You may have paid a premium to get a new 4K television set; now Netflix thinks you should pay extra to watch 4K videos.
The streaming media giant is now requiring new customers who want access to its library of ultra-high definition television shows and movies to sign up for a pricier plan than its regular subscription service. The 4K plan costs $12 a month, while its regular plan costs $9 a month.
Previously, customers of the regular plan could also watch 4K content. Netflix s servers would stream ultra-high definition videos to any set they determined were capable of displaying them.
Netflix decided to create a premium plan for 4K videos because they cost the company more to make or stream, Bloomberg Businessweek reported.
Customers who sign up for the new premium plan will also get to stream videos from Netflix on up to 4 screens at once; regular plan subscribers can only stream to two screens at a time.
Subscribers may want to think twice before signing up for the new plans. Netflix only has a limited number of 4K videos available, most notably the second season of its original show, House of Cards and all seasons of Breaking Bad.
4K television sets offer four times the resolution — the number of pixels — as high-definition TVs. That higher pixel count can allow larger screen televisions to display much sharper images than they would otherwise. Netflix officials have said that they expect the companies library of 4K videos to grow, adding that the company s future original series will all be shot in 4K.
Netflix raised its subscription price in May by a dollar for new members. But it said that then-current members would continue to pay its former $8 a month rate for two more years. Existing customers who watched 4K videos before the company rolled out its premium plan will continue to be able to access them at their old subscription rate for the next two years, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.
Photo courtesy of Netflix.
