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by formerly_proven 1607 days ago
> Prime Video

> xyz [4K/UHD]

4K is not available when using a computer

> HD is not available because you're not using Windows

when using Windows

> HD is not available because you don't have HDCP

Graphics driver begs to differ.

Prime SD is usually somewhere between 240p and 320p, HD looks like a decently encoded 720p file. Never seen it but I'm guessing 4K might actually approach the quality of a 2007 Blu-Ray.

3 comments

Prime 4K's bit-rate is ~15Mb/s. A UHD Blu-Ray has a bit-rate that's more like 70Mb/s, and a 1080p Blu-ray has a bit-rate of ~28Mb/s. Of course, 4K is usually encoded with H.265 while 1080p is encoded with H.264, so the raw bit-rate numbers are not as useful for comparison - but still, that's almost twice the bit-rate for a quarter of the pixels, and H.265 isn't magic.
Prime 4K is nice, but if you have a decent sound system with Atmos, then Amazon Prime is not the place.

Apple TV has been the best platform so far for 4K and Atmos content, if you also want an option to purchase a title.

https://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/everything-on-amazon...

If you have a fancy 4K TV and a decent sound system with Atmos which you want to take advantage of then you really should be buying physical media instead of streaming... I mean, if you went beyond having a sound bar, and ran wires for surround speakers with a proper home theater amplifier.

Streaming platform usually only give you 5.1 on EAC3 (DD+), on UHD Blu-rays you get 7.1 over TrueHD, and then you get Atmos on top of both of those, and Atmos over TrueHD is more Atmosy or something (besides obviously TrueHD being lossless while EAC3 is lossy.)

Very true, but frankly it's a hassle to deal with discs in this digital age.

Some soundbars such as Samsung Q950T/Q950A send the sound to all speakers either 9.1.4 or 11.1.4 respectively.

But you are quite right that discs offer the best quality.

Here in Mexico at least, there's almost no 4k content on Prime. Even less Atmos content.

Netflix, Disney, and Apple are great.

HboMax has 4k content, but their tech is really bad and the quality is constantly jumping between SD to 720p to 1080p to 4k. We have a 500Mbps fiber connection.

I saw these errors the one time I tried Prime Video and laughed out loud, and ended the trial on the spot. It was like being turned away by a bouncer from a awful looking bar because they didn't like your shoes. Thus ends our relationship!
Their android app on a tablet is even worse video quality than on a desktop.