Can you easily view UltraViolet Digital Copies through AppleTV?

[JuryDuty]

I enjoy a lot of digital copies through iTunes on my AppleTV, but so many Blu-rays are now coming with UltraViolet copies.

I've avoided using UV copies up till now after having a horrible experience trying to get one UV movie to work, going through multiple sign-ups, etc.

So a few questions to anyone who has used them recently:

1. Have they ironed out the UV experience so it's easy to do now?
2. Can you easily view UV's through AppleTV (and how?)?
3. Do UV's still expire after a couple years?

TIA!

[JuryDuty]

No one answered this questions, but I tracked down the answers and thought I'd post here in case anyone else searches and finds this.

1. The UV experience is pretty easy to do, but what you want to do is open a UV Vudu.com account and link all the studios to that account. That's easy or hard depending on the studio. Just be careful and make sure you link to your Vudu account and don't create another new account each time.

2. No, you can't view UV through AppleTV. However, Vudu is available through a variety of Blu-ray players, TVs and boxes. It gives you a similar experience.

3. No, UV's no longer expire. (Yay!)

Still, I prefer to get iTunes versions of digital movies if possible. That way I have them on my PC. But UV is a great second alternative.

[DonRSD]

i too prefer itunes.
it would make the entire process so much easier if everything was itunes based.

since it isnt, an easy way would be to make VUDU/flixster/UV available via apple tv.

hopefully someone can make a hack for apple tv.

[Bourne1886]

Originally Posted by huskerbear

Most people cant get itunes. The point of ultraviolet is to make a universal system that everyone can use, not just apple fan boys.

So true, I think UV is great and is more flexible. It's still fairly new, at least here in the UK. It works fine. We don't have vudu yet so we can't watch them on our TVs, but I have them on my iPad. Once there is a way of watching through Apple TV or through smart TVs I'm sure UV will get more popular. I'm an apple user,but I can see the need and benefit of UV.

What gets me is all the rubbish/ mis I formation I have read on the Internet. It's usually Apple fanboys trying to stir it up.

[BDer]

iTunes will never allow UltraViolet since it doesn't like competition.

[abuehrlen]

Thats not true EVERYONE can get itunes. You just have to download the program. the only exception might be for linux however you can install it using wine.

Originally Posted by huskerbear

Most people cant get itunes. The point of ultraviolet is to make a universal system that everyone can use, not just apple fan boys.

[abuehrlen]

Apple probably will add flixster at some point its already available on all iOS devices.

Originally Posted by BDer

iTunes will never allow UltraViolet since it doesn't like competition.

[cptnrandy]

I'd much prefer that Apple TV had a Flixster app, but here's something that works: run Flixster on an iOS device and use AirPlay.

Like I said, not ideal, but it works!

[ORFF]

I thought airplay won't work with flixster...
True or False, UV won't work on apple tv?

[blindcat87]

Sorry to bring back such an old thread, but I didn't know that anyone from Ultraviolet actually read these threads and I've been looking really hard to find a way to not be excluded from using all of these digital copies that are not much more than a waste for me. Somebody earlier in this thread posted a rather snide and dismissive post about how UV was meant to create something everyone could use, ironically ignoring the fact that users of Apple products are excluded from this universal format. Whatever the reason really doesn't matter, the fact is that As somebody who uses the Apple TV, I cannot use my UV copies and since I cannot use another player, I am stuck. I am sure that some of these posters from this thread will dismiss me as an Apple fanboy. I am not. What I am is grateful to Apple as the one major consumer electronic company to actually go out of their way to make sure I can use their products while others either don't seem to know what to do or simply don't care enough to do what is required.

I am blind. So, I can't use a Roku, a Chromecast or other devices. Apple has made sure that i can use all of their hardware thanks to the Voiceover feature. I use an iPhone every bit as easily as any sighted person, use my apple TV and could use a Mac out of the box while I had to get a third party screen reader to use my PC.

I am not saying that there are not many in the industry who care about blind consumers, nor that they are intentionally excluding us, but the end effect right now is that in the case of digital copies, other users get all of the features advertised on their Blu-ray releases while we do not and there seems to be no movement towards allowing us to make use of that part of the releases we purchase. to me, the easiest solutions would be either to allow consumers to choose UV or iTunes or to get apps going for Ultraviolet on all of the appropriate Apple devices. Last time I looked at registering for Flixter or Vudu, the sites were not accessible, requiring sighted help to get anything done and the apps themselves did not seem to be accessible. So, I cannot even get an account nor can I watch UV copies on my phone.But even if that were the case, it still would not be a satisfactory development. I should be able to play my digital copies on my home theater system just as others do. I don't really care which direction is taken in adding accessibility, as long as I can watch the movies on one of my accessible devices using my home theater system and big TV so that I can get as much out of the picture as my limited vision will allow.

The technology exists to give the blind equal access and we deserve the same chance to enjoy all of the advertised features as sighted consumers. Please help us get the chance to fully access our media. As time passes, more and more digital copy codes expire and those of us who have been waiting and wanting regularly lose digital copies that we should have been able to watch for years. Instead, we watch as more and more studios are encouraged by Ultraviolet to go solely UV and we watch as fewer and fewer digital copies that we can access are released. Studios that gave us equal access for years give in on more and more releases and the iTunes digital copies become more and more rare. If this keeps up, there will come a day where blind people are completely excluded from digital copies while the sighted enjoy more and more titles that offer this feature.

Regards,

chris

Originally Posted by UltraViolet PR

At the current time, AppleTV does not support UltraViolet players such as Flixster. We'll continue to find more ways for you to watch your digital movie collection on more screens, and while we understand you may prefer AppleTV, I wanted to let you know that you can still access your UltraViolet collection on your television via apps like Flixster, VUDU or CinemaNow on other devices -- including Internet-connected Blu-ray players, smart TVs, PCs, laptops and game consoles.

As for other Apple devices, you can watch your UltraViolet movies via iPhones and iPads, and Mac PCs/laptops. I hope that helps!