Physical media is a bit of a headache these days. You probably have a shelf—or maybe a dusty cardboard box in the attic—overflowing with DVDs and Blu-rays that you haven't touched since 2014. You want those movies on your phone or your smart TV, but paying $14.99 again for a digital copy of The Dark Knight feels like a total scam. This is exactly where the Vudu Disc to Digital list comes into play. It’s basically a legal loophole that lets you "convert" your physical discs into digital licenses for a couple of bucks.
Honestly, it’s one of the best-kept secrets in the streaming world, even after Vudu rebranded to Fandango at Home. People get confused because the name changed, but the service is still there, tucked away in the mobile app. You scan a barcode, pay a small fee, and suddenly that plastic disc is sitting in your cloud library.
But it isn’t perfect. Not every movie works.
Why the Vudu Disc to Digital List is So Selective
You can't just scan every random DVD you found at a garage sale. The Vudu Disc to Digital list is limited by licensing agreements between Fandango and the major Hollywood studios. Think of it like a club where some studios are regulars and others refuse to even show up at the door.
Warner Bros., Universal, Paramount, Sony, and Lionsgate are the big players here. If you have a movie from them, you’re usually in the clear. However, Disney is the giant elephant in the room. Disney (which now includes Fox, Marvel, and Lucasfilm) famously does not participate in Disc to Digital. They want you to subscribe to Disney+ or buy the digital copy at full price. It sucks, but that’s the reality. MGM is another hit-or-miss studio since their acquisition by Amazon.
The list of eligible titles is massive—over 8,000 movies—but it’s dynamic. A movie might be available today and gone tomorrow because a licensing deal expired. This is why many collectors obsessively check crowdsourced databases like the ones found on DVDUP or various Vudu-centric subreddits. These communities track which barcodes actually trigger a match in the app.
The Pricing Breakdown
It’s cheap. Really cheap.
If you have a Blu-ray, it costs $2 to get the HDX (1080p) version. If you have a DVD, it’s $2 to get a standard definition (SD) version. If you want to "upconvert" that old DVD to HDX, it costs $5. Most people find the $5 jump worth it for the clarity on modern 4K TVs.
One major limitation: there is no 4K UHD conversion. Even if you have a 4K disc, the highest quality you can get through this program is HDX. If you’re a 4K purist, this might be a dealbreaker, but for casual viewing on a tablet or a bedroom TV, HDX is plenty.
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The Technical Hurdles and How to Jump Them
Using the service is simple in theory but finicky in practice. You don't use a computer; you use the web browser on your phone. You go to the Fandango at Home website, sign in, and find the "Disc to Digital" option. It’ll ask for permission to use your camera and, more importantly, your GPS.
This is the part that trips everyone up: the Billing Address Match.
Fandango is terrified of people going to a Walmart or a used media store and scanning barcodes off the shelves without buying them. To prevent this, the app checks your phone’s GPS location against the billing address on your credit card. If you aren't standing inside your house (or at least on your property), the transaction will fail.
It's a "security feature," but it feels like a glitch. I’ve seen people have to sit on their front porch because their indoor Wi-Fi signal was masking their true GPS location. If you get a "location mismatch" error, double-check that your credit card address is exactly the same as where you are standing. Even a "Street" vs. "St." discrepancy in the text can sometimes break the system.
The 100-Movie Limit
You can't digitize your entire 500-disc collection in one weekend. Fandango at Home imposes a strict limit of 100 conversions per calendar year.
This resets on January 1st.
If you’re a heavy collector, you have to be strategic. Don’t waste your slots on cheap $5 movies you can find on sale in the digital storefront. Save your 100 slots for the movies that rarely go on sale or the "boutique" titles that stay at $17.99 for years.
Finding the Best Deals on the Vudu Disc to Digital List
Some movies are "hidden gems" in the system. For instance, many multi-feature discs—where two or three movies are on one DVD—will sometimes give you all the movies for a single $2 scan. It doesn't happen every time, but when it does, it feels like winning the lottery.
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Then there are the "unrated" vs. "theatrical" versions. Often, the Vudu Disc to Digital list will only recognize one specific barcode. If you have the "Extended Director's Cut" of a film, the scanner might tell you it’s ineligible, whereas the standard version would work fine.
How to Check Your Barcodes
If you want to see if your collection is eligible before you start the process, you can’t easily browse a master list on the official site. It’s annoying. Instead, most experts use third-party tools.
- UPC ItemDB: You can search for the UPC on the back of your box to see if it’s a standard retail version.
- Vudu Catalog Search: Some fan-made apps allow you to type in a movie title to see if any version of it is currently in the D2D database.
Remember, the barcode on the slipcover might be different from the barcode on the actual plastic case. If one doesn't scan, try the other.
The Movies Anywhere Connection
This is the real magic trick.
Fandango at Home (Vudu) is a partner with Movies Anywhere. If you convert a Sony, Universal, or Warner Bros. movie through the Disc to Digital program, that movie won't just stay in your Vudu library. It will "port" to Apple TV (iTunes), Amazon Prime Video, and Google TV.
Basically, you pay Vudu $2 to scan a disc, and ten minutes later, that movie appears in your Apple library as if you bought it there. It makes the $2 investment feel even more valuable because you aren't locked into a single ecosystem. Just make sure your accounts are synced at the Movies Anywhere website before you start scanning.
Common Myths and Mistakes
People often think they can just print out barcodes from the internet and scan them. While technically "possible," it violates the terms of service. Fandango has been known to flag accounts that scan a suspicious number of high-value movies in a suspiciously short amount of time. Just stick to your actual shelf.
Another misconception is that the physical disc is "marked" or "deactivated" after you scan it. It isn't. You can still watch the physical disc in your player, or you can give it to a friend. The barcode is just a trigger for the digital license. Unlike the one-time-use codes that come inside new Blu-rays, the barcode on the back of the box can be scanned multiple times by different accounts (though this is a grey area in the fine print).
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The "Ineligible" Error
You will see this a lot. "This title is not eligible for Disc to Digital."
Don't take it personally. It usually means one of three things:
- The studio (like Disney) doesn't participate.
- The specific UPC for your "Special Edition" isn't in the database.
- The movie is too new. Most studios wait a few months or even a year after a movie is released on disc before they add it to the D2D list to protect full-price digital sales.
Practical Next Steps for Your Collection
If you're ready to clear out some shelf space, don't just start scanning randomly. You need a game plan to maximize those 100 annual slots.
Start by sorting your collection by studio. Put all your Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars discs back on the shelf—they won't work. Pull out your Warner Bros., Sony, and Universal Blu-rays first. These are your $2 "easy wins."
Next, download the Fandango at Home app and log in. Go to the menu, scroll down to "Disc to Digital," and ensure your location services are turned on. Test one movie first to make sure your billing address and GPS are playing nice together.
Once you verify that it works, look for your old DVDs of classic films that you want to upgrade. Spending $5 to turn a grainy 480p DVD of The Matrix or Goodfellas into a crisp 1080p HDX digital copy is the most cost-effective way to modernize your library. Keep an eye on your account settings to track how many of your 100 conversions you've used so you don't run out of slots before the end of the year.
Finally, make sure your Movies Anywhere account is linked. This ensures that your $2 investment follows you across every device you own, whether it’s an iPhone, an Android tablet, or a Roku. It's the most efficient way to build a massive digital library for a fraction of the retail cost.