A few months ago, we found out that Amazon was going to launch a new fee within Prime Video that would cost 2.99 euros, in addition to the traditional Amazon Prime subscription. According to the company, this would allow them to continue creating excellent exclusive movies and series.
And for those who don’t want to pay, Amazon offered the option to continue enjoying the streaming service… with ads, just like Netflix and Disney+ already do with their cheaper rates: you pay less, therefore you see ads. It makes sense for them.
What we didn’t see coming is that Amazon is going to play dirty in this case, removing one of the best video features of the service for all those who don’t pay the extra 2.99 € per month.
Goodbye to Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos on Prime Video
Amazon has confirmed that it is not an error: your subscription to Amazon Prime Video no longer includes Dolby Vision HDR or Dolby Atmos surround sound. This adds to the announcements that Amazon introduced to the service on January 29th. Now, if you pay $2.99 per month to remove those ads, you can also regain Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos.
This is what 4KFilme says, who discovered that their Sony, LG, and Samsung TVs are now displaying content in HDR10 with Dolby Digital 5.1 instead of the higher fidelity options they had previously enjoyed.
Katie Barker, spokesperson for Amazon, confirmed to The Verge that this is a deliberate measure: “Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos capabilities are only available in the ad-free option, on relevant titles”.
Although price increases are no longer remotely unusual in the streaming video space, where Netflix now charges $22.99 per month for its 4K tier, comparing Amazon’s prices to Netflix’s is a bit more difficult.
At first, Amazon Prime Video was only available as part of a global subscription to Amazon Prime: I have Amazon Prime because I mainly pay 45 euros per year to get free one-day shipping. Now I would have to pay an additional 18% to get the full experience of The Rings of Power without ads and with complete fidelity.
Prime Video is also available as a standalone subscription for $8.99 per month; if you subscribe that way and add $2.99 per month, it’s more of a 28 percent price increase.
If you prefer ads, the $8.99 per month of Prime Video is one dollar less than Disney Plus with ads at $9.99 per month, although Netflix currently offers its service in Full HD with ads at $6.99 per month.
