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Disney+ is gradually restoring high picture quality after problems related to a patent dispute. In 11 EU countries and in Brazil, films and series are once again available in 4K and HDR10. There is, however, a catch: the functionality is only available on selected devices, and popular streaming devices such as Apple TV 4K and Nvidia Shield still lack support.
New codecs solve some of the problems
It all started with Disney's patent dispute with InterDigital over HEVC technology. As a result, Dolby Vision and 3D were removed in June, and in July 4K and HDR10 were also pulled in certain countries.
However, Disney+ has found a partial solution. Since August it has been restoring 4K content using the VP9 codec, and has now begun 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 had 4K and HDR restored
The biggest issue remains compatibility. The new solution works, among others, on selected devices running Google TV and Android TV, LG TVs with webOS from 2020, Hisense TVs with VIDAA from 2019 and Amazon Fire TV devices.
The situation is worse for Apple TV 4K and Nvidia Shield users, who in countries subject to 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 affected by these restrictions. The changes concern, 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 4K and HDR availability cannot be ruled out.
Sources: FlatpanelsHD, PRAD
