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LG BD390 Blu-ray Player to Add Vudu Streaming
LG BD390 Blu-ray Player will add Vudu streaming via a firmware upgrade later in September.
LG announced at CEDIA Expo 2009 that it's adding Vudu to its full-featured BD390 Blu-ray player via a firmware upgrade later in September.
That just adds to the crazy amount of video streaming and viewing options available on the wireless BD390 ($399), which can also stream YouTube, Netflix, and CinemaNow. It also supports networked video files and, of course, 1080p high-def Blu-rays and regular ol' DVDs.
For Vudu, it gives the service a pretty nice trifecta of recent partnership activity — we’ll count the one it already had with LG. Prior to CEDIA, the company had announced it would be able to stream its videos (plus other services it features such as Pandora web radio and Flickr photo sharing) directly from the latest LG and Mitsubishi networked televisions.
The Netflix and CinemaNow services are nice for the BD390, but Netflix's high-definition offerings in its "Watch Instantly" service don’t measure up to Vudu’s 2,200 HD offerings, which include 1080p video and Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround audio selections.
Lemme guess: we'll see Amazon's video-on-demand service on the BD390 next.
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4 Comments
I am a little confused and frustrated by my new LG Blu-Ray Player and
the online video services it contains.
You Tube: fun, free, but the quality is really bad, lots of
blockiness, and it stops to buffer often painful.
NetFlix: Free for 2 two weeks – Not sure I will continue when I
have to pay. Again the quality is bad, it is blocky, it takes a long
time to start, when I fast forward it is weird and then it buffers for
30 seconds to a minute. Then some times the video stops and has to
buffer because it is “adjusting quality” and then it gets
Blocky…Frustrating is how I feel about NetFlix.
CinemaNow: This is a good quality but the problem is I have to pay
for videos. In fact I would say the quality is great it is better
than DVD and my Comcast service. I notice that it starts up fast and
I never had it “buffer” and I have never seen it “adjust
quality” picture is crisp. It would be great if this had free
content or subscription like Netflix.
Vudu: Again expensive. The picture quality is great but the video
constantly stops to buffer. I was unable to watch a single movie too
painful.
I assume all these services use HTTP (ergo buffering).
Why do most of these have buffering problems I thought all of these
service have dynamic bitrate?
Why is CinemaNow so much better ?
Are some adaptive streaming better than others?
Can you clear this up?
why doesn’t the BD-3900 ave Pandora? The samsung players have it and I think its a great feature.
To Confused:
Please don’t think that your experience is everyone’s experience. I’ve watched three movies from Netflix over the past two days and haven’t had a single buffer issue or glitch with the BD390. I’m on a DSL connection with a wireless G router three rooms and 50+ feet away. I can’t wait to upgrade to 10Mbps Cable plugged directly into the LG. I’ll then have access to Netflix HD movie content. I’ll agree with Cinema Now and Vudu. They look great but why pony up that kind of cash. Hopefully one of them will wise up and offer subscription based rentals.
As for the review, I too am REALLY hoping the BD390 adds Amazon OnDemand SOON.
What you might see on Black Friday are pack-ins that cost more than a system by itself but ultimately less than all the included items combined had they been bought separately
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