Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Audio / Video
  3. News

Vudu brings HDR to a wealth of TVs and streamers with the addition of HDR10

By

For years, Vudu has been one of the most popular streaming movie platforms around, available on a litany of smart televisions, streaming set-top devices, and video game consoles. Since being acquired by Walmart in 2010, the company has partnered with UltraViolet and Movies Anywhere, becoming an integral part of many digital film collections and a popular movie watching service for a growing number of streamers.

Despite its popularity, though, Vudu’s HDR support has been limited to Dolby Vision (an excellent standard, but not yet widely adopted) — until now. Vudu recently announced the addition of HDR10 support, bringing vibrant, lush color and extended contrast to a huge collection of TVs and streaming devices.

Recommended Videos

While several popular television manufacturers — like LG and Vizio — offer support for Dolby Vision, it’s (mostly) only available on expensive, high-end models, while HDR10 is a standard for HDR, currently available on a wide range of TVs and through popular streaming devices from the likes of Roku and Amazon Fire TV.

Related

The addition of HDR10 support means Vudu’s collection of HDR content — currently comprising “over 36” titles, and sure to grow quickly — is now supported on Samsung and LG televisions, Xbox One S, Xbox One X, Roku devices (4K only), and Nvidia Shield devices. Here’s a handy list for your convenience.

Samsung is the world’s leading TV manufacturer (and LG isn’t far behind), which means a lot more people now have access to HDR content via Vudu. Given Roku’s recent success as well, adding HDR10 support could prove a significant coup for Vudu. The inclusion of HDR10 doesn’t preclude users from viewing supported content in Dolby Vision, either. Vudu currently has 12 Dolby Vision titles, which are all viewable in 4K UHD as well (Vudu has 139 such titles).

All told, Vudu offers more than 25,000 different films and nearly 10,000 different television shows. The service even offers thousands of movies absolutely free (though you will have to sit through “limited commercials”) to try and tempt you into shelling out for a paid title. Unlike Netflix (or Hulu, or HBO, or Amazon Video), Vudu doesn’t offer all its content for a monthly fee. Instead, you can pay flat fees to rent or purchase something you want to watch, giving you a bit more freedom but a bit less bang for your buck. As previously mentioned, Vudu also hosts digital versions of movies you may purchase on Blu-ray or Ultra HD Blu-ray through Ultraviolet and Movies Anywhere.

Nick Hastings
Nick Hastings
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Nick is a Portland native and a graduate of Saint Mary's College of California with a Bachelor's of Communication. Nick's…
Topics

Editors’ Recommendations

Samsung’s forgotten HDR gaming format is finally here after two years
Hogwarts Legacy running on the Samsung Odyssey OLED G8.

Better late than never. Samsung has just announced that The First Descendant will be the inaugural title to support the HDR10+ Gaming standard. Although it's been two years since Samsung initially introduced HDR10+ Gaming, and there are already devices that support it, it took this long for the first HDR10+ game to arrive. Here's what we know.

The First Descendant is going to be a free-to-play game. Developed by Nexon, this is a third-person shooter that's set to begin its open beta on September 19. While the HDR10+ standard isn't strictly a PC feature, it's looking like the game will support it on PCs first, or maybe even exclusively. The game is going to be available on a wide range of platforms, though, including the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X/S, so it's possible that these consoles might also expand to allow HDR10+ at some point.

Read more
You Asked: best TVs for bright rooms, when to use eARC, and more
You Asked episode 1.

You’ve got questions, I’ve got answers.

This is our first installment of a new series we’re calling “You Asked” because, well, many of you have asked me a lot of questions. And while I do my best to reply to them -- in our YouTube comments, Instagram DMs, Twitter or … X or whatever it’s called, even via email -- there is just not enough time in the day, week, month, year, decade, or what’s left of my lifetime to get to all of them.

Read more
What is Dolby Vision? The dynamic HDR format fully explained
A split-screen example of Dolby Vision vs. SDR.

Of all the new TV technologies to emerge over the last few years, it's arguable that none has had as big an impact on overall picture quality as High Dynamic Range, or HDR. When properly implemented, HDR makes everything pop, while enhancing details and improving color. We think it has been more impactful than the move from Full HD (1080p) to 4K Ultra HD or even 8K resolution.

But not all HDR is created equal; in fact, HDR is a catch-all term that refers to several distinct and competing technologies. The one with the biggest brand recognition is Dolby Vision. Dolby Labs has done such a good job of marketing Dolby Vision as its own platform, many consumers aren't even aware that it's an HDR format.  That shouldn't be a surprise: TVs that have Dolby Vision technology are often labeled as "4K HDR TV with Dolby Vision," making it seem as though HDR and Dolby Vision are different things.

Read more