NEWS: Has Amazon Prime Video dropped Dolby Atmos?

If this is true thnen it's a very disappointing change by Amazon.
 
This is another reason why streaming is not for me, you are always at the mercy of the provider in terms of content (whether the movie you want is there in the first place, or can disappear at any moment in time), quality (when COVID struck most services downgraded to 720p), sound formats, or censorship (with Disney censoring all those old films, all providers removing films etc).
 
I am very disappointed that Amazon is removing Dolby Atmos from programs which already had Dolby Atmos. when i first heard that Amazon was doing Dolby Atmos I felt I went through hoops to get the right streaming devices to watch Jack Ryan in Dolby Atmos. I had an Apple TV 4K only getting stereo. a 2017 Nvida Shield only 5.1, a Fire TV 4K stick when it first came out only to have discounted a few weeks later on Black Friday, that also didnt work because you need a UHD 4k stream for it to work. i only had 1080p TV, i had to work around that by using an Oppo 203 to foolthe stick in see a $K devices. hurray i had Atmos. AND now NOTHING.
 
Dont have a LG tv but l did notice Amazon done HDR 10+ on a movie i streamed a few weeks ago....besides l have never come across a movie to stream on Amazon with an Atmos Soundtrack maybe tv shows have it,l upgraded my Netflix account back to 4k as l found out via a friend Extraction was available with this....To be honest it's nowhere near what my lx500 can fire out via my system........Faux Atmos.....Looked slightly more colourful with a tad more res....than an HD stream though
 
Thanks for the mention, but I'd already opened a thread on this topic:


The reason I did so was to try create a single reference point rather than having to chase several to get the entire picture as it unfolds.
 
Thanks for bringing this Topic to the Front Page
Just so everyone knows, I did get a reply from my follow-up email to Jeff Bezos; here is the core below:-

Thank you for making sure we're fully aware of your experience. It's feedback like yours that helps us continue to look for possible ways to improve the service we provide and we're glad you took the time to write to us. I've shared your comments with the appropriate team internally for their consideration.

Thanks for your interest in Prime Video.
 
As I too noticed the lack of DV & DA, I didn’t renew my prime subscription after the one month trial.
It was disappointing that despite the superior picture and sound quality available, if the service providers do not offer DV & DA, subscribers should boycott the services and instead go to providers who do give their customers the top end of the technology that’s available.
That shows the customers are given are of the highest quality of movies/series and that the service providers are truly acting in their customers best interest.
 
Hi All
I was told from Amazon Prime Espana that currently they are not offering even uhd/4k content for Spanish prime customers never mind Dolby vision or atmos content due to Spanish government restricting internet speeds due to Covid 19 situation
Don’t know whether this is true or not.
 
Hi All
I was told from Amazon Prime Espana that currently they are not offering even uhd/4k content for Spanish prime customers never mind Dolby vision or atmos content due to Spanish government restricting internet speeds due to Covid 19 situation
Don’t know whether this is true or not.

There is a high probability that what you are being told is the case in Spain. It has been common for the streaming services to have been capping their bandwidth during the COVID-19 lockdowns, particularly in the EU and although most services are back to normal in other locations throughout the EU, it could be the case that the Spanish authorities have requested that bandwidth still be reduced there?

Your particular issue isn't really related to the topic being discussed and will more than likely be a temporary arrangement while Amazon complies with the Spanish government's wishes.
 
Last edited:
It wouldn't be at all surprising for Amazon to be re-negotiating with Dolby, and for them to remove Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos until future costs are more financial appealing (to Amazon).

These hard negotiation tactics are becoming more common, and we've seen similar shenanigans happen on various satellite and cable platforms, where channels have been dropped, only to reappear a few weeks later, after negotiations have been concluded and new terms agreed.

Also, Amazon is one of the few streaming services that have adopted HDR10+, rather than DolbyVision. Whilst users of AVForums are very vocal about Dolby Atmos support (I'm a big fan of the format), it's not at all mainstream, and won't be high up the priority list for most 'normal' consumers.

We'll have to wait and see what happens...

Regards,
James.
 
It wouldn't be at all surprising for Amazon to be re-negotiating with Dolby, and for them to remove Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos until future costs are more financial appealing (to Amazon).

These hard negotiation tactics are becoming more common, and we've seen similar shenanigans happen on various satellite and cable platforms, where channels have been dropped, only to reappear a few weeks later, after negotiations have been concluded and new terms agreed.

Also, Amazon is one of the few streaming services that have adopted HDR10+, rather than DolbyVision. Whilst users of AVForums are very vocal about Dolby Atmos support (I'm a big fan of the format), it's not at all mainstream, and won't be high up the priority list for most 'normal' consumers.

We'll have to wait and see what happens...

Regards,
James.

Maybe I am wrong to say this but i think HDR10+ is on it's last legs Dolby Vision seems to be the preferred format for Movie and TV Producers. True Dolby Atmos isn't mainstream to be honest HDR in general isn't truly mainstream as most might have TVs that support it but won't have TVs that truly show it if that makes sense.

Hopefully they can re-negotiate with Dolby as I think it is a good platform
 
Maybe I am wrong to say this but i think HDR10+ is on it's last legs Dolby Vision seems to be the preferred format for Movie and TV Producers. True Dolby Atmos isn't mainstream to be honest HDR in general isn't truly mainstream as most might have TVs that support it but won't have TVs that truly show it if that makes sense.

Hopefully they can re-negotiate with Dolby as I think it is a good platform
I am grateful anytime that Dolby Atmos is part of the Stream or Disk.
I think a lot of the general public have no clue what it is, other than it is "The Thing", but now Mobile Phones are being sold that are Atmos capable, because... means it is the best? 🤷‍♂️
As phones are reaching their maximum size before becoming tablets, maximum screen resolution (What a laugh on something so small - like 99,9% of the population can tell!), they search for the next "thing"
But, if that pushes surround sound, feed the dumb masses, please, so it becomes a firm possibility for Movies & Series.
 
I have never had Atmos work on anything other than Jack Ryan S1, not S2, Suspiria or Carnival Row, here in Canada.
 
The fact that they already support HDR10+, makes the cost of Dolby Vision unnecessary. And as much as people would like Dolby Atmos, you can get fantasy sound with other formats. Not a great loss in my opinion.
 
The fact that they already support HDR10+, makes the cost of Dolby Vision unnecessary. And as much as people would like Dolby Atmos, you can get fantasy sound with other formats. Not a great loss in my opinion.
For the vast majority of Amazon Prime viewers, yes, no loss. And whether having no Dolby Atmos content reduces their competetiveness with other streaming services is a matter for discussion.
It's more the fact that they removed it from the few programs it was on without any announcement that is slightly concerning.
 
On these forums a lot of people seem to have had nothing positive to say about Dolby Vision, just seems to make the picture darker for a lot of people.
 
I came from an HDR10 Samsung to a DV LG Oled, whether it's down to the TVs or the DV, I couldn't tell you, but I much prefer DV.
 
This is digital streaming future....today you have your favorite content in 4K Dolby Vision and tommorow in 720p SDR.
 
As always, it’s the paying customer that gets the brown end of the stick, be it what Amazon is doing here, Netflix not returning its streaming rates to pre-lockdown levels, you name it.

Personally, I prefer HDR10 to DV, so if Amazon keep using that, that’s fine by me. The lack of Atmos is more of a disappointment though. I do hope that the next series of Bosch and the Expanse are in 4K HDR though ...
 
I have much better success renting movies on AppleTV. They DV and DA and are generally cheaper.
I watched Ford vs Ferrari on Prime and was extremely disappointed with watching in basic 5.1
Never again.
 
I have much better success renting movies on AppleTV. They DV and DA and are generally cheaper.
I watched Ford vs Ferrari on Prime and was extremely disappointed with watching in basic 5.1
Never again.
I agree. For Movies I really want to ee at their best it is Disk Rental, or iTunes Rental.
But as Amazon Prime do have a good number of free Movies as well as their series, plus they have started offering 97 cent Movies (I have The Meg & They Shall Not Grow Old ready to watch), it does work ok for Movies where I am not so bothered with the best quality
 
It's certainly true that the vast majority of public don't care about superior formats, codecs, etc, even surround formats. This is becoming ever more obvious from the number of 4K HDR Discs available in most supermarkets. I have noticed more releases on standard Blu Ray now have ATMOS encoded soundtracks, Joker, 1917, Birds Of Prey. Which at £10 less is a fair trade off, to me!
 
Across several devices everything still looks and sounds the same to me, not sure what all the above is about but i dont see it currently.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom