AfterDawn: Tech news

Vudu to release latest "Bourne" in streaming HD

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 11 Dec 2007 6:59 User comments (5)

Vudu to release latest "Bourne" in streaming HD

The IPTV service Vudu has just announced that they will be releasing the Universal movie The Bourne Ultimatum as a 1080i HD download, on the same day as its retail DVD release.
The announcement is the first time that a studio has simultaneously released a DVD and an HD download. Vudu has content from many major studios through its broadband-connected set top boxes. The studios are as follows; Lionsgate, New Line Cinema, Paramount, Sony, 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Studios, Warner Brothers, and Universal Studios.

Vudu has about 5000 movies currently but the majority are in standard definition. Many studios are beginning to offer HD version however because the release of a movie in HD, while not having to place it on "format war media" Blu-ray and HD DVD can be very advantageous and reach more consumers.



The service works using P2P technology somewhat similar to torrents. "When a user purchases or rents a film from the service, the beginning of the movie is streamed directly from Vudu's servers while the rest is downloaded in the background. Streams are MPEG-4 and converted to HD, so only a 1.2 Mbps connection is required for viewing. Faster connections result in no delay."

Finally, primetime network TV content has gone into beta on Vudu with such hit shows as Arrested Development, Familly Guy, My Name is Earl, and Prison Break being available.

Source:
Betanews

Previous Next  

5 user comments

112.12.2007 13:33

I would hate to see the lag if youre trying to watch this as it downloads. Companies like Comcast, Bell, Cogeco will go apeshit and try to charge higher fees for going over the cap, so to speak.

No win for everyone, but especially the customers.

Think I'll stick with downloading from alt.binaries.hdtv!

212.12.2007 17:07
LILBUCK
Inactive

Up here on canada I got SHAW cable extreme high speed and I've been warned twice that I have exceeded the 100 gig limit. They wanted me to switch to there business plan for 199$ a month. I would love to download movies in 1080p format if those nazi's at shaw would lighten up and get with the times.

314.12.2007 05:32

I have VUDU and it works great. I received the Bourne movie and it looks great. I recommend it to anyone that wants to download it for viewing later in the day. It works for me.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 14 Dec 2007 @ 5:33

414.12.2007 07:20

It sounds like SOMEONE is doing SOMETHING smart. I wonder how long it will take the lawyers to screw it up.

523.12.2007 20:25

Interesting move.

Comments have been disabled for this article.

News archive