Amazon Prime Video subscribers who have decided not to shell out an extra $2.99 a month for an ad-free watching experience may notice their streaming experience is missing something.
The e-commerce giant’s ad-supported streaming plan doesn’t support Dolby Vision picture or Dolby Atmos sound quality, an Amazon spokesperson confirmed to Forbes.
Dolby Vision is the brand name for HDR and creates a better viewing experience by upping an image’s color and contrast. Dolby Atmos creates a 360-degree sound for further immersion in a TV show or movie, especially for those who invest in surround sound speakers.
Last month, Amazon began including ads into for everyone, leaving some people scratching their heads at the unconventional choice. Where most companies would’ve raised prices across the board and built a new ad-supported tier, Amazon built a newer, more expensive ad-free premium tier that subscribers would need to opt into. Amazon has said that it wanted to avoid raising prices for everyone since users get the service as part of the Prime subscription.
Forbes went on to note that while Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos are absent from Prime Video’s basic tier, HDR10+, an HDR alternative to Dolby Vision, is still available. This means you can still watch movies and TV shows in 4K HDR 10+ instead of just 1080p HD.
Amazon first announced its shakeup last September.
“This will allow us to continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time. We aim to have meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers,” Amazon said in an earlier message to subscribers.
Amazon wasn’t immediately available for comment.
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