Katarzyna Petru
As reported by the flatpanelshd service Disney+ has reduced the quality of its content in some markets by removing support for Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and 3D content. This situation is linked to an ongoing patent lawsuit in Germany, which reportedly may extend to additional countries in Europe.
The previous technical issues with the Disney+ app were resolved in autumn 2025, however, the current limitations now concern the very formats of the content. By the end of 2025, German media noted the disappearance of Dolby Vision and HDR10+ from Disney+'s offering in Germany, which meant that even Premium plan users could only watch content in HDR10. In January 2026, the German service Heise linked these changes to a patent lawsuit, in which Disney was accused of infringing rights owned by the American company InterDigital. The court issued an order that directly affects the operation of the platform.
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Problem is Expanding Across Europe
In February, further reports began to emerge from Disney+ subscribers in various European countries, including France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, and Poland. Dutch media confirmed that Dolby Vision support has vanished from the local market, with similar reports also coming from Nordic countries. Disney, in an official statement, explains the situation as "technical challenges" and neither confirms nor denies any connection to an ongoing patent dispute. However, the company assures that it is working on restoring Dolby Vision and that support for 4K UHD and HDR (HDR10) remains available on compatible devices. At the same time, Disney+ has removed all mentions of Dolby Vision from its European help pages and even from some support materials in the USA. The availability of 3D films presented in Dolby Vision has also disappeared from the offering in several countries.
While it can be assumed that HDR10+ has a better chance of returning to Disney+, the situation with Dolby Vision remains much less certain. HDR10+ is an open format and completely free for creators, and any potential licensing fees are incomparably lower than those of Dolby technology. This makes it an attractive alternative for streaming platforms, especially in the context of patent disputes and rising costs.
Source: flatpanelshd
