by Jamison Ashley
|
Reports are coming in that Netflix is testing a new high-end streaming plan called “Ultra” to see whether consumers are willing to pay more for four Ultra HD streams or content in HDR format.
The Ultra plans will cost $16.99 per month and is being tested in two different versions. One version offers four Ultra HD streams, while the existing $13.99 Premium plan would drop from four to two UHD streams. In the second version of the plan, both Premium and Ultra customers have access to four concurrent Ultra HD streams but only Ultra customers would have access to high dynamic range (HDR) content, which provides more vibrant color reproduction and higher contrast. The new test offers were first reported by Italian tech blog TuttoAndroid.net.
According to Cordcutting.com, Netflix is testing two different price points for Ultra: The company’s German site showed different prices (€16.99 and €19.99) depending on the user’s browser. These tests are researching how much consumers value HDR versus four-stream access. Netflix has confirmed the Ultra tests, and says only a subset of customers will be shown the higher-priced options. So you will probably not see these options on your system unless they move forward with the program.
Netflix most recently raised prices in the fourth quarter of 2017. It hiked the two-stream HD tier to $10.99 per month (up from the previous $9.99) and the Premium plan from $11.99 to $13.99 per month. The single-stream, non-HD Basic plan remained unchanged at $7.99.
