The Ultra-Ultraviolet/Digital Copy Thread

Mark Costello

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Ok.....so I know its not technically disc related.....but its also not technically streaming either. So I thought I'd start a thread to compile everyone's experiences/issues with this unnecessary evil/handy godsend (delete as applicable) that we all find rattling around our lovely BD boxes on tatty bits of paper.

The reason for this thread? Last night Coz Jnr wanted to watch Miss Peregrine (she's 6 and loves it.....hardcore!). Out I traipsed to the garage to retrieve the disc, the minute my back was turned, sticky mitts were all over the BD, other BDs were left face down on the carpet, my skin started to crawl.......and then I noticed the UV code on the insert. 'Why not?' I thought and so one quick follow the instructions later and there it was on the iPad.....no more needing the disc, it was there for her to watch.

Hmmmmmm, I thought. With Coz Jnr growing up and getting increasingly fixated to her iPad (plus with journeys, holidays, trips to dull relatives, etc), I thought that there might be something in this! So I spent a good few hours last night and this morning trawling through all my boxes to dig out all the codes I could find and get them set up as a digital library. It was frustrating, annoying, scream inducing at times, but as of now, I have 160 movies sat on my phone/iPad that can be streamed/downloaded and watched not just on those devices but cast to the TV in the lounge too. So.......I know that there is some reticence out there to these, so thought I'd share some experiences with you all to try and encourage some of you to make use of this free good that you might not have considered before.....and to act as an ongoing thread for all comments/questions/etc. Right....on with the show:

1. Never, ever do what the instructions tell you - 10 codes in and I'd come across 5 different studios, all telling you to go to their own site, register and input codes. After 45 mins of teeth gnashing, I realised I could just go to www.myuv.com and input the codes from most studios into this single portal - why THIS wasn't on the bits of paper I do not know (well I do.....the cynical studios....)

2. Talk Talk TV.....Flixster.....who? Provider???? - I had no idea about all this when I input Miss P so chose Talk Talk TV - apparently you can only redeem your code via a specific provider that is identified to you once your code is input. So far so good, but after about 20 codes or so, I came across some codes that couldn't be redeemed via Talk Talk TV, but could only be redeemed via an alternative provider, Flixster. Ruddy Nora, have I dropped a hairy one here? I thought......but luckily, after deciding to set up a Flixster account too, tutting that I would now need TWO apps to watch all these, I saw that all were available via Flixster. All those that I'd redeemed via Talk Talk TV.....result! So (and please others with more than 1 day experience of this chime in here!) from the go, pick Flixster as your 'provider' of choice

3. Ignore the sell by dates - yes, those dates that tell you when the code expires.......poppycock. I've managed to redeem codes that are 2-3 years past their expiry dates. Some studios do expire, most don't.....so don't worry, get cracking and ignore these dates!

4. Why doesn't it all just work????? - its still wasn't all plain sailing. Some codes can't be redeemed via myuv.com, so you had to go to individual studios sites to redeem. Then don't get me started on why Paramount aren't using UV - you can only redeem digital copy's at iTunes, which cant be viewed via Flixster and vice versa......so multiple apps ARE now needed to watch them all.....come on Studios, do you lot LOVE format wars?????????

5. Even US codes can be redeemed and viewed in your UK Flixster library - I won't go into how to do this (just google it and there's plenty of guides to doing this), but I even managed to get US, Canadian and even German codes redeemed and viewable all within my single UK Flixster library. All the Friday 13th films you say? BOOM! Coz Jnr can have a butchers at those bad boys!!!

6. Casting from afar - just reviewing my library, I noted the little TV icon in the top corner of my films in the Flixster app. One press later, the iPad picks up my Philips smart TV as it's connected to the same home network and with only a single button push to accept the TV, the film is being cast in full HD, straight to the TV. That automatically detects it and starts playing it immediately......this was not noted anywhere in the bits of paper, I had no idea this was a thing.......especially as I'd been looking for either the Talk Talk TV or Flixster app on the TV to no avail. Talk about a result!!!!!

7. But its still so damn hit and miss!!!! - some US codes don't play ball (they insist on being redeemed via another provider...messy), some UK ones took multiple attempts to be redeemed, never knowing if you could redeem this code at myuv.com or have to go elsewhere......sweet baby Jesus, it can be a right royal pain in the backside.....

But having said that, in under 24 hours, I know have a fully digital library of 160 films that can be watched on my phone or iPad, cast to the main TV or even taken with me to my mum and dads or sisters house and played on their smart TVs.........nice.

It will never supplant physical media for watching at home for me - quality baby!!! - and the faff of getting it all sorted will certainly not appeal to everyone, but given that these codes were sat there doing nothing (I'm not one who sells them although I believe that can be quite lucrative), this is total free good. Its going to pay off far more for others in the house than me, but hey......happy wife, happy life ain't that the saying??????

So, sorry for droning on - lets try and get this thread going for all things UV and digital copy - anything you're having problems with, any questions, lets collate all that into a single thread - there are lots of small, bitty threads across this forum and the streaming one so hope no-one minds me hijacking those!!! Right.......over to you. Any of you guys using your UV codes? Any hints/tips/tricks for us newbies? And before you ask, no - this thread is not about buying/selling/giving away specific codes - its more about the experience of using these in general.
 
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I'll get the ball rolling.............

Fox in the US are the one studio I'm struggling to redeem. They will only allow you to redeem using Vudu, which insists on a US zip code for registration. Has anyone managed to somehow get these US Fox codes working in the UK? What dark arts was it?????
 
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I'll get the ball rolling.............

Fox in the US are the one studio I'm struggling to redeem. They will only allow you to redeem using Vudu, which insists on a US zip code for registration. Has anyone managed to somehow get these US Fox codes working in the UK? What dark arts was it?????
I believe with Fox there is a specific Fox website (on the UV leaflet) you have to go to in which you enter the code. You can't use the code directly on Flixster etc
 
I have redeemed a bunch of films but have never actually attempted to watch any of them. I redeemed them on the basis that the codes would expire and I might have some use for them in future but, like Coz22998, I found that a number that should have expired were still redeemable.

Got a longish train journey tomorrow so have just downloaded the Flixster app to my phone to try it out.
 
I believe with Fox there is a specific Fox website (on the UV leaflet) you have to go to in which you enter the code. You can't use the code directly on Flixster etc
Cheers - using a VPN plug in, I can go to the US Fox site and redeem the code - the problem is that the single provider it then allows you to play the film through (Vudu) needs you to register there with a credit card and US address.......

I've tried setting up a Vudu account, which it says I have without the address, but logging into it is hit and miss with the plug-in........am going to keep trying at this as I have seen some users say that you can link the US Vudu account with your Flixster account and get the films into your library..........all this to watch 6 films digitally that I can just to go to the shelf and watch in better quality???? Why am I bothering???? :confused:
 
UV digital codes are great! I love them! Bits of paper I dont want that people buy off me! [emoji3]
I've seen a few people on here sell these Jim - where do you do it? Ebay? Do you sell off job lots or one at a time? And any sticky legal stuff in selling them?

Certainly a viable alternative to using them yourself......I just wonder how many of us do nothing at all with them?!?!? Use them or sell them....but surely its better to do something with them? o_O
 
I have redeemed a bunch of films but have never actually attempted to watch any of them. I redeemed them on the basis that the codes would expire and I might have some use for them in future but, like Coz22998, I found that a number that should have expired were still redeemable.

Got a longish train journey tomorrow so have just downloaded the Flixster app to my phone to try it out.
Good luck fella - I had an odd thing with the Flixster app yesterday: it said that one of my films was 'not available for streaming' and refused to play on my phone (I was just pratting about and checking that my US films would play). It would let me download it, but not stream it - I was at home and connected to the wifi. Yet 20 mins later, the film streamed ok and played fine........so even once their downloaded, it seems we're still at the mercy of technology, iffy apps, dodgy connections.......

Heaven forbid we do eventually turn into an all digital world. :(
 
So result! Kinda.......

Managed to set up a Vudu account without needing address and credit card details using the Hola plug in via the Chrome browser to convince it I was a US resident. Then, also using the Hola plug in and going to the Foxredeem.com website, I could redeem the code for Alien, which then meant when I selected Vudu as the provider, I was already logged in which allowed me to link my Vudu account to my UV account and BAM! Its now in the collection.......what ruddy faff!!!

Same trick worked with redeeming the UV code for the Canadian Deadpool, although this could link straight from the Fox Redeem site to Flixster....although that still needed multiple attempts getting the plug-in to work.....but work it did and now Deadpool's showing in my UK Flixster library.

Here's the but.....several Fox codes (The Revenant, I Origins, etc) will only allow you to use Google Play as the provider - no Flixster, no Vudu, just Google Play......and that VPN plug in doesn't work with Google!!!! So, back to the drawing board on those.......

Forget that I'm trying to get around regional coding in essence, this all just seems like so much faff and if the studios really wanted to use this as a back door way to convince all us physical media dinosaurs to go digital, then they're failing miserably.
Even in this enlightened age when UHD BD, the peak of quality for movie playback, no longer has regional coding, we still have to put up with it when redeeming their UV codes.....the whole thing just feels ludicrously convoluted and more difficult that it needs to be.

I'm going to keep up building the library, as hopefully now that all the legwork is done in terms of setting up accounts, it won't be anywhere near as much faff as it has been......but it has only just been worth it so far.
 
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So are there any other places to sell these? Obviously we can't here, but ebay deleted all my listings when I tried there.

I've got dozens of them that I'll never use...
 
I've seen a few people on here sell these Jim - where do you do it? Ebay? Do you sell off job lots or one at a time? And any sticky legal stuff in selling them?

Certainly a viable alternative to using them yourself......I just wonder how many of us do nothing at all with them?!?!? Use them or sell them....but surely its better to do something with them? o_O

Fleabay in job lots usually. You have to be careful with the wording mind.
 
I ventured in to the world of UV a few years ago, and found it such a hassle that I gave up. Like Coz I was getting a twitch every time my toddler went near the BR collection, so I moved them in to a cupboard upstairs. This then became problematic when I wanted to actually watch one, it turns out it was very noisy trying to find that one disc that I wanted, and a real PITA pulling them all out and putting them away.

So I decided to sell them, having redeemed around 20 codes, I knew I'd had enough of the convoluted UV system so decided to go balls deep on iTunes instead. Being an Apple lover this suited me just fine, I can watch all of my movies on all of my iDevices, and my friends and family on my family plan can watch them (and I can watch theres)

Unfortunately the iTunes codes seem to have vanished for UK releases or id be buying them, like the UV codes. Instead I check the CheapCharts app daily to see what's on offer. If you're looking to sell UV codes there's a few Google hangouts that you could use
 
I use the codes via the talk talk app, not for me, for family members who think its perfectly acceptable to borrow a disc and then assume it's now theirs! :suicide:

Now they just get a text update when I add codes with my new movies. :)


I did email TalkTalk, Flixster, etc when UHD titles came out to ask about 4k codes. "No future plans" seemed to be the common answer.
 
I just tell flixster I'm 'struggling to redeem' my us codes I just send them a few photos as proof and they add them. I never actually tell them that they are us codes[emoji6]
 
I just tell flixster I'm 'struggling to redeem' my us codes I just send them a few photos as proof and they add them. I never actually tell them that they are us codes[emoji6]
Really??? Boom, now that's what I call a handy tip! Thanks matey! :smashin:
 
I just tried my luck one day. Wish I'd done it sooner threw loads away when I transferred my discs to binders to remove packaging and create more room for more discs. I've never been one to sell Uv
 
Just too much faff for me. Like your original post, I got fed up being bounced around different providers, and then needing to choose another cruelly play them back. Why isn't there simply an ultraviolet app you can use to stream? The entire point is supposed to be one central place to keep people from pirating I guess. But it's still too fragmented (maybe it's better in the US)

I have a grand total of 7 UV titles (I think, I may have other accounts I can't remember anymore). But since my new computer had a bluray drive, I just rip them so my digital streaming service is plex. No issues with multiple providers or VPNs.

It was such a good idea but for me at least they killed it with complexity
 
So are there any other places to sell these? Obviously we can't here, but ebay deleted all my listings when I tried there.

I've got dozens of them that I'll never use...

I sell mine over on BD Forum, normally up only a few minutes before I have a dozen offers to buy lol
 
I sell mine over on BD Forum, normally up only a few minutes before I have a dozen offers to buy lol

Hard to tell tone on the internet, but I can only assume that's a joke. I've had mine listed on there for a couple of weeks & had not so much as a look, let alone an offer or a purchase... :(
 
Hard to tell tone on the internet, but I can only assume that's a joke. I've had mine listed on there for a couple of weeks & had not so much as a look, let alone an offer or a purchase... :(

Nope not a joke but I normally only import the DC Animated films now and they are always snapped up.
 
As if the mockery of "region coding" of these UV codes couldn't get any more absurd.......I'm on holiday in Florida and did what any self-respecting AV gimp would do and pick up some BDs. A few of them came with UV codes (Logan, new Underworld, all the Saw films) so I tried to input them without going through all that palaver of VPN crap at home......

.....and lo and behold, they were input straight away! The UV codes for Underworld and Saw were input straight into the Flixster app on my phone, while Logan needed logging into the Foxredeem.com site but all were added to my Flixster collection immediately.

So to get this straight.......it's not the country where the UV collection or Flixster app Is registered that matters, its only that the code is physically input in the same country as the film is purchased......sweet Jesus how ridiculous is that?!?!? Can anyone shed light on why this is? Not moaning, but it just seems another hurdle placed in the way of the user when surely these studios should be trying their hardest to remove these barriers to encourage this future all digital world people seem so much to want.

Rant over. Again!
 
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As if the mockery of "region coding" of these UV codes couldn't get any more absurd.......I'm on holiday in Florida and did what any self-respecting AV gimp would do and pick up some BDs. A few of them came with UV codes (Logan, new Underworld, all the Saw films) so I tried to input them without going through all that palaver of VPN crap at home......

.....and lo and behold, they were input straight away! The UV codes for Underworld and Saw were input straight into the Flixster app on my phone, while Logan needed logging into the Foxredeem.com site but all were added to my Flixster collection immediately.

So to get this straight.......it's not the country where the UV collection is registered that matters, its only that the code is physically input in the same country as the film is purchased......sweet Jesus how ridiculous is that?!?!? Can anyone shed light on why this is? Not moaning, but it just seems another hurdle placed in the way of the user when surely these studios should be trying their hardest to remove these barriers to encourage this future all digital world people seem so much to want.

Rant over. Again!
:confused:
Uh what did you think using the VPN in the UK was doing?
The VPN makes it look like you're in the US :)
 
:confused:
Uh what did you think using the VPN in the UK was doing?
The VPN makes it look like you're in the US :)
Yeah I know it was a bit of a 'doh' for the Logan code (thanks Fox for making us all jump through extra hoops) but for the others, the US discs are showing up in the UK Flixster app on my UK iphone and the codes worked straight away. I didn't expect this at all - I was expecting having to log-in via the individual relevant websites much like at home using the VPN. You would at least have thought that they'd only show UK discs to, you know, restrict users into only using that regions discs!!!!

To be honest, I'm liking having a digital collection (watching bits on holiday, give to Jnr for long journeys, etc) but damn it's faff!

Well I say it's faff, but films I've just bought in the states I can watch immediately......huh. Maybe I need to step away from the keyboard, think the suns got to me......o_O
 
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3. Ignore the sell by dates - yes, those dates that tell you when the code expires.......poppycock. I've managed to redeem codes that are 2-3 years past their expiry dates. Some studios do expire, most don't.....so don't worry, get cracking and ignore these dates!

This is handy to know as I have a few BDs(quite a lot actually) which came with UV codes that I haven't redeemed.
My entire Breaking Bad collection even has codes which expired about a year before I even bought the BDs.
UV isn't something I really use, but I guess it could be handy if I'm caught somewhere with decent wifi and want/need something to watch on my phone.
 

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