# VUDU Surprised Me



## The Oxy Kid (Mar 2, 2016)

I didn't want to wait until November to see Maverick, so went looking to stream. Amazon is a waste, audio wise. (When are they going to wise up and provide a decent audio stream??)
Anywho. A ham (Amateur Radio) friend suggested VUDU. As my Sony 4k Blu-Ray player has the VUDU app, I went there, registered, etc. and looked at the options for viewing the movie. It gave me almost everything I wanted so we bought the movie. We viewed it in 4k, with Dolby ATMOS fully enabled. The video stream was 100%, no pixelizations, drop-outs, pauses, latency, nothing but good almost 4k quality from a disk! WOW! It doesn't have HDR support, but that is of little consequence to us1

VUDU made a believer out of me!
Now if only I could get Disney Plus. Unfortunately Sony and Disney don't like each other so they won't put the app in their players. I have tried streaming DP through other means, and the sounds and video stream cuts out every 10 seconds or so. Disney tells me the problem is my internet isn't fast enough. When I tell them I am connected through a shared T3 line, they have no answers. So, they refunded my sub and I don't get Disney.
Does anyone have any suggestions on equipment I could use in conjunction with my A/V receiver (HDMI) so I can fully utilize my 4k and various High def audio options?

Thanks all!

TK


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

Perhaps you should acquaint yourself with something other than a disc player or TV as a streaming device. Disc players aren't treated well in terms of app updates by most manufacturers but streaming devices like the Roku and FireTV devices get relatively frequent updates for several years (Roku is just starting to phase out updates for their 2012 models but they'll continue to run the installed apps).

All of the current Sony TVs come pre-installed with the Disney+ App so I'm not buying your Sony .vs. Disney argument.


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## The Oxy Kid (Mar 2, 2016)

harsh said:


> Perhaps you should acquaint yourself with something other than a disc player or TV as a streaming device. Disc players aren't treated well in terms of app updates by most manufacturers but streaming devices like the Roku and FireTV devices get relatively frequent updates for several years (Roku is just starting to phase out updates for their 2012 models but they'll continue to run the installed apps).
> 
> All of the current Sony TVs come pre-installed with the Disney+ App so I'm not buying your Sony .vs. Disney argument.


I tried the Roku, but it didn't work well. I get DP through my TV, but for some reason, can't get it to pass the audio options I want.
Can't speak for the Sony TV's. Just know what they told me when I sked if they were ever going to add thee DP app in their players. I was told emphatically, NO, they never would.

So you like Roku and Amazon's Fire TV. I'll look into the Fire TV. (As I said, not happy with the Roku) I do have expansion capabilities with my A/V receiver. Thanks!

MC


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## b4pjoe (Nov 20, 2010)

Apple TV is the best media streamer on the market. (according to me 😀 )


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

The Oxy Kid said:


> I do have expansion capabilities with my A/V receiver.


Regarding the TV app audio format, how is your TV connected to your AVR?

With 4K and Dolby Atmos, just because you have the right connectors on your device doesn't mean that your device supports all of the formats associated with those connectors. HDMI must be eARC on both your TV and your AVR to get >5.1 surround or uncompressed audio.


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## The Oxy Kid (Mar 2, 2016)

harsh said:


> Regarding the TV app audio format, how is your TV connected to your AVR?
> 
> With 4K and Dolby Atmos, just because you have the right connectors on your device doesn't mean that your device supports all of the formats associated with those connectors. HDMI must be eARC on both your TV and your AVR to get >5.1 surround or uncompressed audio.


Yup to all. HDMI, eARC on both ends.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

The Oxy Kid said:


> Yup to all. HDMI, eARC on both ends.


Then the audio deficiencies are probably with your TV and you'll need a real streamer to work around them. If your AVR supports eARC, it probably also supports 4K pass-through so you could plug the streamer into the AVR and not risk the TV making a mess of it.


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## Jillxz (Jul 16, 2012)

The Oxy Kid said:


> I tried the Roku, but it didn't work well. I get DP through my TV, but for some reason, can't get it to pass the audio options I want.
> Can't speak for the Sony TV's. Just know what they told me when I sked if they were ever going to add thee DP app in their players. I was told emphatically, NO, they never would.
> 
> So you like Roku and Amazon's Fire TV. I'll look into the Fire TV. (As I said, not happy with the Roku) I do have expansion capabilities with my A/V receiver. Thanks!
> ...


I love Roku. I got a Roku streaming stick plus. Had Amazon Fire Stick but I prefer Roku. It has thousands of channels. Nothing better in my book.


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## The Oxy Kid (Mar 2, 2016)

OOPS!


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## The Oxy Kid (Mar 2, 2016)

Jillxz said:


> I love Roku. I got a Roku streaming stick plus. Had Amazon Fire Stick but I prefer Roku. It has thousands of channels. Nothing better in my book.


Do you get all the 'Hi-Def' sound options? Dolby True HD, ATMOS, etc.?


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## NashGuy (Jan 30, 2014)

The Apple TV 4K supports Dolby Atmos audio from Disney+, Netflix, HBO Max, Paramount+, as well as their own Apple TV app (which they use for their Apple TV+ subscription service as well as movie/TV rentals and purchases). I can't tell if the VUDU app for Apple TV supports Atmos but if you create a free Movies Anywhere account, and then link your VUDU and Apple accounts to it, the movies you've purchased from VUDU should also show up in the Apple TV app, which IMO is unsurpassed in terms of picture quality.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

The Oxy Kid said:


> Do you get all the 'Hi-Def' sound options? Dolby True HD, ATMOS, etc.?


That depends both on the streamer and the streaming service used.

Most recent streamers support Dolby Atmos. There are spec pages for all of them and that's usually one of the metrics.

I don't think any of the streaming services offer Dolby True HD but it could be important if you have a home media server. I don't think Roku supports it in any of their models.

For "hi-res" audio, the go-to tool is a Digital to Analog Converter (DAC).


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