Streaming 4K on Dell XPS 13 laptop

comfortably_numb

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Original poster
Pub Member / Supporter
Nov 30, 2011
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Kansas City / Las Vegas
I just bought a new Dell XPS laptop which has the OLED 4K UHD display. Netflix will play 4K movies, but not Vudu, Movies Anywhere, or Amazon Prime. Haven't tried any other services yet. What gives? Kinda a bummer to spend all this money on a 4K laptop that doesn't really do much 4K at all.

Complete specs:

dell.jpg
 
Have you run the latest updates as of yet, for Dell drivers and such? IF that laptop is REALLY new, it's likely to need some revised drivers within the first month or so. I've used Dell for like 15 years now, and the Dell Ryzen 5 model I bought end of 2020, has installed many updated drivers in the year something I've owned it.

Run the Dell SupportAssist software on it at least once per week, it'll tell you if something needs updating.
supportassist.jpg
 
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Some observations:
  • 4K HDR/WCG displays are rare in the computer marketplace
  • 13" is awfully tiny to be worrying about 4K matrices (2.35:1 comes out 4.82" tall)
  • Content owners are justifiably terrified by screen scraping software
 
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13" is awfully tiny to be worrying about 4K matrices (2.35:1 comes out 4.82" tall)

I was concerned about this also, but it's actually 13.4" and the size is not disappointing at all. This laptop is a beautiful machine inside and out, an indulgence of an experience. Truly the finest piece of hardware I've ever owned.
 
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I can watch Amazon Prime 4K on my Win 11 machine, using the Prime Video App from the Microsoft Store.
Yeah, I read an article on that new laptop, it got "Rave" reviews.
 
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I was concerned about this also, but it's actually 13.4" and the size is not disappointing at all.
So a typical movie is 5" tall instead of 4.82". My aging vision hasn't allowed me to put my face that close to a computer display for going on 15 years without prescription bifocal reading glasses. That said, HDR and WCG can benefit everyone (though perhaps not for typical computer uses).

Maybe things will improve somewhat when Microsoft releases Android (not Android TV) for Windows.
 
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From Windows Central, dated July 2020 so not the most current but.

"Prime Video on Windows doesn't support 4K, HDR, or Dolby 5.1 surround sound from what I can tell. When set to "Best" quality, the app states that it's playing in HD. I don't see any audio settings for surround sound like there are in other apps."

From Amazon themselves they say nothing about 4K support, only up to HD for PC streaming

4K on the 13", what do you have the scaling set at? With my 17.3" laptop, I need it to be at least 200%, making 4K useless. If I could have had 100% AdobeRGB with a 1080p display instead of 4K I would have done it.
 
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