Digital Home Thoughts - News & Reviews for the Digital Home

"Doubts have been cast on the success of the Blu-ray format ever since it debuted. Initially, the format appeared to be doomed due to a poor adoption rate, thanks mainly to a host of factors, including the PS3's initial tribulations, popularity of the DVD format, and the steady rise in the popularity of digital downloads."

Blu-ray won the format battle against HD-DVD, but it has yet to win the war for HD-content delivery. The opposition? Digital downloads, for one. Personally, I'm a fan. VUDU's HDX rentals are extremely high quality and their full HD library is the largest anywhere. Other competitors include Apple TV/iTunes, Amazon/TiVo, and Netflix; each with varying pros and cons.

The other opposition? Interestingly enough, standard-def DVD. While it's not true HD content, the output of an upconverting player provides a very satisfying experience, particularly if the movie is good. And consider that many people can't tell the difference between SD and HD on their HDTVs. Basically DVD quality is, in many instances, good enough. While the DVD to Blu-ray quality difference is significant, it's not as big of a leap as VHS to DVD. I remember VHS video artifacts & that interfered with my enjoyment of a movie. Very rarely have seen a DVD issue that is a limitation of the media.

What do you think?

"The VUDU fans who felt teased by the leak a few weeks ago can feel a little better today. Not only is VUDU offically announcing access to the previously discovered features, but in addition VUDU owners will have access to other on demand HD content from networks you've actually heard of like National Geographic and PBS -- other SD content will also be available, but really who cares about SD? What might end up being the most interesting in the long run though, is the fact that VUDU has brought this to market using its new VUDU RIA (Rich Internet Application) platform, which in the future will allow third parities to bring even more internet content to your living room. We'll have to hold our tongue on this idea until sometimes next year though, to see if anyone actually adopts it. These features are great and all, but how 'bout giving us access to our own content VUDU? Yeah we know, you're partners wouldn't like that very much, would they? The full release is after the jump."

Until now, VUDU has been a one-trick pony: digital video on demand for rental or purchase. Granted, it performed the trick very well with an amazing interface, consistent software updates, an ever-growing library including the largest collection of HD movie content, and stellar HDX video quality. With the launch of the RIA (Rich Internet Architecture) platform, VUDU has added a few more tricks including YouTube videos, a wide range of video podcasts (called OnDemand TV), and access to photos on Flickr and Picasa. For me, the new features are interesting but not nearly as compelling as its original trick. I'll have to wait and see if anyone takes them up on developing additional VUDU content using this RIA platform. Maybe access to local network content would be a good place to start?