First reported by German website4KFilme, thencorroborated by Forbes in the U.K., it seems that Amazon has removed Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos from its base streaming tier (which became ad-supported on January 29), making the formats exclusive to those who opt-in to thead-free premium subscription, which costs an additional $3 per month.
While Dolby Vision isn’t supported by allHDR TVs(Samsung’s TVs have never included it), many experts consider the dynamic HDR format to be superior in terms of contrast, color, detail, and brightness when compared to HDR10, which is supported by all HDR TV models.
Similarly, Dolby Atmos can provide a more immersive soundtrack, largely through the addition of overhead “height” sound effects, resulting in a three-dimensional experience on sound systems that are equipped to reproduce it.
Reporting for Forbes, John Archer says that while Dolby Vision is no longer available within the ad-supported tier,HDR10+ remains an option.HDR10+is a license-free alternative to Dolby Vision, which Amazon supports on nearly all of its content.
It’s not yet clear why Amazon has made this change, however some have suggested that Dolby’s licensing fees may have played a role. It doesn’t appear any efforts were made to inform existing Prime members of the new limitations either via email or through theofficial Amazon blog.
Digital Trends reached out to Amazon for comment, but instead of an explanation, a spokesperson simply provided a confirmation of what we already knew:
“All Prime members get the benefit of enhanced streaming quality, including UHD, HDR10 and HDR10+, where available. These streaming features and high-definition viewing capabilities, as well as Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, are also available on select titles for Prime Video Ad Free customers.”
