Amazon Claims First ‘Video Service’ To Stream HDR
As Netflix generated much of the recent noise about ambitions to stream high dynamic range content to consumers this year, Amazon claimed to have become the first “video service” to do so. Amazon Prime subscribers in the U.S. can instantly…
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watch the debut season of the Amazon original series Mozart in the Jungle in HDR through the Amazon Instant Video app on Samsung SUHD TVs at no additional cost, Amazon said in a news release. Having worked to expand Amazon’s offering of 4K movies and TV shows since launching 4K streaming last year, HDR “is the next step,” the company said. Additional titles in HDR and “expanded device compatibility” can be expected this year “as Amazon continues to work with Hollywood studios, technology leaders and global consumer electronics companies to expand the Amazon HDR experience,” it said. Only Samsung, and no other TV brands, figured in Wednesday’s Amazon announcement. Amazon HDR streaming will be available “in the coming weeks” through the Amazon Instant Video app on 2015 LG OLED Ultra HD TVs, LG Electronics said Wednesday. “HDR content promises to further enhance the Ultra HD viewing experience, and Amazon and LG are at the forefront of bringing consumers advanced picture quality by streaming HDR on LG OLED 4K TVs,” said Tim Alessi, LG director-new product development, home entertainment. In TVs, “the expanded range of brightness creates a well-defined image, while maintaining clarity, by producing greater contrast between light and dark images on the screen,” Amazon said on a newly posted FAQs page accompanying Wednesday’s announcement. “Dark parts of the picture contain subtle details that are often invisible with non-HDR screens,” it said in a description. The pilot episode of Red Oaks, another Amazon original series, also is available in HDR, “and many more series and movies will be available in the near future,” the page said.