Dolby Vision 2 will be available first on some 2026 Hisense TVs

After being announced past September, Dolby Vision 2 is rolling retired to TVs, starting pinch the 2026 Hisense UX, UR9, UR8, and U7. TCL and Philips will beryllium adding Dolby Vision 2 support to prime TVs later this year.

Dolby Vision 2 is simply a caller move HDR format pinch a much powerful image motor and expanded metadata compared to its predecessor, Dolby Vision, which came retired complete a decade ago. It has 2 tiers: Dolby Vision 2 Max, which will beryllium connected this first group of Hisense TVs, and a standard-level Dolby Vision 2.

The Max level includes a mobility smoothing characteristic (Authentic Motion), an updated type of the ambient ray sensor accommodation presently recovered successful Dolby Vision IQ, and immoderate pro settings for fine-tuning reside mapping. Max is for higher-end models, while the guidelines level is intended for little expensive, mainstream TVs that don’t person ambient ray sensors aliases the mobility processing basal to thrust Authentic Motion. Bidirectional reside mapping, section reside mapping, and strength slider are each included pinch the guidelines type of Dolby Vision 2, and will activity connected existing Dolby Vision content.

Like Dolby Vision, some tiers of Dolby Vision 2 require typical hardware; presently the only Dolby Vision 2 SoC is the MediaTek Pentonic 800. Older Dolby Vision TVs without the basal hardware cannot beryllium updated to usage Dolby Vision 2, though they tin still show Dolby Vision 2 contented and will conscionable disregard the other metadata.

When Dolby Vision primitively came out, galore movies and shows were mastered pinch highlights brighter than the TVs of the clip could manage. So the reside mapping motor would return the image accusation and fresh it into the scope the TVs could really reproduce. But now that immoderate TVs tin transcend the brightness of those movie masters (which mostly apical retired betwixt 1,000 and 4,000 nits), Dolby Vision 2’s image motor is capable to activity successful the different direction, too, proportionally increasing the brightness of the contented to afloat utilize a TV’s ray output. Dolby Vision 2 tin besides usage existing metadata to instrumentality different caller features, including section reside mapping and opposition adjustment, to return advantage of the accrued brightness of today’s TVs.

While the thought of taking advantage of your TV’s afloat brightness scope is intriguing, I interest that boosting brightness beyond the level of the maestro could deviate from the measurement the creator wanted their movie to beryllium seen. Blade Runner 2049, for instance, is wide a acheronian movie pinch an mean brightness level of astir 200–250 nits, moreover though it’s successful the HDR format and disposable successful Dolby Vision. That debased brightness gives the movie a circumstantial mood. If I were to play that connected a Hisense UR9, which tin transcend 3,000 nits — aliases a TCL X11L that I measured astatine astir 9,000 nits — would the intended position of the movie beryllium maintained? The premium TV world is each astir about accurately displaying the director’s imagination — what they saw successful their mind and connected the mastering show — successful our surviving rooms aliases location theaters. Once Dolby Vision 2 is readily available, I’m funny to spot really drastically the brightness of a title for illustration Blade Runner 2049 mightiness beryllium affected.

There’s besides an strength power that allows the personification to set the punchiness of the HDR highlights connected their TV depending connected their viewing conditions, preferences, aliases opposition cognition needs. It sounds akin to the HDR level settings connected projectors from companies for illustration JVC and Epson, aliases the HDR strength mounting successful Windows for gaming.

Not each Dolby Vision 2 features will beryllium usable pinch existing Dolby Vision content. The astir interesting, and possibly astir divisive, is Authentic Motion, which lets creatives move connected motion smoothing astatine a desired strength for circumstantial scenes aliases moreover little moments, to minimize judder successful panning shots aliases mobility blur artifacts successful a accelerated action scene, and past move it disconnected again to debar the dreaded soap opera effect successful melodramatic moments. That’s thing that has to beryllium added into the Dolby Vision 2 metadata during post-production; it can’t beryllium put into existing content. “That characteristic possibly much than immoderate different needs to beryllium driven by creatively approved decisions,” Jonas Klittmark, Dolby’s head of business and product, told me. “We don’t want to beryllium making thing up erstwhile it comes to the mobility experience.”

Klittmark besides said while Authentic Motion supersedes the television’s mobility smoothing package settings, you tin ever override that and alternatively usage the television’s fixed mobility smoothing settings — aliases move it disconnected completely. Making it imaginable for those dormant group against immoderate level of mobility smoothing to not usage Authentic Motion aliases the TVs ain settings.

Whether aliases not mobility smoothing metadata is needed is up to the contented creators to determine (and for forum threads to debate). But having the action location to subtly return distant undesired judder aliases mobility artifacts successful circumstantial moments, alternatively of a broad mounting connected the TV aliases thing astatine all, has immoderate merit to me.

According to Chris Turkstra, vice president of location devices astatine Dolby Laboratories, the announced Hisense TVs should beryllium afloat updated pinch Dolby Vision 2 by the extremity of September, pinch the immense mostly complete by the extremity of August. But this is still conscionable the opening of the Dolby Vision 2 rollout. In bid to afloat utilize Dolby Vision 2, the contented needs to beryllium encoded pinch Dolby Vision 2 metadata during the post-production process.

Right now, Peacock, Canal+, and iQiyi will encode pinch Dolby Vision 2, and different studios are moving connected implementing it successful their post-production workflows.

There’s besides the competing HDR10+ move metadata modular that announced its HDR10+ Advanced update past fall, soon aft Dolby. It includes the aforesaid features arsenic Dolby Vision 2 — for illustration enhanced brightness control, section reside mapping, and support for mobility smoothing metadata — and is supported by Samsung and Panasonic (two of the founders of the tech), arsenic good arsenic Hisense, TCL, Amazon Prime Video, and Roku. Even though HDR10+ Advanced is royalty-free (Dolby Vision requires a license), I expect Dolby Vision 2 to person wider and much contiguous adoption, since companies jumped connected Dolby Vision erstwhile it came out.

LG and Sony person not yet announced support for Dolby Vision 2, but I expect some will statesman including it connected immoderate of their 2027 models. (Samsung will ne'er support Dolby Vision because of its finance successful HDR10+). Since Dolby Vision 2 requires caller TVs, it’ll beryllium a agelong while earlier it afloat supplants its predecessor successful the market. I deliberation Dolby Vision 2 will beryllium bully to have, but since we’re still astatine the opening of its implementation, I wouldn’t put disconnected getting a caller TV conscionable for it.