Amazon has become the first video streaming service to offer video in high dynamic range. At the moment, it is only available to Prime members in the US, though the company has previously said customers in the UK and Germany would be able to benefit from the enhanced quality.
Currently, only the first season of the Amazon Original series Mozart in the Jungle is available to view in 4K HDR, but Amazon has promised more titles will be coming soon.
The retail giant has also said the content can only be viewed on Samsung SUHD TVs, through the Amazon Video app. Samsung's SUHD TVs are able to recognise and decode the HDR metadata through the app. But greater device compatibility can be expected in the future.
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HDR refers to the contrast between the darkest and brightest a TV’s picture can be. In theory, the higher the dynamic range, the more realistic the picture.
“HDR is a technical innovation that provides a truly stunning viewing experience and we’re thrilled to be the first to offer this unmatched picture quality,” said Michael Paull, Vice President of Digital Video at Amazon.
“We can’t wait for our Prime members to watch Mozart in the Jungle in HDR at no additional cost to their membership, and we look forward to adding more titles and devices that support HDR this year.”
Official standards for HDR have yet to be set, but it has been confirmed for Ultra HD Blu-ray discs, which are due to be released in September.
Amazon added 4K content to its Prime Instant Video service at the end of 2014, and now offers in excess of 90 hours worth of content.
The news follows the announcement by Fox, confirming four films will be released in HDR in the US, that can be downloaded to Samsung’s UHD TVs.
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