Disney+ Restores 4K in Europe, Grants Refunds to Premium Subscribers
Disney+ removed 4K UHD and HDR from its Premium plan across Europe after a court ruling in a patent dispute with InterDigital over the HEVC video codec. The company has now implemented an alternative technology, likely using the VP9 codec, to gradually restore 4K on supported devices such as Android TV (Google, Sony, Philips), Amazon Fire TV, LG TVs from 2020, Sky Glass and Sky Stream. HDR and Dolby Vision remain unavailable.
In Germany, Disney+ notified Premium customers that they may terminate their subscription early and receive a proportional refund for the unused portion of the fee, a special cancellation right offered because the promised premium features were withdrawn. Similar communications have been issued in Italy, France and other European markets, confirming the phased return of 4K while acknowledging temporary device‑specific gaps.
The rollout is limited to selected hardware, and Disney+ continues to work on expanding compatibility and restoring full HDR support as soon as possible.
Entities: Germany · InterDigital · Nicolas Lellouche · The Walt Disney Company
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [○ 1 SOURCE] The 4K restoration applies to devices such as Android TVs from Google, Sony, Philips, Amazon Fire TV, LG TVs from 2020, and Sky Stream. (a038650b-53b2-4feb-a9ca-ecf68cd1fbd9)
- [● 2 SOURCES] The patent dispute concerns InterDigital's patents on the HEVC video codec. (a038650b-53b2-4feb-a9ca-ecf68cd1fbd9, 6ed4bb5d-9095-40e9-a9e4-c2c34d0ddbb1)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Disney+ offered Premium subscribers a special cancellation right with a 30‑day window and a proportional refund. (6ed4bb5d-9095-40e9-a9e4-c2c34d0ddbb1)
- [● 3 SOURCES] Disney+ is gradually restoring 4K playback in Germany on selected devices. (a038650b-53b2-4feb-a9ca-ecf68cd1fbd9, 08ed09a7-af15-4439-bdc7-3b6cb29818f8, 6ed4bb5d-9095-40e9-a9e4-c2c34d0ddbb1)
- [● 2 SOURCES] Disney+ disabled 4K and HDR streaming in Germany due to a patent dispute with InterDigital over the HEVC codec. (a038650b-53b2-4feb-a9ca-ecf68cd1fbd9, 6ed4bb5d-9095-40e9-a9e4-c2c34d0ddbb1)
- [● 2 SOURCES] Disney+ switched from the HEVC (H.265) codec to VP9 on certain devices to restore 4K. (a038650b-53b2-4feb-a9ca-ecf68cd1fbd9, 08ed09a7-af15-4439-bdc7-3b6cb29818f8)
- [● 2 SOURCES] HDR formats, including Dolby Vision and HDR10+, remain unavailable in Germany. (a038650b-53b2-4feb-a9ca-ecf68cd1fbd9, 6ed4bb5d-9095-40e9-a9e4-c2c34d0ddbb1)