Disney's Premium Content Service Hits a Bump in European Expansion with Loss of Dolby Vision
In a blow to Disney+ subscribers in certain European countries, the popular streaming service has lost access to advanced high-definition (HDR) features like Dolby Vision. The issue affects users in Germany, Portugal, Poland, France, and the Netherlands, according to reports from tech websites TechRadar and FlatpanelsHD.
Disney has attributed the loss of access to "technical challenges" but seems to be downplaying its role. In a statement, the company stated that it is actively working on restoring Dolby Vision support, although no timeline has been given for when subscribers can expect their premium HDR experience back online. However, this appears to be a temporary measure, as Disney's own video quality support page for Germany still lists HDR10 as its default format.
The situation raises questions about the technical and possibly even legal challenges faced by Disney. Tech experts believe that the issue may not be solely related to technology, but rather, it could be connected to a patent dispute with InterDigital, a company that won an injunction against Disney in November 2025. The court ordered Disney to stop violating one of InterDigital's patents on streaming video technology.
It is worth noting that this development comes as no surprise for users in Germany, who were among the first to notice Dolby Vision was missing from their Disney+ experience on Reddit. This suggests that there may be a deeper issue at play, and it's unlikely to be resolved overnight.
In related news, the US version of Disney+'s video quality support page has also seen its mentions of Dolby Vision removed, suggesting that the company is taking steps to distance itself from InterDigital's patent dispute in the United States.
In a blow to Disney+ subscribers in certain European countries, the popular streaming service has lost access to advanced high-definition (HDR) features like Dolby Vision. The issue affects users in Germany, Portugal, Poland, France, and the Netherlands, according to reports from tech websites TechRadar and FlatpanelsHD.
Disney has attributed the loss of access to "technical challenges" but seems to be downplaying its role. In a statement, the company stated that it is actively working on restoring Dolby Vision support, although no timeline has been given for when subscribers can expect their premium HDR experience back online. However, this appears to be a temporary measure, as Disney's own video quality support page for Germany still lists HDR10 as its default format.
The situation raises questions about the technical and possibly even legal challenges faced by Disney. Tech experts believe that the issue may not be solely related to technology, but rather, it could be connected to a patent dispute with InterDigital, a company that won an injunction against Disney in November 2025. The court ordered Disney to stop violating one of InterDigital's patents on streaming video technology.
It is worth noting that this development comes as no surprise for users in Germany, who were among the first to notice Dolby Vision was missing from their Disney+ experience on Reddit. This suggests that there may be a deeper issue at play, and it's unlikely to be resolved overnight.
In related news, the US version of Disney+'s video quality support page has also seen its mentions of Dolby Vision removed, suggesting that the company is taking steps to distance itself from InterDigital's patent dispute in the United States.
Disappointed in this move... lost access to high-quality content like Dolby Vision 
Don't wanna pay for a service that doesn't deliver 
What's going on with all these technical challenges? 
Can't they just get it sorted out? 
Should be more transparent about the issues and timelines 
Dolby Vision drama: Disney's got some explaining to do... or maybe they're just trying to "stream"-line their problems? 
Interesting how some users were already complaining about the missing Dolby Vision feature before this news broke... maybe it's not as simple of a fix as they're making it out to be 
Like, I'm still trying to wrap my head around it... so Disney loses access to Dolby Vision on their streaming service in Europe because of some technical challenges? 
Yeah right, like that's gonna be easy to fix! And what's with the whole "technical challenges" thing? Sounds like a total cop-out to me. They're basically saying it's not their fault and leaving us hanging... 
. I mean, if there was no issue with technology, why did they lose access to Dolby Vision? 
It's not like they just messed up or something 
. The thing is, we don't know all the details yet so we can't jump to conclusions 
. Maybe Disney should've thought about all the tech issues before expanding into Europe 
. Can't Disney sort this out already? 
I'm not surprised it's happening though, tech stuff can be a nightmare sometimes. But what if it's not just the tech that's causing the problem... what if there's some patent drama going on? 
Like, Disney is all "oh no we lost access to Dolby Vision" but what if they're trying to avoid paying royalties or something? 
maybe it has something to do with that patent dispute? 
. But at the same time, I feel bad for all those poor subscribers who are stuck with subpar video quality 
.
. There has to be more to it than that 
. Maybe it's those patent disputes with InterDigital?