you random hangouts. If you get a hangout notice and it's not from a seller that posted, ignore it.
That said, it has never happened to me and I have been using that community for over a year to help build my 600 + movie collection.

 

[Afro]

Cool, perfect. Some sellers don't even post their price, which is awkward.

 

[rjinaz]

Cool, perfect. Some sellers don't even post their price, which is awkward.

Yeah true, most do however. I ignore people with no prices, they usually want to haggle and can be quite persistent. Also, these people are usually looking to trade and not sell more often than not.

 

[RBH]

Where's the best place to buy UV codes on the cheap? I see them in the GAF b/s/t thread, but only occasionally.

https://uvgrab.com
http://happywatching.com

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

I've been preaching Vudu for years and every time I either A. get made fun of or B. get met with weird looks. It's a really great service and the library is huge.

 

[sensui-tomo]

can multiple people share vudu at the same time, just wondering like netflix does.

 

[rjinaz]

https://uvgrab.com
http://happywatching.com

uvgrab is alright. It's run by one of the mods of the largest community.
I stay away from happywatching personally, don't like their prices. Family video is actually one of the only chain stores that sells codes openly online so check out their website too.

The absolute best place to get new releases is this site I'm going to put into email tag:

here

Tends to sell out fast though, usually puts up news codes late friday night or early sat morning.

can multiple people share vudu at the same time, just wondering like netflix does.

absolutely. Not sure if there is a "at the same time" limit in place but my brother and his family and my sister and her family all share my vudu account. I just give them the login info and also have a parental lock in place so nobody can make purchases but me, they need a pin.

 

[Bruce Springsteen]

Yet Apple will never let Vudu on Apple TV

 

[androvsky]

uvgrab is alright. It's run by one of the mods of the largest community.
I stay away from happywatching personally, don't like their prices. Family video is actually one of the only chain stores that sells codes openly online so check out their website too.

The absolute best place to get new releases is this site I'm going to put into email tag:

here

Tends to sell out fast though, usually puts up news codes late friday night or early sat morning.



absolutely. Not sure if there is a "at the same time" limit in place but my brother and his family and my sister and her family all share my vudu account. I just give them the login info and also have a parental lock in place so nobody can make purchases but me, they need a pin.

Doesn't VUDU do a family sharing thing where all you need to do is add their email address to your account? I haven't tried it, been wondering how limited it is.

 

[Afro]

I've been preaching Vudu for years and every time I either A. get made fun of or B. get met with weird looks. It's a really great service and the library is huge.

HDX quality is really amazing. Fury Road blew me away. No need for me to ever buy a physical blu-ray disc again, honestly. I'd like to see Avatar again.

 

[AlteredBeast]

Cool, perfect. Some sellers don't even post their price, which is awkward.

I have found people who don't post prices some of the easiest ways to get cheap movies. I have never had someone who wouldn't deal. I am sure they are out there, but it isn't unheard of to get a movie I really want for $1.50 or $2 in HDX or UHD

 

[AlteredBeast]

HDX quality is really amazing. Fury Road blew me away. No need for me to ever buy a physical blu-ray disc again, honestly. I'd like to see Avatar again.

I wouldn't go that far, but I definitely think that it is of sufficient quality 90% of the time. Better than Cable, from my experience at least.

 

[rjinaz]

Doesn't VUDU do a family sharing thing where all you need to do is add their email address to your account? I haven't tried it, been wondering how limited it is.

They let you merge uv libraries with others so everybody can kind of group together all the movies they own. But I'm the only one that actually has a uv library so I just don't bother with that and give them my info.

That bad thing is, now they don't buy movies at, they just expect me to get all the new releases for cheap lol. I do occasionally ask for a few bucks though here and there especially if they request something.

 

[Afro]

I wouldn't go that far, but I definitely think that it is of sufficient quality 90% of the time. Better than Cable, from my experience at least.

Not sure if the Fury Road encode is especially good or something, but it looked incredibly clean/crisp to me. Kept asking myself "am I actually streaming this?" And this is 1/4 the bitrate of an actual blu-ray?

 

[Matticers]

Where's the best place to buy UV codes on the cheap? I see them in the GAF b/s/t thread, but only occasionally.

If you go to the blu-ray.com forums, they have a trading subforum and a topic that deals with buying/selling codes. I've sold probably 50-ish codes on there now. People jack up the prices on new release movies obviously, but you can routinely find movies for 2 or 3 bucks each which doesn't seem bad at all to me. That's usually what I sell mine for.

 

[AlteredBeast]

Not sure if the Fury Road encode is especially good or something, but it looked incredibly clean/crisp. Kept asking myself "am I actually streaming this?" And this is 1/4 the bitrate of an actual blu-ray?

Yeah, that one was particularly good. I have the UHD version and that will be the first thing I try if/when I buy a UHD tv. Definitely interested to see if the bit rate at 4k holds up.

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

Is there something inherently better about vudu? I think I've been redeeming on flixster mostly for my UV.

 

[rjinaz]

Yeah, that one was particularly good. I have the UHD version and that will be the first thing I try if/when I buy a UHD tv. Definitely interested to see if the bit rate at 4k holds up.

Curious how did you get the UHD version? Did you pay the $25 they have been asking?

 

[AlteredBeast]

Is there something inherently better about vudu? I think I've been redeeming on flixster mostly for my UV.

I just find the site and selection better. It doesn't matter one way or the other, I believe, though. Some people online sell Flixster only codes, which still automatically port over to your VUDU account, but that must mean that you could theoretically use some codes twice? That part seems a bit sketchy to me, but then again, the whole community rides just above the line of legitimacy

 

[AlteredBeast]

Curious how did you get the UHD version? Did you pay the $25 they have been asking?

Bought a code off of someone advertising it as HDX for 3 bucks. My gain, I suppose. No idea how they got it without upgrading it though...

 

[rjinaz]

Bought a code off of someone advertising it as HDX for 3 bucks. My gain, I suppose. No idea how they got it without upgrading it though...

And you're sure it's UHD? A lot of people are getting confused because there is a little orange tab, but that just means it is 4k eligible.

That said, apparently fury road and san adreas will redeem UHD on VUDU as long as the code is from an UHD case.

 

[AlteredBeast]

And you're sure it's UHD? A lot of people are getting confused because there is a little orange tab, but that just means it is 4k eligible.

That said, apparently fury road and san adreas will redeem UHD on VUDU as long as the code is from an UHD case.

Yep, says you own UHD on my Vudu screen.

 

[rjinaz]

Yep, says you own UHD on my Vudu screen.

LOL lucky. Somebody must have bought the 4k UHD version and sold it as hdx.

I just bought the 4k UHD discs from Amazon. Going to redeem the codes and sell the discs on ebay. Great news UV is redeeming UHD now.

 

[vwnut13]

Disney is the only company that has gotten it right with Digital Copies.

 

[AlteredBeast]

Disney is the only company that has gotten it right with Digital Copies.

That isn't exactly right. Many company's discs have codes that redeem through the main 3 sites: iTunes, VUDU, and Flixster. The one thing that Disney does better is also redeem through Amazon and Google (maybe?), iirc.

The downside is before, Disney let you not redeem through certain channels and give the code away for someone else. I never linked my iTunes to Disney Movies Anywhere, for example, and could give my code away for iTunes only. Now, that doesn't work as all new Disney discs auto redeem everywhere.

 

[rjinaz]

Disney is the only company that has gotten it right with Digital Copies.

Nah UV is great and pretty much every major company uses it too, with exception of Disney and Touchstone I think.

1- Create UV account.
2- Create an account for whichever service you prefer, VUDU or Flixster for most.

Good to go. Almost all codes you find can be redeemed in one place too.

People really get flustered about having to create 2 whole accounts, but it makes things easier in the long run because you can watch your movies from different services and devices.

I do like that I can watch my Disney codes on Amazon or Google mind you, but hopefully some day soon both will have their own UV service as well so that will take care of that.

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

I forget, there's no way to watch these offline right? I do a lot of my movie watching on the train during my commute so offline viewing is crucial

 

[Syriel]

absolutely. Not sure if there is a "at the same time" limit in place but my brother and his family and my sister and her family all share my vudu account. I just give them the login info and also have a parental lock in place so nobody can make purchases but me, they need a pin.

Vudu allows for family sharing of libraries across multiple accounts.

Nah UV is great and pretty much every major company uses it too, with exception of Disney and Touchstone I think.

1- Create UV account.
2- Create an account for whichever service you prefer, VUDU or Flixster for most.

Good to go. Almost all codes you find can be redeemed in one place too.

People really get flustered about having to create 2 whole accounts, but it makes things easier in the long run because you can watch your movies from different services and devices.

I do like that I can watch my Disney codes on Amazon or Google mind you, but hopefully some day soon both will have their own UV service as well so that will take care of that.

Disney Movies Anywhere is great. Redeem once and it works across a number of services, most of which are not UV enabled.

Since Vudu is UV enabled and DMA enabled, you can watch everything there if you want a single source.

I wish all studios did the DMA thing so I didn't have to worry about individual movies on Google, iTunes, etc.

I forget, there's no way to watch these offline right? I do a lot of my movie watching on the train during my commute so offline viewing is crucial

Vudu allows you to download to a device for offline playback.

 

[Futureman]

can you redeem a code on VUDU, watch it, and then trade it to someone?

or is this trading/selling going on primarily people buying a Blu Ray and never accessing the code and selling it? As in technically illegal but not likely anything will come of it?

this thread reminds me I have some Ghibli Blu Rays that I need to redeem the Disney codes for.

 

[Raistlin]

can you redeem a code on VUDU, watch it, and then trade it to someone?

or is this trading/selling going on primarily people buying a Blu Ray and never accessing the code and selling it? As in technically illegal but not likely anything will come of it?

this thread reminds me I have some Ghibli Blu Rays that I need to redeem the Disney codes for.

The latter. They are unused codes

 

[rjinaz]

Vudu allows for family sharing of libraries across multiple accounts.



Disney Movies Anywhere is great. Redeem once and it works across a number of services, most of which are not UV enabled.

Since Vudu is UV enabled and DMA enabled, you can watch everything there if you want a single source.

I wish all studios did the DMA thing so I didn't have to worry about individual movies on Google, iTunes, etc.



Vudu allows you to download to a device for offline playback.

If I made them create their own account, they'd probably never use it lol. No problem sharing my login info with family. Might use that though with a friend of mine that I wouldn't want to give login info to.

I suppose that's true, especially if you use itunes. I guess I don't care because I'm perfectly fine with VUDU and it's super easy.