It's been two weeks since Amazon's Prime Video streaming service started serving ads to users who don't pay an additional $2.99 per month to go ad-free. Now, it turns out that the ad-supported tier is an even bigger downgrade than Amazon allowed, as Prime Video users who fail to upgrade will also lose access to Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos.
Sunday, German Outlet 4K movie (via ars technica) first noticed that ad-supported Prime Video does not support Dolby Vision HDR or Dolby Atmos surround sound technology. Unless you pay for an ad-free subscription, you'll keep using HDR10+ and Dolby Digital 5.1.
4K movie I watched Prime Video ad tiers on TVs from three different manufacturers (LG, Samsung, and Sony), and the results were the same every time. Upgrading to an ad-free plan now gives you access to Dolby Vision and Atmos again.
according to forbes, the same applies to TCL TVs. The site created a new Prime Video account and went back and forth with an ad-free subscription. Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos pop-up boxes did not appear on content for accounts with ads.
What's most frustrating about this discovery is that Amazon didn't make it clear that Prime Video users who choose not to upgrade to ad-free slots will receive lower quality audio and video. forbes “Prime Video header information is [Jack Ryan] The service shown in a basic ad-supported account lists Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos as supported technology features, but neither feature is delivered to your TV when you start playing an episode. ”
Bad news for those who were hoping this was just a technical glitch that Amazon might fix within the next few weeks. forbes The company has since confirmed that this behavior was intended and says that Dolby functionality will not be returning anytime soon.
