Ultra high definition 4K video is still a pretty new thing. The TVs themselves are still pretty expensive, and there’s not all that much 4K content out there to watch on them. On top of all that, now, there’s another price penalty for early adopters to pay: Netflix is raising the price for their 4K streaming video.
Until recently, as Variety reports, the few folks out there who had both the ultra-HD TV to view it on and the high-speed broadband to stream it on could use their regular, $9 subscription to access what 4K programming Netflix has.
But now, those who want every pixel of Bryan Cranston or Kevin Spacey’s grizzled faces to metaphorically leap out of the screen at them will have to pay up. 4K streaming is now only available on the $12 “family plan.”
Why the change? Because, unsurprisingly, both producing and acquiring 4K content costs more. So Netflix has “repositioned” 4K content as “a premium offering.”
This is not the first time Netflix has charged slightly more to cover the costs of a newer tech: back in ye olden days of Just A Few Years Ago when blu-ray began to supplant DVD and most of us had Netflix mail us actual discs, the company added a $1 monthly surcharge for that upgrade, too.
Customers who signed up for Netflix 4K service prior to August 12 of this year are having their old plans grandfathered “indefinitely,” but new customers will have to sign up at the higher rate.
Right now, House of Cards, The Blacklist, and Breaking Bad are Netflix’s banner 4K offerings, although according to Variety you can also watch Smurfs 2, Ghostbusters, and Ghostbusters 2 in 4K… for all your super high-res gooey Stay-Puft marshmallow needs.
Netflix Now Charging Extra for 4K Ultra HD Content [Variety]
by Kate Cox via Consumerist
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