Vudu often has sales on movies in HDX format (in fact, they’ve got a Father’s Day promotion going on right now), but we’ve yet to see any discounts on UHD titles. Well, that’s not true. There were a few titles offered for $24.99 for a short time, but as of late every UHD title is $29.99. That’s a steep price considering you can purchase some Ultra HD Blu-rays for less than $20, and HDX (1080p) titles from Vudu are frequently $9.99 or less.
Vudu UHD titles are not only expensive to buy, but also to rent. A good number of the movies (but not all because of distribution windows) can be rented for $9.99. Typically, a rented title needs to be watched within 30 days and once started remains accessible for 24 hours. But $9.99 is also a hefty sum, and almost twice the price of new HDX rentals that are usually $5.99.
So how about a sale Vudu?
As of this article Vudu has a total of 35 titles in UHD format, with many encoded in Dolby Vision for High Dynamic Range video, and some with Dolby Atmos improving upon Dolby TrueHD 7.1 with a special substream for more immersive sound. Titles that include both Dolby formats include American Sniper, Jupiter Ascending, and Man of Steel, among others.
The UHD, HDR and Dolby Atmos formats all require the right equipment, however, so Digital UHD may not be for everyone. (Learn more about streaming HDR content.)
