vudu inc. type subsidiary of walmart industry p2p tv genre net tv headquarters sunnyvale california united states area served united states mexico 1 services video content delivery parent walmart website www.vudu.com vudu inc. is a content delivery and media technology company responsible for vudu branded interactive media services and devices . vudu distributes full length movies over the internet to television in the united states of america . it does this with a content delivery network that uses a hybrid peer to peer tv technology . 2 vudu was acquired by walmart in march 2010 . vudu began by only making its own set top boxes the vudu box and the vudu xl but vudu now primarily markets its software as a smart tv connected tv platform and vod video on demand distribution service to third party consumer electronics devices . 2 vudu is also available within playstation 3 playstation 4 xbox 360 xbox one ipad tivo roamio roku devices such as roku 2 roku 3 roku 4 and roku stick and most smartphones via the vudu app android and ios which also supports chromecast use . 3 as of december 2011 the vudu app within the downloadable version of the boxee media player is no longer supported due to drm and certification requirements . 4 contents 1 movie delivery and storage via vudu box 2 digital locker integration 3 movie format 3.1 movie selection 3.2 hdx and trufilm 4 vudu internet and mobile applications 4.1 search functions 5 history 6 set top box features 2007 2010 6.1 xl version 6.2 remote control 6.3 specifications 7 competitors 8 see also 9 references 10 external links movie delivery and storage via vudu box edit p2ptv overlay network serving three video streams . vudu box requires a home broadband internet connection to deliver movies . users are given the option of watching a selected movie now or watching it later . the first couple of seconds of every movie within the catalog are loaded onto the vudu box s hard drive ensuring instant playback when the user chooses to watch a given film . the remainder of the movie is delivered to the box via an exclusive peer to peer network . 5 this process begins instantaneously while the user views the loaded portion of the movie allowing for seamless viewing . 6 the movie then finishes downloading to the box s hard drive . users are able to set the amount of bandwidth the box uses with settings at 1 mbit s delayed movies 2 mbit s instant standard definition movies and 4 mbit s instant high definition movies . digital locker integration edit in 2012 vudu began partnering with the movie industry backed ultraviolet to offer users a digital locker as well as digital versions to some dvd and blu ray purchased in retail stores . 7 in 2014 vudu became a participating provider in disney movies anywhere disney s digital locker service that is separate from ultraviolet . 8 vudu is currently the only u.s. streaming provider to be compatible with both ultraviolet and disney movies anywhere . movie format edit movies are encoded in mpeg 4 video and dolby digital plus audio . 9 vudu offers movies in four formats standard definition 480p and 480i high definition 720p full high definition 1080p and 1080i and ultra high definition 2160p or commonly known as uhd or 4k . standard definition movies are up scaled to higher 1080i p resolution and high definition movies can be output at 1080p24 . 6 audio is sourced in dolby digital plus and output in dolby digital 5.1 with the option of stereo output . 10 audio is limited to stereo playback on htpc pc mac platforms . users are able to adjust video to display in stretched boxed or zoomed format as well as adjusting overscan settings depending on their television format . movie selection edit as of january 2015 update there were over 18 000 movies in the vudu catalog and 5 000 television shows . titles range from major motion pictures independent films documentaries children s programming anime musicals recorded musical performances cartoons and television series . over 13 000 of these titles are available in high definition the largest for any service of its kind . 11 vudu has established content licensing contracts with all major movie studios as well as over 50 smaller and independent studios . 12 movies are available to rent in standard definition high definition and hdx format . a rented title can be stored on the vudu box for 30 days before being watched . once a user begins watching a rented title they have 24 hours to finish . after this 24 hour period rentals can be extended for a discounted price . the majority of movies and television shows are available for purchase in standard definition format only . this policy is consistent with studio standards and other digital retailers concerning digital purchases . 13 movies from firstlook studios kino and magnolia pictures are available to purchase in high definition format . 14 on 25 february 2010 to comply with the policies of its parent corporation vudu discontinued operating the avn after dark channel which provided users with adult movies . 15 hdx and trufilm edit vudu is capable of downloading and playing movies in hdx format a format created by vudu which encodes titles in 1080p hd at 24 frames per second . this technology is similar to a movie on a blu ray disc . however blu ray discs will have better video and audio quality because of their higher bitrates . 16 vudu utilizes the h. 264 mpeg 4 part 10 encoding process along with proprietary encoding techniques dubbed trufilm . 17 trufilm is composed of four main technologies designed to maximize the h. 264 encoding standard psychovisual processing designed to dampen and eliminate artifacting and pixelation commonly seen in areas of dark sky and water in movies by utilizing a constant algorithmic and visual check then flagging these sections to be re encoded . 18 see also psychophysics and subjective video quality . film grain preservation a process which maintains the slight imperfections that the director of the movie decided to leave in the final film . vudu makes multiple encoding passes over the original film allowing the final encoded product to contain the original film grain . 18 statistical variable bitrate ensures optimal video quality throughout the film by allocating a higher encoding budget to high detail and high motion segments of the film while conserving the budget during slower sequences . with peaks as high as 20mbit s and as low as 2 mbit s this process allows for the highest possible video quality streaming over a broadband internet connection . 18 color gradient processing a unique technology used to tune the picture for optimal display on modern lcd and plasma televisions vs. an older crt television . 18 vudu internet and mobile applications edit vudu internet applications have been developed using vudu s rich internet application platform that allow users access to online content . via the vudu box users can access and watch videos view photos on flickr and picasa and play casual games . vudu internet applications also contain access to on demand television shows some of which are available in hd . 19 in may 2009 vudu partnered with brightcove to bring ad supported content to the vudu box . the first application available from the partnership is the ability to watch sony music videos through the myplay service . 20 vudu has apps available on ios s app store and the google play store . movies can be streamed to the device itself or sent to a second screen via the application s chromecast integration . 21 search functions edit vudu allows users to explore the catalog in a multitude of ways . users are able to search by movie title or actor or director name . users can also browse through genres and add filters to the results to narrow down their results . users are able to select a genre or multiple genres together and add a filter such as critic s rating release date and whether the movie is available for rent or to purchase . the vudu system also links the directors and casts of movies together similar to imdb allowing a user to see all of an actor or director s movies available on vudu . 22 history edit vudu was founded by tony miranz and alain rossmann the creator of wap . the vudu box had been secretly in development since 2004 but on 29 april 2007 the new york times revealed that vudu had signed deals with many movie studios and independent distributors to deliver access to nearly 5 000 films . 23 as of april 2007 update vudu had received 21 million in venture capital funding from greylock partners and benchmark capital . 24 the company is based in santa clara california . in may 2008 vudu began displaying and selling its set top box in best buy stores . before this time the box was only available via online retailers . 25 on 24 february 2009 vudu became the first on demand service to offer high definition movies for download to own . prior to vudu allowing users to purchase high definition movies studios only allowed their films to be purchased in standard definition format . 14 lg was the first to integrate vudu into its hdtvs with access beginning in august 2009 though the tv s netcast application . 26 27 on 8 january 2010 the second day of consumer electronics show 2010 vudu announced it was no longer shipping its set top boxes and would provide its service to select hdtvs and blu ray players from lg magnavox mitsubishi samsung sanyo sharp toshiba and vizio . the company also announced its vudu apps platform for delivering internet services including embedding wikipedia links in its movie descriptions 28 on 22 february 2010 wal mart announced that it was acquiring the company for a reported 100 million . 29 set top box features 2007 2010 edit the vudu box was capable of connecting to standard definition sd enhanced definition and high definition hd televisions . the box connected to a television by hdmi component s video or composite video cables . an hdmi cable and a composite video and analog stereo cable were included ; any other connections must be provided by the user . audio was provided through hdmi digital coax digital optical ports or stereo analog . the box connected to the internet through an ethernet port with the provided ethernet cable . 10 wireless was not supported directly from the player but vudu offered an optional wireless kit for purchase using 802.11 g and 128 bit wep security encryption . 30 there were two usb ports present on the vudu box . one can be used to power the wireless kit that the company sells but usage for the other is unknown . 31 the vudu box was separate from both a computer and cable satellite television system . a user must only provide a broadband internet connection to use the service . 30 users do not pay a monthly subscription fee ; instead they add a selected amount to an online account which is depleted depending on how many movies the user rents or purchases . 32 users can purchase and rent movies via the set top box or through the company s website . movies were stored on the box s hard drive . the vudu box was capable of storing about 50 purchased films in standard definition format . there was no limit for film rentals . 33 vudu also allowed for the remote archiving of purchased movies . xl version edit vudu made an xl version of the vudu box . the xl featured one terabyte