A CHRISTMAS GIFT

There is no way that I can present a Christmas gift to each and every reader of this column. At this time of year I most often let you know about the best Christmas movie to watch. For me that remains constant with IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE. But rather than say that once again this year I thought I might pass along some information to each of you, a gift if you will, of something to do with your movie collection in the upcoming year.

For some time now I’ve looked at my movies as they arrived and seen the words ultraviolet and digital on them. The problem was that I never looked deeper into it than in reading those words or noticing the purple and white sheets contained in each DVD. That all changed a while back and now I want to share that with you.

You see we’re moving into a different world, a time when the word digital is becoming more prevalent. First it was music that went from tape to CD to mp3. Now movies are heading that same direction, from VHS to DVD and now to digital format. Like every new idea that comes along the change can be frightening to some. I’m hoping this makes it easy for all of you. If it helps, then my guess is many of you will be placing the DVDs you receive as gifts into your own digital accounts.

To begin with what is this digital world? Well simply put it’s a way for you to take the movies that you own and store them online in the cloud, the ever growing atmosphere of storage that means you can take various items you own and access them through different means. In the case of movies it means you can download the code for the movie you purchased and watch it without ever loading the disc into a machine. It also means you can have access to that movie anywhere in the world as long as you have access to the internet and a device to watch it on like a laptop, PC or tablet. And it’s easier to do than you think. Let me help.

To begin with all you have to do is create an account in your name. Start by going creating an ultraviolet account. Go to www.uvvu.com and do so. It takes just a few minutes and requires little more than an email account, creating a use name & password and a few bits of information. This creates an account to which you can download your digital films. On to the next step.

Log out of that account and you can move on to two different locations to manager your movies, Vudu and Flixster. For myself I prefer Vudu but either will work and both take about the same time and information to start an account. Again, use an email account and come up with a user name and password after supplying some basic information. Go to www.vudu.com to start this. You’ll notice right away that it wants to offer you movies. That’s another benefit I’ll get into shortly.

Once you’ve gone through the registration of this account you can log in. Now you’ll notice that across the top of their page it says “Movies & TV”. If you click on that another offering says “My VUDU”. This will be where your movies and TV series are stored. When you purchase a new movies, let’s use GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY as an example, included in the box the movie comes in is a purple and white sheet that has a code on it. This sheet usually tells you where to go to redeem this code. When you visit that web site it will ask what program to save it under. In my case I select Vudu (though it will be in all of my accounts when I link them together). The other option is to search Vudu for that title. In the case of this film it pops up and I click on it. When the information for the movie pops up you’ll see several options, once of which is “Redeem”. When you click on that it asks for the code on your sheet, you type it in and it adds that movie to your collection. You’re done.

This means that now you can watch this movie anywhere you have the access I mentioned earlier. Not only that you also have the option to share your collection with 5 other people anywhere. This means if you have kids in college and want to share your collection with them you can. Or maybe, as in my case, with your parents. And the sharing doesn’t cost a thing other than time to invite them via email and their creating their own account as well. The nice part is you keep your movies in house while sharing them at the same time.

In using this to store your movies you don’t have to take up shelf space and have easy access to them all. Many blu-ray players come with Vudu installed as do Roku and more. I know that Kindle doesn’t have Vudu but it does Flixster, the other storage program I talked about. All of these programs are user friendly and take little time to deal with. The most time you will spend (other than using it) is in putting all of your movies into it. One thing to note is the difference between TV and movie downloads. Make sure if your download doesn’t show for some reason in one that it isn’t in the other.

Lastly I mentioned that when Vudu opens you’ll see movies for sale. That’s because they also sell digital copies of movies too. For instance as I’m writing this I see A WALK AMONG TOMBSTONES and THE GUEST both available for purchase in advance of their being released on DVD. I don’t know for sure if they open now or the day of release but you can purchase these movie without leaving your home this way at about the same costs you would pay at the local store. The same holds true for select TV series as well. Want to own THE WALKING DEAD SEASON 1? It’s on sale there for $15.99 in HD or $10.99 in standard definition.

As I said in the beginning this is my Christmas gift to you all, a way to store your movies with easy access or to buy new releases without ever leaving your home. So don’t be afraid of new technology and embrace it instead. You’ll find that using ultraviolet isn’t as bad as you might think and might enjoy it. Above all else I would like to wish each and every one of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Click here to go to ultraviolet

Click here to go to Vudu

Click here to go to Flixster