Vudu Announces Mobile Disc to Digital

Thanks for the link. This is a big help.

 

Does anyone know if the 100 yearly limit on MD2D based on a calendar year or 365 days from when you convert your first film.

 

A couple interesting redemptions for TV sets. Fairly recently VUDU started allowing some TV sets to redeem so nice for those without included codes or for those who use the D2D program can then sell/pass along their included code sheet.

Complete Collection Ash vs Evil Dead S1-3 redeems HDX for $2

Black Sails Complete Collection S1-4 (Walmart Exclusive with UPC 031398295969) appears to redeem HDX for $2

Walking Dead (season 8) -- $2 HDX
The Terror S1 $2 HDX

 

I’ve yet to convert ONE title with this service using the app and taking apicture of the barcode.

Not a one.

 

Thinking of trying Vudu's disc to digital. But then I read:

And then on Vudu's FAQ page, it references Ultraviolet over and over, but it's going away. So is disc to digital still viable? I just started my Movies Anywhere collection and wondering if I should start converting some BDs over to digital via Vudu, but concerned this is going to be another bust.

 

To be clear I’m talking about the app

I’ve converted hundreds of titles using my computer and a disc drive.

 

It does still work to some extent. Some studios supported it, others didn't even on the 'go' studios I had a variable results with it working. I worked OK, but at least 1/4-1/3 of the discs that should have worked didn't

I have closer to 3000 well over half if not 2/3 of them coming via D2D when they had 10+ for $1 ea and I had a lot of Walmart Promo codes that lowered my cost to $0.25-0.50 ea. I spent a couple months converting as many discs as I could. Unfortunately when they opened Mobile D2D they d/c the 10 item discount.

The mobile site seems to work OK with ANdroid phones, but it's critical that the shipping/billing address and location your phone is transmitting to VUDU be exact. Iphone has always seemed to be a problem. I've probably done 100 via the mobile app.

The odd thing is I virtually never use streaming at all, but when VUDU allowed sharing it did let me hook my kids who live way out of state to my library and they use it occasionally. Unfortunately they also ended that type program for new signups and it was always a bit iffy too.

 

Some great feedback from other forum members. Thanks!

But stuff like this does make one wonder if digital is worth it:

• Half-hearted support by studios
• UV getting announced as the biggest thing since sliced bread then getting cancelled
• Users reporting titles suddenly disappearing from this-or-that digital collection
• Only certain studios being supportive of Movies Anywhere
• No TV series being in Movies Anywhere
• Other "movies" for sale that won't import to Movies Anywhere because they are considered a TV "show" when it was actually a movie that aired on TV

If it's this much of a hodgepodge, scattershot, hold-your-breath-and-see-if-it-works, approach to building a collection for film buffs like the majority of people here, then how can studios ever expect the average consumer to have a good experience?

 

I think it works for the average consumer because what an average consumer wants from their entertainment in 2019 is vastly different than it was in 2009 or 1999.

The average consumer has lost interest in needing a physical object to consume their content. It happened with music ten years before film/TV content and the film industry is now catching up to that reality. Most consumers are more than willing to trade the chance that any one specific title might fall through the cracks in exchange for not having to physically go somewhere to pick up (and then return) an object just to watch something. Most consumers will trade guaranteed access to a small selection of titles for nearly unlimited if occasionally unpredictable access to a gigantic library of titles.

Those of us who love movies and who want to rewatch specific movies again and again are in a minority. For most people, the thought process is more, “I’d like to watch something, preferably something that I think I’ll enjoy, and zone out for a couple hours.”

Whereas someone like me plans out, “What’s the perfect movie to revisit on Friday night?” most people just think, “Hey, it’s a Friday and I’m free, maybe I’ll watch something.”

So I really think these hiccups with the different services have very little practical impact on most average consumers.

 

Good points. I'm watching a PBS-produced documentary on Netflix as I write this. Don't want to own it but it's excellent. I'm always finding new things to watch.

One of the reasons collecting was so "necessary" by most of us was because the limited selection of options on our Friday nights. Cable was mostly terrible even when I had it in the 90s. But even if there was a few good options, you had to tune in or record it somehow. When discs came along we always had preferred options at our fingertips. Now with digital & streaming, there's always 50,000 choices of things you haven't seen on at any given moment.

I"m still not sure Movies Anywhere will gain much traction. I hope so as I've jumped in. But only a few things work there and now that I read this disc to digital thing is "meh", then I'm sad.

 

I find Movies Anywhere to be an excellent first step.

Ultimately, to me it doesn’t make sense to have different services with different standards and technical requirements. This was more easily understood with physical media. We had DVDs. We didn’t have “this kind of DVD only plays on that kind of player” or “this DVD will only work if you bought it at this store”.

It was understood that you needed one format so that all discs would work on all players.

But iTunes, Vudu and the like already existed, so there wasn’t really the space to design a new digital content system that all rights holders participated in equally, and where all manufacturers had to conform to the same spec.

Movies Anywhere is a patchwork effort to fix that problem. I think it actually works pretty well for what it’s supposed to do.

 

I prefer to think of it the opposite way. There's certain studios not supporting MA. Only one of the major studios is not on board.

Well, it is called Movies Anywhere.

I think it's just a matter of time before TV gets added (or a separate app), and they're just making sure they have the movie side working as smoothly as possible.

 

I think there’s less demand on the TV side probably because ownership is even less important to the average consumer when it comes to watching TV shows. I think people like binge watching shows but are relieved not to have to buy a season anymore to see something. Netflix, Hulu, and apps from different TV networks are filling in that gap.

As an anecdotal example: my wife is a big fan of Stranger Things on Netflix but not a big collector the way I am. I asked her if she wanted me to pick up a copy of the show on disc for her. She thought there was no need, because if she wants to revisit it, she’ll just watch it again on Netflix. No need to buy the disc when it’s already available 24/7 on something she has.

I think ownership spiked when the equation was ownership = Access. Now that one can have access without ownership, that works better for most average consumers.

 

For those that successfully got the mobile Disc to Digital to work, are the Blu-ray's bonus features included like they are on most other digital purchases now?