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Prime Video cuts Dolby Vision, Atmos support from ad tier–and didn't tell subs

arstechnica.com

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Re: Prime Video cuts Dolby Vision, Atmos support from ad tier–and didn't tell subs

#61

Post by jbl0ndie »

A4ET8a8uTh0 wrote: post #40
tpowell wrote: post #5

I’m letting my Prime lapse for the first time in well over a decade. I don’t watch Prime Video much, but this rubbed me the wrong way when they’re making money hand-over-fist on top of recent Prime increases.

I cancelled when they announced limited ads ( or however they phrased it ) to create new content. I did not watch Prime and was using Amazon less and less ( after actually going through my orders, it turned out not to be enough to spend on Prime membership ) and they still had to balls nickel and dime me. I suppose I should thank them to kinda force me re-evaluate this relationship. I suppose Cory was right; enshitif…

Enshittification it is indeed.

Re: Prime Video cuts Dolby Vision, Atmos support from ad tier–and didn't tell subs

#63

Post by josho »

sleepybrett wrote: post #32

Technical question, a typical 2 hour movie represents how many bytes of stereo audio signal, how many bytes if atmos. How many streams served with stereo, how many with 5.1/atmos/whatever. Are they actually saving any real money here or is it just a pain point to milk the whales? I'd be willing to bet that 80%+ of households don't even have equipment that can properly render atmos or even 5.1.

I suspect it’s the licensing fee to Dolby that is the cost driver.

Re: Prime Video cuts Dolby Vision, Atmos support from ad tier–and didn't tell subs

#64

Post by fabian2k »

A4ET8a8uTh0 wrote: post #45
fabian2k wrote: post #26

I canceled Prime after they added ads. I might have canceled it anyway at some point, but this was a very clear and significant reduction in value. They never really competed all that well, but there were some interesting original shows on there that kept me interested enough to keep a subscription. But they were really bad about having the original language audio, and they rotate content out pretty fast, my watchlis…

I respectfully disagree. Amazon became Amazon, because it really did some things well and forced some good standards ( 2 day shipping, almost zero friction when it came to purchases -- and returns ). It is not a horrible experience yet, but the direction is clear.

I meant Prime Video. But even the store part of Prime is not that convincing anymore to me, shipping times feel much more random to me now than they used to. So maybe there is a significant speed advantage in Prime, but it's just hard to perceive it when at random times you have slow shipping anyway. And the price advantage only comes into play if you order lots of small stuff individually.

Re: Prime Video cuts Dolby Vision, Atmos support from ad tier–and didn't tell subs

#65

Post by indigodaddy »

A4ET8a8uTh0 wrote: post #40
tpowell wrote: post #5

I’m letting my Prime lapse for the first time in well over a decade. I don’t watch Prime Video much, but this rubbed me the wrong way when they’re making money hand-over-fist on top of recent Prime increases.

I cancelled when they announced limited ads ( or however they phrased it ) to create new content. I did not watch Prime and was using Amazon less and less ( after actually going through my orders, it turned out not to be enough to spend on Prime membership ) and they still had to balls nickel and dime me. I suppose I should thank them to kinda force me re-evaluate this relationship. I suppose Cory was right; enshitif…

I just started a siriusxm trial (never used before) on a new truck and the audio quality is so atrocious that I can’t bear to listen to it. Maybe for like sports talk it might be tolerable but definitely it’s so much worse than even radio (seems like 4x worse than terrestrial radio) for the audio quality that how can anyone pay for this service?

Re: Prime Video cuts Dolby Vision, Atmos support from ad tier–and didn't tell subs

#66

Post by recursive »

woobar wrote: post #50
bombcar wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would be interested to know the actual audio setup of most video watching ... I suspect that even if you ignore whatever (probably huge?) percentage is on mobile, that much of it comes out of whatever TV speakers are being used. Even my 7.1 receiver is down to a single laughable channel, because I've not been arsed to fully set it up and a wire is loose.

My guess is a lot of people with bigger TVs are getting soundbars. They are easy to setup and doesn't require wires. I won't switch from 5.1 setup but if I ever move I would give it a try. Built-in speakers I've used in hotels/airbnbs are not great.

Soundbar marketing has a lot of snake oil about bouncing soundwaves around a room to simulate 13 discrete speakers or something. I've got no science, but I do have some serious doubt whether the bouncing stuff works at all. In my imagination, soundbars are basically stereo, or maybe 2.1

Re: Prime Video cuts Dolby Vision, Atmos support from ad tier–and didn't tell subs

#67

Post by vlozko »

sleepybrett wrote: post #32

Technical question, a typical 2 hour movie represents how many bytes of stereo audio signal, how many bytes if atmos. How many streams served with stereo, how many with 5.1/atmos/whatever. Are they actually saving any real money here or is it just a pain point to milk the whales? I'd be willing to bet that 80%+ of households don't even have equipment that can properly render atmos or even 5.1.

It wouldn’t surprise me if it’s a licensing issue more than a data one. Atmos support for my Xbox headset, for example, has a monthly subscription cost.

Re: Prime Video cuts Dolby Vision, Atmos support from ad tier–and didn't tell subs

#68

Post by TylerE »

indigodaddy wrote: post #65
A4ET8a8uTh0 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I cancelled when they announced limited ads ( or however they phrased it ) to create new content. I did not watch Prime and was using Amazon less and less ( after actually going through my orders, it turned out not to be enough to spend on Prime membership ) and they still had to balls nickel and dime me. I suppose I should thank them to kinda force me re-evaluate this relationship. I suppose Cory was right; enshitif…

I just started a siriusxm trial (never used before) on a new truck and the audio quality is so atrocious that I can’t bear to listen to it. Maybe for like sports talk it might be tolerable but definitely it’s so much worse than even radio (seems like 4x worse than terrestrial radio) for the audio quality that how can anyone pay for this service?

Because it existed for 15 years before data roaming existed.

Re: Prime Video cuts Dolby Vision, Atmos support from ad tier–and didn't tell subs

#69

Post by sys32768 »

I cancelled due to ads a few weeks ago after 10+ years of Prime.

I was also sick of yelling at Alexa who pretends not to understand me.

Streaming has lost its appeal to me compared to owning the discs. eBay is especially affordable now with so many Goodwill sellers offering used blu-rays.

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