Amazon adds 4K video streaming to list of Prime benefits starting today

Lupine

Lupine

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According to a press release issued this morning, Amazon has begun offering some limited amount of its streaming content in 4K resolution—specifically, the 4K UltraHD standard resolution of 3840×2160. The majority of the 4K content for now appears to be Amazon original series like Alpha House and Transparent, supplemented with a limited number of studio TV series (Orphan Black is mentioned specifically).

Additionally, Amazon will be offering a selection of 4K movies from Sony Pictures Entertainment for free streaming to Prime members. Four movies are listed as streamable in 4K: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Funny Girl; Hitch; and Philadelphia. Amazon will be using HEVC (High Efficiency Video Encoding) for video compression.

Although streaming 4K content will be limited to Prime subscribers, Amazon isn’t keeping all the 4K love only for Prime—all Amazon customers will be able to purchase several additional Sony Pictures films that won't be available for instant streaming. The list in the press release is all over the map with respect to age and type—1998’s The Mask of Zorro and 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man reboot are listed, as are 2008’s Hancock and 2000’s The Patriot. So far, movies from studios other than Sony Pictures aren’t available, but the press release is confident that more 4K content will be available in 2015.

There are three major caveats to Amazon’s 4K services. First, the 4K content will only be available within the US. Second, the bandwidth requirements are as yet unknown, but given that a 4k UltraHD stream nominally contains four times as much image data as a 1080p stream, interruption-free 4K streaming is something that a lot of people will have issues with (either because of their own connection or because of chicanery like this).

The final caveat is that in order to watch any of Amazon's 4K programming, you’ll need to use an approved 4K "smart TV" from LG, Sony, or Samsung. It appears that computers with 4K-capable monitors need not apply—Amazon has a handy list of approved 4K TVs that range in price from about $900 all the way up past $25,000.

Source: ArsTechnica

Amazon Press Release: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1996125
 
I've gone to their site a couple of times now to find 4k videos but couldn't. Is there anyway to search for them?
 
monkeydust said:
I've gone to their site a couple of times now to find 4k videos but couldn't. Is there anyway to search for them?
Click to expand...

"The content available in Ultra HD includes Amazon original content, with Alpha House and Transparent, and Orphan Black, the Canadian-made BBC America sci-fi thriller. Sony Pictures movies, including Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Funny Girl, Hitch and Philadelphia are also now available in 4k."
 
Why you can't get 4K Netflix and Amazon on a PC or Mac (even though they're capable)


snippet:

This is a familiar song. Soon after DVDs came to market, illicit movie theaters began popping up In countries such as India, where bootleg copies of movies would be shown at a fraction of the price legitimate movie houses were charging. These pirate palaces switched over to Blu-ray as soon as it was introduced, so Hollywood is concerned about its commercial 4K content getting into the digital wild.

But in typical fashion, Hollywood is protecting its assets by making things difficult for its own best customers. As Doherty pointed out, it took 18 months to develop the security that movie studios thought would sufficiently protect DVD playback on PCs. With 4K, he predicts we won't won't be able to stream to a PC or Mac until sometime next year, when the next version of HDCP is finalized. You can be sure that Intel, Apple, and all the PC OEMs will make sure HDCP 2.2 doesn't leave their platforms behind, but that doesn't help us now.

Frustration is knowing that the 4K monitor you just bought for less than $600, or the shiny new 5K iMac you just splurged on is limited to a lowly 1080p stream when luscious 4K content is just a checkbox on a server-configuration screen away.
 
Quickstrike said:
"The content available in Ultra HD includes Amazon original content, with Alpha House and Transparent, and Orphan Black, the Canadian-made BBC America sci-fi thriller. Sony Pictures movies, including Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Funny Girl, Hitch and Philadelphia are also now available in 4k."
Click to expand...

Right, I saw the titles listed. What I was looking for was some sort of search category to list 4k streaming prime shows on their site.
 
monkeydust said:
Right, I saw the titles listed. What I was looking for was some sort of search category to list 4k streaming prime shows on their site.
Click to expand...

I don't think you can do that.

As far as I know, those are still the only titles available in 4k. The article I quoted from was posted yesterday.
 
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