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Disney+ is gradually restoring high picture quality after issues related to a patent dispute. In 11 EU countries and Brazil, films and series can once again be watched in 4K and HDR10. However, there's a catch: the features work only on selected devices, and the popular Apple TV 4K and Nvidia Shield devices are still unsupported.
New codecs solve some of the problems
It all started with a patent dispute between Disney and InterDigital over HEVC technology. As a result, in June Dolby Vision and 3D disappeared, and in July 4K and HDR10 were also pulled in certain countries.
Disney+ has found a partial solution. Since August it has restored 4K content using the VP9 codec, and it has now started reintroducing HDR10 using VP9 Profile 2.
According to Disney, the entire previous library of 4K and HDR10 content is once again available in those formats. Unfortunately, Dolby Vision has still not returned.
Not all TVs have regained 4K and HDR
The biggest problem remains compatibility. The new solution works, among others, on selected devices running Google TV and Android TV, on LG TVs with webOS from 2020, on Hisense TVs with VIDAA from 2019, and on Amazon Fire TV devices.
The situation is worse for users of Apple TV 4K and NVIDIA Shield, who in the countries covered by the restrictions still cannot use 4K and HDR. Samsung TVs running Tizen are also missing from the list of supported devices.
Importantly, Poland is not among the 11 EU countries covered by these restrictions. The changes affect, among others, Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands.
The patent dispute is still ongoing, and InterDigital has also extended it to VP9 technology. So further changes to the availability of 4K and HDR cannot be ruled out.
Sources: FlatpanelsHD, PRAD
