Disney+ seems to have quietly removed Dolby Vision and 3D movies from this country

Disney+ has silently removed Dolby Vision and 3D movie support in Germany, and the streaming giant isn’t saying a word about it.

Users in Germany first noticed the issue roughly two weeks ago when Dolby Vision HDR suddenly stopped working on all devices. Some users claim that Disney scrubbed all mentions of Dolby Vision from their German website and support pages, suggesting this wasn’t a technical glitch.

However, we weren’t able to independently verify this. The video quality support page, in general, doesn’t mention Dolby Vision even on the US landing page, yet the feature still works.

Many subscribers specifically pay for Disney+’s premium tier to access these enhanced formats, and the company hasn’t issued any announcement or explanation for the removal.

It’s not just Dolby Vision that’s disappeared. Apple Vision Pro users in Germany have been reporting widespread 3D playback failures for nearly three weeks now. Movies that previously played in stunning 3D now only show in flat 2D, even when they’re still listed in the app’s 3D section.

To confirm suspicions of this being a regional limitation, one Reddit user used a VPN to hop on US servers and noticed that it instantly restored both Dolby Vision and 3D functionality.

The issue appears to have started around the time Disney added Tron Legacy to its 3D catalog. Shortly after that release, users noticed other 3D titles like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Star Wars: The Force Awakens were suddenly playing in 2D only.

Multiple users report that Disney+ customer service representatives have no knowledge of the changes. Some were told it’s a bug being worked on. Others were walked through pointless troubleshooting steps like reinstalling apps and checking language settings.

The silence from Disney is deafening. When Amazon Prime Video made similar moves last year, dropping Dolby Vision support for everyone, except those paying for the ad-free plan, they quickly confirmed that it was an intended change.

Some users speculate this could be license fee negotiations with Dolby gone wrong. Others fear Disney might be testing a new premium tier where Dolby Vision and 3D content costs extra. Given the company’s recent price hikes and the fact that affected users are already paying €15.99 per month for premium subscriptions, that possibility feels especially grim.

For now, German subscribers are left with three options: use a VPN to access content they’re already paying for, cancel their subscriptions in protest, or buy 3D movies directly from Apple TV. Several frustrated users have already chosen the latter, pointing out that at Disney+’s current premium price, they can purchase several permanent 3D titles each month instead.

We’ll keep an eye out for any further information on the matter and will update this article accordingly.

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