Spreadsheet - Known VUDU UV Issues That Need Addressing

[Rex Strother]

I mean - this should be obvious - but yes, if the UV rights are in your locker - they should port to VUDU and thus MA.

BUT - as noted - some of the titles are not available at VUDU or available in full resolution at VUDU. This is the bottleneck. Those are the issues that need to be fixed. If VUDU doesn't see the UHD, then MA "upstream" won't either. So yeah - VUDU needs this material in full available resolution and with the UV rights assigned so that they port from UV to VUDU.

Having a UHD UV license ... when VUDU only has the title in HD UV ... means it only comes up in HD at VUDU, and then only ports OUT to MA in HD. So .... the reason we have reached out to VUDU.

This is not really "news" - it's just far more priority with the shut down. We have covered MANY of these issues in other posts. But we assembled them into one great big post recently.

MANY of the films in UHD or HD are available in those resolutions at other providers (which providers don't happen to be UV, you see). So ... we know the encodes are available.

MA is relatively new ... we were hashing out these same issues when only UV existed. And VUDU didn't have the proper rights, or the proper resolutions. But now we have a big cutoff, and we would like to see them meet that promise of "not lose any content you have in UV"

[digitalfreaknyc]

I guess some people redeemed a lot of movies at a studio site that were UV only and this is the main concern for them. I didn't. All my UHD purchases have been made directly at one of the retailers through codes or direct purchase.

If they were UV only, they should have ported to Vudu or FDN and, thus, MA.

[sankoni]

This is a great explanation. But, to be clear, any UHD titles purchased at other retailers (iTunes, FandangoNow, Amazon, Google Pay) should port to Vudu in UHD if a title is MA-enabled and/or Vudu finally has a title available in UHD that is MA at the other retailer where the movie was purchased, right?

Some movies were purchased/redeemed from non-MA retailers such as SonyPicturesStore.com or ParamountPictures.com so the UHD license never made it to MA and is now just sitting in the UV locker.

[quackman]

I guess some people redeemed a lot of movies at a studio site that were UV only and this is the main concern for them. I didn't. All my UHD purchases have been made directly at one of the retailers through codes or direct purchase.

[digitalfreaknyc]

This is a great explanation. But, to be clear, any UHD titles purchased at other retailers (iTunes, FandangoNow, Amazon, Google Pay) should port to Vudu in UHD if a title is MA-enabled and/or Vudu finally has a title available in UHD that is MA at the other retailer where the movie was purchased, right?

Yes. Which is why I don't understand what the problem is.

I hate to say it but...welcome to digital, kids! You don't own ANYTHING.

[quackman]

For everyone to better understand - why MA alone isn't good enough and why these need fixing.

If movies are already sitting in a UV locker that aren't honored/recognized by VUDU (either the title entirely, or the resolution), then that movie doesn't port correctly into VUDU ... which is the gateway for a lot of UV titles into MA. If I own a UV UHD license via Sony or Paramount ... I need Vudu to recognize that UV UHD license, so that it (1) shows up in VUDU correctly and (2) then ports from VUDU into MA and to other providers.

Many UV HD and UHD licenses came through direct retail websites (Sony, Universal, Paramount) or through no-longer-around services (Target Ticket, CinemaNow) - so VUDU needs to see these films, and not just see them, but also have them in the highest possible resolution.

VUDU is one of the last remaining "paths" from UV to MA. So we need VUDU to fix as many of these titles as they can. To this end, much of this information is not "new" - we've asked for many of these fixes for a long time. It was the shut down of UV as a working/breathing system that made it an important new push to get them fixed.

We can deal with using MA ... going forward. But UV and VUDU insist we "won't lose content" just because UV is shutting down. Truth is - we will. If VUDU doesn't see a UHD ... I lose that content. Maybe I get HD, but I own UHD. And I want that UHD to show up in VUDU and I want it to then port from VUDU into MA.

This is a great explanation. But, to be clear, any UHD titles purchased at other retailers (iTunes, FandangoNow, Amazon, Google Pay) should port to Vudu in UHD if a title is MA-enabled and/or Vudu finally has a title available in UHD that is MA at the other retailer where the movie was purchased, right?

[digitalfreaknyc]

For everyone to better understand - why MA alone isn't good enough and why these need fixing.

If movies are already sitting in a UV locker that aren't honored/recognized by VUDU (either the title entirely, or the resolution), then that movie doesn't port correctly into VUDU ... which is the gateway for a lot of UV titles into MA. If I own a UV UHD license via Sony or Paramount ... I need Vudu to recognize that UV UHD license, so that it (1) shows up in VUDU correctly and (2) then ports from VUDU into MA and to other providers.

Many UV HD and UHD licenses came through direct retail websites (Sony, Universal, Paramount) or through no-longer-around services (Target Ticket, CinemaNow) - so VUDU needs to see these films, and not just see them, but also have them in the highest possible resolution.

VUDU is one of the last remaining "paths" from UV to MA. So we need VUDU to fix as many of these titles as they can. To this end, much of this information is not "new" - we've asked for many of these fixes for a long time. It was the shut down of UV as a working/breathing system that made it an important new push to get them fixed.

We can deal with using MA ... going forward. But UV and VUDU insist we "won't lose content" just because UV is shutting down. Truth is - we will. If VUDU doesn't see a UHD ... I lose that content. Maybe I get HD, but I own UHD. And I want that UHD to show up in VUDU and I want it to then port from VUDU into MA.

As I said elsewhere, take the movie The Power of One - it's in HD on FandangoNow and iTunes. If I purchased it elsewhere in HD and I'm signed up for MA, it won't matter. You'll still get the HD rights and you'll be able to watch it wherever you want (including Vudu, if they ever add it).

However, if there are movies that ARE UV but AREN'T MA, then I'd agree that those should be the priority to be fixed.

But if you think that Vudu is going to be able to get new encodes of 450 movies (and growing), you're...crazy. Be smart about this and prioritize the ones that are the most vitally important.

[PlanetMC]

I would really appreciate if someone from Vudu's support would comment on this post and provide updates. Looking at the spreadsheet only 4/450+ issues have been resolved. Thats alot of issues to get through before UV Locker closes for good & not dealing with issues timely will result in most of these not being looked at or resolved before the end.

[Rex Strother]

For everyone to better understand - why MA alone isn't good enough and why these need fixing.

If movies are already sitting in a UV locker that aren't honored/recognized by VUDU (either the title entirely, or the resolution), then that movie doesn't port correctly into VUDU ... which is the gateway for a lot of UV titles into MA. If I own a UV UHD license via Sony or Paramount ... I need Vudu to recognize that UV UHD license, so that it (1) shows up in VUDU correctly and (2) then ports from VUDU into MA and to other providers.

Many UV HD and UHD licenses came through direct retail websites (Sony, Universal, Paramount) or through no-longer-around services (Target Ticket, CinemaNow) - so VUDU needs to see these films, and not just see them, but also have them in the highest possible resolution.

VUDU is one of the last remaining "paths" from UV to MA. So we need VUDU to fix as many of these titles as they can. To this end, much of this information is not "new" - we've asked for many of these fixes for a long time. It was the shut down of UV as a working/breathing system that made it an important new push to get them fixed.

We can deal with using MA ... going forward. But UV and VUDU insist we "won't lose content" just because UV is shutting down. Truth is - we will. If VUDU doesn't see a UHD ... I lose that content. Maybe I get HD, but I own UHD. And I want that UHD to show up in VUDU and I want it to then port from VUDU into MA.

[Kallore]

I'm confused. Why not just use MA for the titles that aren't Paramount, LG or MGM?

Because that doesn't take care of everything. I have many 4K movies I bought/redeemed in Sony to watch on my Sony TV Ultra app. Those are UV titles, so they only port into MA as HD. with Sony's site closed now and the future of the Ultra app unsure, then unless Vudu fixes the UV UHD rights for these movies then they will be trapped and I will be left having to watch movies in HD that I paid 4K prices for.

[digitalfreaknyc]

I'm confused. Why not just use MA for the titles that aren't Paramount, LG or MGM?

[DirkViggler]

Thanks to Vudu for fixing a few of these UHD licenses. Keep up the good work! We need our UV licenses to live on somewhere!

[Joltarin]

Yes, please fix Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society.

Also what about getting HDX for La Femme Nikita?

[mike8o8]

Considering that UV is shutting down, this should be priority. I invested a good amount of money on my movies and I dont want my movies stuck in my UV locker. Please fix soon.

[Bizzy]

Ride Along UHD is UHD UV at FN. It needs to be added to the list.