Comments on: Vudu Pulls The Trigger On HD

By: Ivan

Ivan — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 23:06:54 +0000

>>I have asked how the source is obtained. I have not been told. I wish I knew as well!

Right, that’s why I didn’t rule out that sometimes they may use same source file as the DVD/BR/HD-DVD (not likely to be retail disk due to copy protection). I was actually trying to emphasize the point that Jon made more eloquently.

By: JonO

JonO — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 22:25:34 +0000

I have asked how the source is obtained. I have not been told. I wish I knew as well!

By: Sean Harding

Sean Harding — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 22:19:03 +0000

Just out of curiosity, do you know how the studios provide the material? Do they send a hard drive? Do they send DVDs (distinct from the retail DVDs)? Transfer digital files directly? Mail printouts of each frame to be scanned by hand and glued back together? Ok, maybe that last one isn’t so practical…

By: JonO

JonO — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 22:14:42 +0000

Vudu does use a variable bit rate though in their encoding scheme. The exact encoding/compression scheme is indeed proprietary. It is also in the process of evolving.

In terms of source material, Vudu does NOT rip source material from BR or HD-DVD or even standard DVDs. That would not be legal. Vudu gets source material direct from the studios. If the source material from the studio is poor (as some older movies are), then that will be reflected in the Vudu movie image. There’s a number of older movies that have bad source materials that have not been well maintained. This also explains why not every title is in DD5.1. If the studio provides a DD5.1 audio track, then the Vudu will have DD5.1 available. If a DD5.1 track is not provided, then the movie is delivered in stereo.

By: Ivan

Ivan — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 22:04:30 +0000

Jon is correct. Vudu is not hiding the fact that they use H.264 although which profile they use and exact encoding settings would be proprietary information from what I understand.

Also, another thing to note is that Vudu gets source material from content providers and then does its own encoding. So they don’t necessarily re-compress DVD/Blu-Ray/HD-DVD material.

As for the “twists”, I assume it has to do with optimizing content for streaming and for P2P delivery/distribution. From what I understand high-def media is often encoded at variable bit rates (higher rates for more detail-heavy scenes), but Vudu can’t afford thebitrate to jump all over the place as they have a 4 Mbps ceiling.

By: JonO

JonO — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:30:07 +0000

Vudu is using H.264. That’s been confirmed multiple times. Interesting info on the 3:2 pulldown with MPEG-2 – thanks Glenn…

By: Glenn

Glenn — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:13:06 +0000

Well, h.264 is MPEG-4 Part 10, and a lot of times that is what people mean when they say MPEG-4. Could be they mean MPEG-4 ASP/SP, but that is generally thought of as being less efficient, so I suspect not… If they’re really using the full-on MPEG-4 I’d be very suprised…

By: Dave Zatz

Dave Zatz — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 18:24:13 +0000

FYI Vudu is using MPEG-4, though their PR/Marketing lead was a bit vague when I pressed him for details saying something about encoding using “other twists.”