Disney+ restoring 4K UHD after patent ruling
August 3, 2026 11.56 Europe/London By Julian Clover


Disney has temporarily removed 4K UHD and HDR streaming from Disney+ in several European markets following a court ruling linked to video technology patents, leaving affected Premium subscribers without the highest-quality picture formats included in their subscription.

The move follows the earlier withdrawal of Dolby Vision and 3D support in the same markets. Disney said a recent court ruling affecting the technology it uses to deliver 4K UHD and HDR content had forced the temporary change and that it is working to restore the features as quickly as possible.

Broadband TV News understands Disney has adopted an alternative technology to enable 4K UHD and HDR and has begun restoring 4K UHD support on Disney+. However, this may cause 4K UHD to be unavailable on some devices. Disney+ automatically displays the highest quality video available on each device to ensure the best streaming experience possible.

The impacted countries are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania and Sweden.

The disruption stems from an ongoing patent dispute with technology developer InterDigital. In recent weeks, the Unified Patent Court granted InterDigital injunctions covering patents related to HEVC video encoding. However, downloaded content is not affected.

The latest changes mean affected subscribers can currently stream only in HD, despite paying for Disney+’s Premium tier, which normally includes 4K UHD, HDR and Dolby Vision.

The UK is not affected by the latest restrictions, and Disney+ Premium subscribers there continue to receive the full suite of UHD and HDR features.