Vudu SELLS 3D Movies, You Just...Can't Watch Them?!

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I have gotten a few e-mails about 3D movie on Vudu.  As you are all aware I am a staunch support of disks.  I refuse to buy digital content unless I absolutely have to.  I want to own my content, I don't entirely trust the cloud, and I don't like the idea that stuff I buy digitally can be taken away with the click of a button.  Heck, I want to pass on my massive movie collection on to friends, and even Apple won't really let you do that.  I made this site because I want to fully support BluRay 3D and (hopefully) Ultra BluRay 3D formats in the future.  That said... I understand where many of my readers are coming from.  Yes, it would be nice to have "Frozen" (which seems to have become an unofficial mascot here) on BluRay 3D, but if a digital copy is all we're going to get here... well, then some of you want to know how THAT experience is!

I must begrudgingly admit that this curiosity makes a whole lot of sense.

While I don't want 3D movies in digital format (the streaming quality is MUCH more unpredictable), it is a reality that for some people a digital copy is better than no copy at all, so I decided to take it upon myself to see how the quality of a stream held up.  Since Vudu is the only major streaming site I can think of that sells movies in 3D I decided to start there.


Thankfully, Vudu made this easy by grouping off their 3D offerings into a separate category so I could browse the selection.  I also noticed that some Disney 3D shorts were being sold, and since the idea was to judge the 3D experience on experiences that likely weren't coming to disk, those seemed like a good place to start.  I picked up "Toy Story: Small Fry" and "Tangled Ever After."  I want into the app to view them and was shocked to discover there was no "Watch" button.  Yes, despite the fact that I have a 3D TV, the Xbox One is 3D capable, AND the fact that I've watched BluRay 3D disks on this thing MULTIPLE times, for some reason I can't stream 3D content on Vudu!  This makes so little sense I am almost at a loss for words.  Of course, while Vudu has always been my service of choice for my digital movie locker, the app IS pretty backwards thinking in several key areas (it probably deserves a special blog post all to itself in the future)!

One thing for sure is that this is something worth investigating further.  Is this a basic feature of the Vudu app?  What about Vudu on PlayStation 4 or *snicker* Wii U?  What about BluRay player apps?  I'm assuming the smart TV apps will pick up the 3D, but the point is EVERYTHING should be playable in 3D so long as the consumer has the proper setup!  What's the point of selling the content at all if people can't even view it?!  We'll be looking into this in more detail in the near future.  In the meantime, if anyone at Vudu wants to reach out to us and clarify what systems/devices will play 3D (and how) that would be very useful!

12 comments:

  1. Stiny said...:

    Last time I tried checking to see if 3D content was available on Vudu on Xbox One, I was dismayed to find out that the 3d movies and the 3d collection category was completely non-existent. Vudu on my PS4 still offers 3d movies available to purchase, rent, or test out with their 2 minute preview feature and I was able to rent and watch X-Men: Days of Future Past recently that way

  1. Joe said...:

    I'm not sure I understand the issue. I'm able to watch my 3d movies on Vudu on most of my devices and consoles, excluding my handheld, Android or IOS devices.

  1. Unknown said...:

    I tried watching movies in 3D using the Vudu app on my Roku attached to my Sharp Smart 3D HDTV as well as the Vudu app native to the same Sharp and in both instances the Vudu app stated 3D payback was not supported on these devices. It's incredibly frustrating to think I have to purchase another device (e.g. one of the two (only two!) BluRay players listed on the Vudu website as offering a 3D enabled Vudu app).

  1. Unknown said...:

    Yes! I can still find 3D movies on vudu with my PS4. But not with my Roku. I think it's a shame. I try to buy all my 3D on disc. But now it's getting expensive. I can only find foreign releases in 3D bluray on eBay for newer movies and they are asking anywhere from $25 - $70+ in some cases. I'm going to go look at my local Fry's electronics store as they have always been a good source. I do like to get the free digital HD code when I buy a movie. I had purchased a 3D copy that was used on eBay of The Martian. It included everything plus the digital code. However the person selling it failed to mention it was a Canadian copy, so the discs played fine but the code wouldn't work here in the USA. I hate how the industry has so much control over this. Would it really cost then so much to just throw in a 3D copy in the set of new releases for those of us that still love the format? Sheesh..

  1. SLYDoggie said...:

    I'm a huge 3D fan and, as others have mentioned, it is getting more and more difficult to procure 3D versions of movies and I'm having to resort to foreign versions and streaming versions. I have resorted to 3D on VUDU for a couple of films that I couldn't find on Blu-Ray... For example, "Finest Hours". Although the VUDU 3D movies won't play using the VUDU app on my Roku 4, they will play using the VUDU app on my Sony UBP-X800 4K Bluray Player. This leads me to believe that the VUDU application itself must be 3D capable. The VUDU 3D streaming quality is "acceptable" but there is some ghosting which I don't typically see with a Bluray 3D disc version.

  1. Unknown said...:

    I am trying to watch 3D on my projector which is connected to my Laptop. Vudu says PC not supported. How do I play my movie?

  1. SLYDoggie said...:

    VUDU only supports 3D on devices that also support 3D...like most Blu-ray players.

  1. 8traxrule said...:

    Support of 3D on all the streaming services has been so spotty that I hope they aren't being used to gauge the interest in the format. I had a TV and Blu-Ray player both with Vudu apps that could not access their 3D content- I'd even purchased a $5 3D documentary before getting them in anticipation (and had some credit to use) but then found I couldn't watch it on them. 5 years later I got an LG TV after hearing they were dropping 3D (the TV I had before wasn't great) and its Vudu app actually supports 3D. I still buy every 3D movie on disc because I feel that's a better way to support 3D in general, plus I have the same issues with digital that have already been mentioned here.

  1. MetalHead said...:

    You do know that you can get Frozen 3D Blu Ray from the UK right?

  1. SLYDoggie said...:

    More and more we are being forced to purchase the 3D Discs from non-US suppliers because the studios have determined that 3D is not profitable in the US. The UK works for most titles but sometimes they are Region 2 locked and won't work in the US. In that case, suppliers from other countries have to be used.

    I also buy pretty much every 3D release for my library and prefer the discs over the streaming but have bought a few streaming 3D movies from Vudu over time.

  1. Nicki Minaz said...:
    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
  1. caliburger34 said...:

    However, as the internet speeds up and more people are connecting their TV to their PC, streaming movies is becoming the future. online international movies streaming

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