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.
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.
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.
Instagram is making its way to yet another screen, and this time, Apple TV is getting a taste of the Reels rabbit hole. The company has launched a dedicated Instagram app for Apple TV, bringing Reels, longer videos, and live shows to the big screen. So, if watching one quick clip on a phone somehow turns into an hour of scrolling, there's now a much larger screen for that.
Instagram brings Reels and more to Apple TV
Audio-Technica, a brand well known for making some of the best studio and professional headphones on the market, has just come out with the ATH-AWX7000, which the company itself claims to be its "finest headphones ever." The new flagship closed-back headphone has debuted at an eye-watering price of $3,799. It combines hand-finished Japanese woodwork with a newly developed 58mm driver.
The earcups are made from Kiso cypress, a prized wood historically used for Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Each housing is finished by hand with traditional Echizen lacquer, which brings out the grain and is expected to darken over time. The frame and sliders are finished in a deep navy kachi-iro shade traditionally associated with samurai.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
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