There's a rhetorical device that goes something like, "You thought the police were stupid" (it could also be a question). And that's how I felt after another attempt to reproduce... Prime Video at 1080p on Linux. Why so many articles and this obsession with getting it? For two reasons: it's the only streaming service I have (it comes with Prime) and there aren't any extensions like Netflix 1080p UA who do what they explain on RedditUse Opera's user-agent. In other words, Prime Video is the most problematic.
Currently, I watch Amazon's video service on Firefox and Windows. Windows is the only system that allows me to stream at approximately 6GB/hour, and that's 1080p or even higher (it's said to reach 1440p). On Linux, we're still stuck at around 1.2GB/hour, which is roughly 480p or 540p, which is SD. The problem is the Widevine bandwidth, which On Linux and on uncertified devices, it remains at L3.The one needed to improve quality is L1.
Prime Video at 1080p on Linux will be impossible without Widevine L1
Tinkering with WaydroidAfter installing libndk to translate ARM applications on an x86 machine, I managed to install Prime Video, and that's when I started thinking, "The police were stupid." The article's title was going to be "How to Play Prime Video at 1080p on Linux, Although You Might Not Be Interested" because of all the work involved. Although I wasn't entirely convinced. Prime Video installs, yes; Prime Video plays videos, yes; Prime Video allows you to download content, yes, and among other things, watch everything without ads; but the quality is even worse than what we get in a browser.
There are two problems, one being the aforementioned Widevine L1. As seen in the header screenshot, downloads take up less than 0.5GB/hour at the highest quality, while in the browser it jumps to 1.2GB. Unfortunately, that's just how the apps are. In the best-case scenario, which is the Windows app, downloads take up 2.3GB/hour, corresponding to a quality ranging from lightly compressed 720p to heavily compressed 1080p. That's on a slightly larger screen. On a screen that's presumably smaller because it's Android and lacks L1, the quality leaves much to be desired.
So we have to keep waiting to be able to play Prime Video in 1080p on Linux, although "desperately" would be a more accurate word. Then they'll be surprised when we use alternatives.