Starting next week (or November 23, to be exact), the PS3 will get access to Vudu's calalog of more than 4,000 HD movies—all of which are available in Vudu's proprietary "HDX" format, which offers 1080p video and streaming picture quality that's as close to Blu-ray as anything I've seen.
Meanwhile, the Vudu interface will be getting a makeover next month, with cleaner lines and a slightly more polished look. You will still, however, be able to filter movie searches by genre and rating, as well as click on an actor or director's name to see all their available films.
Up until now, PS3 owners who wanted to rent new releases on their consoles had but one option: the video store on the PlayStation Network (which, by the way, isn't going anywhere, or at least not yet.)
Sony offers the usual selection of new releases and catalog titles on its PS3 video store, but they top out at 720p in terms of video quality, and movie rentals must be downloaded to the PS3's hard drive. While you can start watching before the entire file has been downloaded, videos are often subject to buffering—meaning you have to stop and wait for more data to download.
Streaming videos on Vudu, however—even those in 1080p—should start instantly for anyone with a decent broadband connection.
The arrival of Vudu on the PlayStation 3 means that the console can finally match the streaming 1080p video rentals that have been available for Xbox Live "Gold" members for more than a year now.
Indeed, the Xbox 360's ability to instantly stream 1080p movies is the main reason I'd largely abandoned my PS3 when it came to renting movies. My movie-streaming loyalties might be about to shift.
Then again, Vudu reps told me that their deal with Sony for the PS3 isn't an exclusive, leaving the door open for Vudu to arrive on other game consoles. For now, though, Sony is crowing that the PS3 is the "first and only system with dedicated gaming functionality" to get access to the Vudu application.
Vudu offers movie rentals ranging from about $3 to $6 a night, with the priciest rentals reserved for new releases in the high-quality HDX format.
There's also a selection of older, catalog titles available for $2 for two nights, representing a rare case of an online movie rental that you can access for longer than 24 hours.
Vudu started out as a video set-top box company back in 2007. Early this year, Vudu announced it would stop selling hardware, instead offering its services to HDTV and Blu-ray player manufacturers.
Just last month, Boxee announced it would start offering Vudu on its desktop video app and for its just-released set-top box.
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