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Home / News / Amazon adds 4K content to Prime Instant Video, along with rentals and purchases

Amazon adds 4K content to Prime Instant Video, along with rentals and purchases

The initial selection is small, but you don’t have to pay extra for Ultra HD

If you have a 4K television and you’ve been itching for more streaming video to show off its talents, you’re in luck: Amazon has added Ultra HD content for both Prime and standard video offerings.

The initial offering of 4K-compatible content spans both television and film offerings, and while it’s a small early selection for Prime subscribers, you don’t have to pay a special fee to view it – unlike Netflix, which gates off its 4K video with an additional paywall.

Prime Instant Video users can tap into television and Amazon Original Series content like Orphan Black, Transparent, Alpha House, and Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street in 4K, with Amazon promising that its upcoming series and next wave of pilots (for viewers to vote on) will also all be available in 4K.

And Sony Pictures Entertainment has provided a small selection of 4K quality films to Prime subscribers, including Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Philadelphia, Funny Girl, and Hitch.

But you don’t have to be a Prime subscriber to start enjoying Amazon’s Ultra HD content. You can also buy or rent select Sony films, including The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (pictured), Godzilla, Moneyball, The Monuments Men, Elysium, This Is the End, and several others. Concert film Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga: Cheek to Cheek LIVE! is also available in Ultra HD.

For now, Amazon’s 4K offerings support a range of sets from Sony, LG, and Samsung, with additional 4K TV manufacturers being added in 2015.

[Source: Amazon]

READ MORE: The 25 best things to watch on Amazon Prime Instant Video

Profile image of Andrew Hayward Andrew Hayward Freelance Writer

About

Andrew writes features, news stories, reviews, and other pieces, often when the UK home team is off-duty or asleep. I'm based in Chicago with my lovely wife, amazing son, and silly cats, and my writing about games, gadgets, esports, apps, and plenty more has appeared in more than 75 publications since 2006.

Areas of expertise

Video games, gadgets, apps, smart home