CES 2018

Redbox to Roll-Out 4K Rentals

John Sciacca  |  Jan 10, 2018

At the Digital Entertainment Group’s (DEG) CES party last evening, redbox announced it would begin a rollout of UltraHD Blu-ray disc rentals starting in some test markets. There was no mention of which markets would be selected – or how many of them would be included – just that the UltraHD trial would begin in markets that already show a strong interest in Blu-ray disc rental.

This is huge news for 4K movie lovers, as there has yet been a way to enjoy 4K movies without buying them. And we all know there are plenty of movies you’d love to see…once. When asked about price one representative told me that hadn’t been finalized but that she expected it to command a slight premium over current Blu-ray rentals, which currently cost $2.00, estimating around $2.50 - $3.00 per rental.

In other news at the DEG event, Sony’s XBR65A1E OLED set was awarded the Excellence in 4K Product Award, Blade Runner: The Final Cut 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray was given the Excellence in 4K UHD Content Award, and Movies Anywhere was awarded the first Emiel N. Petrone Innovation in Entertainment Technology Awaard.

Also, in a reversal of last year’s decision to use digital download codes in lieu of physical media , the DEG “swag bag” given to attendees returned to physical media in the form of UltraHD Blu-ray discs, perhaps in a nod to a physical UHD disc’s superior content delivery.

COMMENTS
mwelters's picture
Submitted by mwelters on January 10, 2018 - 10:49am

In Canada there is nowhere to rent blu-rays. Streaming or purchase are the only options. I am envious. Redbox exited Canada a few years ago due to low rental rates up here.

Traveler's picture
Submitted by Traveler on January 10, 2018 - 11:45am

Think I might have seen a Redbox once, somewhere. I didn't buy a 4K disk play because Netflix doesn't seem interested in stocking them.

drny's picture
Submitted by drny on January 10, 2018 - 3:22pm

John, I know that as an A/V installer dealing with budget conscious customer is a rarity.
But store-3d Bluray rental (online) have carried 4k UHD blurays for subscribers and a la carte rental since March 2016.
As a subscriber I have viewed over fifty 4k UHD.
There are a handful of 4k movies that I purchase outright, but most often I view 4k UHD through my rental subscription in order to decide if they are worth purchasing.
Red Box will not succeed through their rental box method of delivery.
Hard disc rentals are declining.
It is only the hardcore A/V enthusiast who demands the best quality that will wait longer and pay a premium for 4k movies. Be it rental or outright purchase.

mars2k's picture
Submitted by mars2k on January 11, 2018 - 5:57am

Yeah hard disks are a rarity. I subscribed to to an online disk rental service and found the wait and turn around time for delivery to be excessive. I wanted them to be successful but service compared to Netflix was abysmal. It wasn't about the expense as much as the failure satisfy instantly.
I for one would rent almost anything 4K RedBox would stock. Why hasn't Netflix moved into this sector?
Here is hoping Dallas, Texas is a test market.

Nat8's picture
Submitted by Nat8 on January 14, 2018 - 9:51pm

Not to be pedantic but this is not true in at least two ways. “This is huge news for 4K movie lovers, as there has yet been a way to enjoy 4K movies without buying them.”

Vudu, Amazon and Apple rent 4K movies online.

And companies like http://www.store-3d-blurayrental.com/ rent UHD disks. I have two in my media room from them right now.

But I am still excited about Redbox. I hope they test this in my market. I’ll rent every one of them.

mars2k's picture
Submitted by mars2k on March 5, 2018 - 12:49pm

You can get streaming 4k but very few support HDR color plus delivery is not what it should be. Buffering, dropouts etc. I have 400 mg downloads from my provider so its not me. Also the rentals are relatively expensive and are time limited so $7 or $8 to stream with a 48 hr availability is not so appealing. 3d-bluray was the online source I mentioned with the very very slow turn around so once again $3 for UHD disk at red box sign me up.

anth89's picture
Submitted by anth89 on March 8, 2018 - 12:49pm

Everyone please go check out and spread word about 4kave.com its the only 4k ultra hd blu ray unlimted rental service for just $9.99 a month new releases and older releases are added every week you can even request titles that arent on the website and they get added as well.

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