Vudu offers up 1080p Blu-ray quality movie downloads, with no extra charge

Vudu first teased us with the announcement a few weeks back that they would soon be offering Blu-ray quality downloadable movies. However, at the time, the details were limited and the service was only available to a limited group of beta testers. Well, flash forward a few weeks and Vudu has officially made the HDX service available for everyone.

The new HDX movie downloads will be the equivalent of Blu-ray quality, meaning they will come in 1080p at 24 frames per second and are optimized for those viewing on a 40-inch or larger HDTV. Currently, Vudu has around 50 titles ready to go in the new HDX format with plans to add any new HD release in the HDX format as well. Additionally, they are also working to bring all the current HD movies into the HDX format; of course, they have not given any timeline as to when that will be completed.

Perhaps the best news is that these 1080p HDX formatted titles will retain the same pricing as the HD movies which range from $4 to $6 each. While the new HDX format sounds great, the one big drawback here is that these movies will require roughly a 4 hour download time prior to watching. That alone could be enough to make this not worthwhile for the average movie viewer.

Continue reading to check out the full press release…