I am trying to find out why Amazon is treating me like a second class citizen by refusing to send a HD signal.

We can see that from this thread:
https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...ne-4175651451/
That some users are able to stream in 4k resolution with Linux with no workaround. For them it "just works". One would also think that all the users with Raspberry Pi-based media centers and devices running Kodi are also streaming in HD resolutions.

I have not been so lucky and have been in constant battle to stream at HD resolutions since the year 2011.

So I would like to poll users on whether Amazon Video is working at 720p or higher resolutions on your Linux computers? If you would be so kind as to also list any workarounds you may be using.

As far as I understand it the maximum resolutuion availale under anything but Microsoft Edge is 720.
The "resolution" isn't quite the best way to judge the quality either...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/custo...deId=201422810

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/custo...deId=201648150

I did read where they changed their compression format to reduce bandwidth but your system will have to support the HTML5 player they have fully.

Your battle seems to suggest your ISP or are you using a VPN?

This is my HD streaming history with Amazon:
2011-2012 - Linux worked with 1080p with Adobe Flash on Firefox
2013 - Linux support briefly dropped and I went to a TIVO
2014-2015 - Linux with 1080p working on and off until 2016 with HTML5
2016 - Dec. 2018 - Linux worked consistently with 1080p HTML5
Dec. 2018 To April 1st - Linux worked consistently with 1080p HTML5 with Windows 10 user agent
April 1st to now - 480p with every conceivable attempt

I am also aware of the concept of bitrate but that complicates things too much to relate to other people about their experiences.

We can see from that first page that Linux/Unix OSes are only officially supported with SD resolutions. That language has been present on the Amazon video site for years despite me being able to stream in higher resolutions on and off. It also does not explain why the user "cwizardone" is able to stream in 4K on his Linux computer with no workarounds. It also does not explain why the single reply to this poll at this time indicates they are also able to stream in HD.

You can see from the thread I have referenced that I have been adding software troubleshooting information. These include my attempts to use another computer entirely or run Windows Firefox under Wine. All attempts have failed to produce a HD signal since April 1st.

I could troubleshoot by switching to my backup cellular internet connection but I would need to move some devices around first and I would rather not bother doing that.

I am also proceeding on my hardware-based workaround but I would prefer to just have my Linux laptop working for simplicity.

Have you tried changing your laptop browser's UA string to report Windows or MacOS instead of Linux?

A Windows 10 user agent used to work with Chrome until April 1st. Now any user agent I choose still results in 480p.

I recently setup an Amazon Fire Stick for testing and it plays 1080p perfectly so the problem is not with my internet connection either.

This has nothing to do with UA strings -- this is a dependency upon certain software only present on Windows which is used for high definition content.
As an aside -- just because content is "1080p" does not mean that, in reality, there is anything like that amount of detail present.

what browser and make sure you have h264 h in html5 https://html5test.com/
4k is not an issue after you have h264 working go to setting and set 5800 Kbps for 1920x1080
I am sad the word Microsuck came up. in a linux forum. live linux learn linux.

h264 install it and run firefox will grab it up.
I know this works for real Distro's like Slackware.

Remember font may get tiny with 4k. google it.
if h265 is the codec they are using rebuild the browser with h265 support these are licensed
Libraries you may install them and build them but not distribute them.

Hmm, it seems I may be out of date in my understanding as I can't find the supported resolutions table for Amazon that I recall.

And you will not find it till you have the codec that decompresses the video H264. try the actual Google-Chrome Browser not chromium.
It has all the proprietary codecs built in.

i was mis-rmebering and it's Netflix who require Microsoft Edge for HD content, it was an article like this I was looking for

https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-t...ng-hd-netflix/

Thanks though, I do actually use Google Chrome but was under the impression I wasn't getting HD so will have to look into that (I don't consider 720 as HD).