UltraViolet was a cloud-based digital rights locker for films and television programs that allowed consumers to store proofs-of-purchase of licensed content in an account to enable playback on different devices using multiple applications from several different streaming services. UltraViolet also allowed users to share access to their library with up to five additional people. UltraViolet was deployed by the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE), an alliance of 85 companies that included film studios, retailers, consumer electronics manufacturers, cable television companies, internet service providers (ISPs), internet hosting vendors, and other systems and security vendors, with the notable exceptions of Walt Disney Studios, Google, Amazon, MGM, and Apple.
On January 31, 2019, DECE announced that UltraViolet would shut down on July 31, 2019. This shutdown came after the launch of Movies Anywhere over a year earlier, along with Fox, Universal, Lionsgate, Paramount, and Warner Bros. beginning to drop out of issuing new UV rights for their films during that time period.
Operation To use UltraViolet, consumers needed to create a free account, either through a participating UltraViolet service provider, or through the official website. An UltraViolet account was a digital rights locker where licenses (effectively receipts) for purchased content were stored and managed irrespective of the point of sale. The account holder was allowed to share their library with 5 other users, which were called members.
Consumers could acquire UltraViolet rights by purchasing a physical disc that included an UltraViolet activation code, by purchasing a movie directly from an electronic retailer (a.k.a. EST, or Electronic sell-through), or by using a disc to digital service (D2D). Disc to digital services allowed consumers to insert a DVD or Blu-ray into their computer's disc drive, scan it to verify ownership, and then add it to their UltraViolet collection for a fee. Several retailers including Vudu and CinemaNow offered this service. Flixster had been offering a D2D service as well, but it was suspended once Fandango acquired Flixster in early 2016 and another independent movie streaming service, M-GO.
Consumers could then stream or download their UltraViolet content from any participating retailer. Former participating retailers are listed in the table below.
The UltraViolet digital locker did not store video files, and was not a "cloud storage" platform. Only the rights for purchased content were stored on the service. UltraViolet only coordinated and managed the licenses for each account, but not the content itself. By creating a digital-rights locker rather than a digital media storage locker, UltraViolet bypassed the cost of storage and bandwidth used when the media is accessed and passed that cost on to various service providers.
Content partners Five of the then "Big Six" major film studios (now the "Big Five" since 2019) and "mini-major" Lionsgate were members of DECE, and released their content with UltraViolet rights. Other minor film and television studios released their programming and movies with UltraViolet rights, but were not DECE members.
Major film studios Sony Pictures Entertainment (films released for digital distribution before August 2019) Universal Studios (films released for digital distribution before January 2018) Paramount Pictures (films released for digital distribution before December 2018) Warner Bros. Entertainment (films released for digital distribution before March 2019) Fox Entertainment Group (films released for digital distribution before December 2017; studio's acquisition by Disney reduced the number of majors to five) Minor Film Studios Lionsgate (films released for digital distribution before July 17, 2018) The Weinstein Company (films released for digital distribution before the company shut down in May 2018) Roadshow Entertainment Anchor Bay (films released for digital distribution before the company shut down in 2017) DreamWorks Animation (films released for digital distribution before October 2017; studio previously purchased and acquired by Universal) Television Studios BBC HBO
Despite Fox merging with Disney in 2019, Walt Disney Studios was never a member of DECE, and did not release any of their films with UltraViolet rights. On February 25, 2014, Disney launched a competing digital movie locker system called Disney Movies Anywhere that allowed any Disney movie purchased or redeemed at any participating provider to be played using all other DMA providers. DMA providers included iTunes, Vudu, Google Play, Amazon Video, and Microsoft Movies & TV. On October 12, 2017, Disney Movies Anywhere was expanded to include movies from a number of non-Disney studios, thus forming a full-fledged UltraViolet competitor. This service is now called Movies Anywhere to reflect the expanded scope of content.
UltraViolet digital retailers UltraViolet content was available from several movie streaming services. Some services offered downloads that could be saved to PCs, tablets, gaming consoles, or phones for offline viewing. Below is a table of all the streaming providers and the countries they serve.
Content could also be streamed over the Internet to an unlimited number of devices, depending on the content license rights held by the streaming provider.
Comparison of streaming providers Resolution Disc to Digital Movies Anywhere Availability by Country SD (480p) HD (720p) HDX (1080p) UHD (4k) VUDU US FandangoNow (previously M-GO) USFlixster Video UK, CA, FR, DE, NZ, IE, CH, AT, AU, BE, NL, LU
Other less notable streaming providers include: Kaleidescape, Verizon Fios On Demand, Videociety, and Nolim Films.
Player support of streaming providers Set-top box Video game console Smartphone / Tablet Roku Apple Google Amazon Microsoft Sony Apple Google Microsoft Apple TV Chromecast Android TV Fire TV Xbox 360 Xbox One PS3 PS4 iOS Android Windows Phone VUDU Apple App Store | VUDU Player Google Play | VUDU Movies and TV FandangoNow (previously M-Go) Flixster Video
Download capability Some Ultraviolet streaming providers offered the capability to download movies and TV shows. They had their own proprietary video formats, and they were not cross-platform. They had to be downloaded and played within their own proprietary PC, Mac, iOS, or Android apps.
The Ultraviolet Common File Format (CFF) was planned, but never launched. The CFF was an attempt by the DECE to allow downloaded video files to be copied between devices, stored on physical media (e.g. DVDs, SD cards, flash memory) or online backup services. They were intended to be playable on any UltraViolet authorized device (e.g. Blu-ray, streaming media player, Smart TV', or mobile device) or software player registered to the household Ultraviolet library.
A 2015 simplification of the UV ecosystem made the Common File Format optional for studios and streaming providers. CFF was never supported by any retailers nor was it ever released to a consumer audience.
Selected DRM technologies
UltraViolet Streaming providers were free to choose whatever DRM technologies they wanted to use for streaming and downloads.
DECE approved six DRM technologies for use in conjunction with the proposed common file format, which was never launched.
The selected DRM technologies were: Google Widevine DRM, chosen for its strong position on set-top boxes Marlin DRM, chosen for its compatibility with many Connected TVs OMA CMLA-OMA v2, chosen for its strong position on mobile devices Microsoft PlayReady, chosen for its wide availability on PC and CE devices Adobe Primetime DRM, chosen for its wide availability on PC devices DivX DRM
History
2010
In September, Mitch Singer, the President of DECE, announced the upcoming launch of the "UltraViolet" system in an interview with Home Media Magazine.
2011
In January, a number of major film studios announced support for UltraViolet. They were: Warner Bros, Sony Pictures, Fox, Universal, Paramount, and Lionsgate. The notable exception was Walt Disney.
On October 11, the UltraViolet system launched with the Warner Bros release of Horrible Bosses, the first UV title. Flixster re-launched as the first UltraViolet streaming service. Sony subsequently released its first two UV titles in December, The Smurfs and Friends with Benefits. Universal soon followed with the release of its first UV title, Cowboys & Aliens.
In December, UltraViolet launched in the UK with the Warner Bros release of Final Destination 5.
2012
At the Consumer Electronics Show in January, Amazon became the first major retailer to announce support for UltraViolet. The DEG reported that 750k accounts had been created in the first 3 months.
In January, Paramount released its first UV title "Paranormal Activity 3" and in April DreamWorks Animation became the seventh studio to join the UltraViolet initiative with "Shrek", "Madagascar", "Kung Fu Panda" and "How to Train Your Dragon". Also in April, Vudu (operated by Walmart) became the first major UltraViolet retailer by adding UV rights to thousands of films. Walmart also launched an in-store "Disc to Digital" service, with more than 4,000 titles initially.
Between August and September, Lionsgate and 20th Century Fox released their first titles on UV. UltraViolet surpassed 5 million users and 7,200 titles on September 20.
Redbox announced a partnership with UltraViolet for its new Redbox Instant streaming service on October 25. Ultraviolet support never materialized, and the service shut down on October 7, 2014.
On October 30, Barnes & Noble announced it would launch an UltraViolet enabled electronic video store for its new Nook HD tablet.
Best Buy's CinemaNow became the second major UV retailer on November 24. CinemaNow launched an in-home Disc to Digital service (in beta) in December.
2013
In January, DreamWorks Animation and Technicolor launched M-GO, a new streaming platform with UV capability, and Cineplex became the first UltraViolet retailer in Canada.
In April, Best Buy announced a deal to make its UV ready Cinema Now service available in Canada. In May, UltraViolet launched in Australia and New Zealand, Kaleidescape opened a UV ready video download store, and 20th Century Fox announced it would offer Digital HD UltraViolet rights with all new films.
In September, CinemaNow launched its Disc to Digital service in Canada. and Target Ticket launched with UltraViolet capability. Ultraviolet expanded to France, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in November.
2014
In January, DECE launched a revamped UltraViolet website with new features. On February 25, Disney launched Disney Movies Anywhere, a streaming service. The next day, Mitch Singer, the President of DECE, stated that the new Disney Movies Anywhere service would not prohibit Disney from offering UltraViolet titles in the future.
At the end of March, Vudu became the first UV retailer to offer Google Chromecast support for UltraViolet content. Flixster also became a retailer for UV in March.
In May, Vudu introduced a new feature that allowed UltraViolet users to share their movies with up to five friends. Also in May, Flixster became the first UV retailer to support Apple Airplay.
In October MGM began to offer UV rights for several of its catalog titles. Also in October, Tesco's BlinkBox became the first official UV retailer in the U.K.
On Nov. 12, KnowHow, a UK streaming movie provider, relaunched as CinemaNow and added Ultraviolet support. Also in November Verizon FIOS on Demand introduced UltraViolet capability.
2015
On January 6, The DEG announced that UltraViolet grew 30% in 2014 to 21 million accounts.
French supermarket chain Carrefour opened a digital video store with UltraViolet functionality called Nolim Films on January 27.