VUDU Adds UHD Support for Apple TV So You Can Stream Disney Films in 4K

Streaming movie and TV service VUDU today implemented UHD support for the Apple TV, which means there's finally a way for Apple TV owners to watch Disney content, Marvel movies, and Star Wars films in 4K HDR.

As noted on Reddit, the Apple TV is now listed on the VUDU UHD compatible device list, and the VUDU Apple TV app, which was updated today to version 1.1.0, confirms that 4K and HDR support is available.

Disney content is available through iTunes on the Apple TV, but Disney does not permit Apple to sell its offerings in 4K due to pricing issues, giving Apple TV owners few options for watching high-quality Disney content on their set-top boxes.

The VUDU app on Apple TV does not let users to rent or buy movies or TV shows directly on the device, but content added to a VUDU user's collection from elsewhere, such as the web, will show up on the Apple TV and will be available for 4K playback.

Most Disney content in UHD quality on VUDU is priced at $24.99, but other 4K titles can vary in price and are around $15 to $20. VUDU has several purchasing options, such as standard definition, high definition, and for some content, disc + digital.

The VUDU website features support for renting and buying more than 100,000 titles, plus it allows for linking an existing UltraViolet or Movies Anywhere account. All of that content, both linked and purchased on VUDU, is available on the Apple TV.

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Top Rated Comments

Alex_Bond

70 months ago

Its all cool, but ATV still didn't add Dolby Atmos support. PCM is good, but i faced problem that PCM is much quieter than Dolby stream.
Right now im using Chromecast to watch UHD + Dolby Atmos and same movies from iTunes are about 30% quieter than CC.

Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)

timothevs

Still no support for the TV app :(

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

netnothing

For those having issues with some movies not playing back in DV. Here's the response from Jake at Vudu:

Some technical background on that if you are interested... "Dolby Vision Profile 4" (which has been Vudu's primary DV format for several years) is a backwards compatible format that will play 4K main10 (SDR) if the device does not support Dolby Vision. Some new DV-capable devices (primarily Apple TV and Sony TVs) decided not to support Profile 4, only Profile 5 (a non-backwards compatible format). We have been re-encoding our UHD catalog in Profile 5, and are over 2/3 complete. Most other non-DV devices can play Profile 4 as SDR, but until we add separate "main10" and DV P5 versions those titles will play as HDX on Apple TV.

This is also the main reason the Apple TV 4K release took a bit longer than expected - we wanted to have enough titles available to make it a good experience for customers, yet not delay it more than necessary!

Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

jclo

Disney Movies Anywhere no longer exists. It has been replaced by Movies Anywhere.

Thanks, I'll fix that.

aaronhead14

Yeah, Disney is strange. I have a love/hate relationship with them. They make great stuff, but they're so sticklery and anti-consumer about it. They try to milk every penny possible, and in doing so, probably make fewer sales as a result.

TallGuyGT

Does anyone know if you rent a movie from vudu’s website that it will be available to watch on Apple TV in 4K?

Yes it works, it’s just a little inconvenient, so I usually use iTunes. But VUDU is multi platform and I’ve found their video and audio quality to rival iTunes. Will try some of the Disney stuff in 4K that iTunes doesn’t have.

Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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