For those of you with Ultra HD (3840X2160 screen resolution) displays, watching streaming content from Amazon Prime, here is a little 3-step trick that will get you to a well hidden UHD version of Season 1 of
The Expanse:
1) Make sure that you have an UHD capable device registered to your Amazon Prime account. If in doubt, here is a guide to enabling UHD in Amazon Prime:
https://www.amazon.com/4K-UHD-TV-Resource-Guide/b?ie=UTF8&node=10195182011....I use an inexpensive 55" Vizio UHD Smart TV I bought at Costco for less than $800 in 2015, newer and better models are even cheaper now, around $600.
2) Using an Internet Browser from a PC or an Android mobile device, login to your Amazon Prime account. Then go to the following URL:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N0SMDTT/?tag=vs-avsforum-convert-20You should see the title "The Expanse [Ultra HD]". Now click the button "Add Season to Watchlist".
3) On your UHD Smart TV, start your Amazon Prime app. You should see the UHD version of
The Expanse at the top of your Watchlist, and it should now play for you, provided you have the slightly higher bandwidth needed for UHD streaming. The video resolution will be 3840X2160, aka "4K" or "2160p" and the sound is in Dolby Digital 5.1 format. 4K or UHD streams use advanced Codecs, mine streams just fine over my AT&T ISDN router, at the basic rate with no bandwidth upgrades. YMMV depending upon your ISP and connection and playback device Codec.
Note that the above 4K version of
The Expanse is
not searchable in the Amazon Prime index, either from a browser or from the device app itself, it is simply not part of the index, if you search you will connect to the 1080p resolution files every time, you have to know the location of the UHD version to stream in 4K.
The first two Season 2 episodes of
The Expanse are available in Amazon Prime at the present time in 1080p, behind a paywall. The episodes are $2.99 each or $29.99 for all 13 episodes of Season 2. The live broadcast versions on SyFy are in 1080i format with commercials, which is how I am watching them on my DirecTiVo DVR.
We are looking for the UHD version of Season 2, no news yet.