February 27, 2026, 11:37 am | Read time: 2 minutes
Disney+ charges 15.99 euros per month for the premium subscription. The service long justified this price with particularly high image quality. In addition to 4K resolution, Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HDR10+ were also part of the package. Both formats significantly enhance colors and contrasts. At the end of 2025, references to these standards disappeared from the product specifications. It is now clear that the changes were related to a patent dispute and have been partially reversed.
Removal of HDR Formats in the Premium Subscription
According to the website “4kfilme.de,” which cites its own tests, Disney+ temporarily offered no option for HDR playback. Most recently, HDR10 was still available in the premium plan. However, this standard was also temporarily removed from the quality settings.
HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. The technology enables detailed representation of very bright and very dark areas of an image, resulting in more vibrant colors and stronger contrasts. Without HDR, SDR is used instead, which stands for Standard Dynamic Range with a lower contrast range.
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Significant Image Issues Due to HDR Removal
“4kfilme” also reported visible quality issues. According to them, artifacts and pixel errors occurred more frequently. Artifacts are image disturbances such as blurry areas or blockiness. The portal suggests that converting HDR content to SDR quality could be responsible for this.
The reason for the removal of the function is a patent dispute. The patent exploitation company Inter Digital obtained a ruling in Germany in November 2025. This ruling prohibited Disney from using certain HDR technologies.
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Patent Dispute as Trigger and Restoration of HDR10
Disney has since responded. A spokesperson told TECHBOOK: “HDR10 support has been restored on Disney+. Due to a court case in a German patent court, we were forced to make changes to the availability of some premium video formats. We deeply regret that this was necessary and share the frustration of our customers. We have worked as quickly as possible on solutions to provide viewers with the best possible experience according to their devices and subscription.”
This confirms that Disney had to temporarily disable HDR10 due to a court case. The service is now allowed to use the format again. The “HDR10” label should soon reappear in the streaming player. The price of the premium subscription remained unchanged at 15.99 euros per month during the changes.