Dolby Laboratories is attempting to raise the bar again with Dolby Vision 2, the next evolution in HDR picture quality. Leading the charge, Hisense will be the first TV brand to bring Dolby Vision 2 to its premium RGB-MiniLED TVs, while CANAL+ has confirmed content support for the new format. Building on over a decade of Dolby Vision integration, Dolby Vision 2 has been engineered to deliver sharper, brighter, and more lifelike images, advancing the standard for TV picture quality across all screens—but probably not that $3,500 OLED TV you just purchased.
If you’ve shopped for a TV recently, you’ve probably seen HDR mentioned in almost every review or news article—but what exactly is it? HDR, or High Dynamic Range, is a technology that lends images more contrast, more detail in bright and dark scenes and a wider color palette. The goal of HDR is to bring display devices closer to what your eyes see in real life. Dolby Vision is a version of something called “dynamic HDR,” which adjusts the dynamic range of what you’re watching to precisely match the capabilities of your TV or projector, allowing a display to preserve the details in bright clouds without losing details in shadowy scenes. Dolby Vision aims to set a standard for TV picture quality with frame-by-frame dynamic metadata that optimizes every scene.
Now, Dolby Vision 2 takes that further, promising sharper contrast, more vivid colors, and smarter performance across different TV sizes—meaning what you see on your screen will look “closer to reality” than ever before, This sounds great as marketing copy, but how that actually translates to reality in your living room or dedicated home theater space remains to be seen.
What Is Dolby Vision? Understanding HDR’s Premium Picture Technology
As Chris Boylan covered in “WTF is HDR?” High Dynamic Range is a feature of Ultra HD (4K and 8K) content and TVs that lets displays show a wider range of colors and brightness. That means images can look brighter, more vibrant, and far more lifelike. HDR comes in two flavors: static HDR, which applies one set of brightness and color settings to the whole video, and dynamic HDR, which adjusts those settings scene by scene—or even frame by frame. Dolby Vision falls into the dynamic HDR camp, giving TVs a much smarter, more precise way to render every moment.
HDR (High Dynamic Range) is all about showing a bigger difference between the darkest blacks and the brightest whites—and everything in between. The “capture” happens in cameras and mastering studios when movies and TV shows are made. The “reproduce” happens on your display—TV, monitor, or projector. HDR only works if it’s in both the content and the screen—it’s a partnership.
Dolby Vision also handles WCG (Wide Color Gamut), going all the way up to the REC.2020 color standard with up to 12-bit precision. If HDR is about brightness, WCG is about color. The more colors and brightness levels your display can reproduce, the more lifelike and dynamic the picture will look—closer to what your eyes actually see in the real world.
You’ll find Dolby Vision in premium movie theaters, usually paired with Dolby Atmos in Dolby Cinema, and it’s also made its way home via high-end TVs, monitors, projectors, streaming services, and Ultra HD Blu-rays. HDR content is everywhere now—from Netflix to Disney+—and nearly all 4K or Ultra HD TVs support some form of it. But not all HDR is created equal, and many “HDR TVs” still fall short of delivering a truly dynamic, lifelike picture.
Why Dolby Vision 2 Matters: The Next Step in HDR Evolution
Dolby Vision 2 runs on a completely redesigned, more powerful image engine that pushes your TV further than before. Paired with Dolby Vision’s content ecosystem, it makes everything—from blockbuster movies and weekly live sports to games—look sharper, brighter, and more detailed. New creative tools mean content will look even more impressive on Dolby Vision 2 displays. As John Couling, SVP of Entertainment at Dolby Laboratories, puts it:
“We’ve reached an inflection point where TV technology has dramatically changed while artists continue to demand even more innovative tools. Dolby Vision 2 redefines how we think of Dolby Vision to unleash the full capabilities of modern TVs while giving artists unprecedented opportunities to push their creative boundaries further than ever before.”
So far, Dolby hasn’t offered much in the way of hard detail on what Dolby Vision 2 actually does differently. The company talks about big-picture upgrades but keeps the specifics pretty vague.
Take Precision Black—it’s supposed to keep shadow detail clear and prevent images from looking too dark when watching Dolby Vision content. Sounds good, but we don’t know how it works beyond Dolby pointing to “better AI and processing” through its new Content Intelligence and Next-Gen Dolby Image Engine toolkits. No technical breakdown yet.
The same story applies to Light Sense, which is designed to adapt a TV’s performance based on your viewing conditions. If that rings a bell, it should—Dolby Vision IQ already does something similar. Dolby says this will be improved in Dolby Vision 2, but again, the “how” remains a mystery.
There are also optimizations for live sports, including white point adjustments and motion control, both aimed squarely at making broadcasts look sharper and more natural in real time.
The feature that’s really grabbing attention—at least for videophiles—is Authentic Motion. Think of it as Dolby Vision for motion. Instead of relying on the TV’s motion-smoothing settings—which often ruin films by turning 24fps movies into that dreaded “soap opera effect”—Authentic Motion lets filmmakers tweak motion shot by shot at the mastering stage. Those adjustments are then passed to the TV via Dolby Vision 2, so the picture moves naturally only when it needs to, without TVs overstepping and messing with artistic intent.
Dolby calls it “the world’s first creative-driven motion control tool,” promising scenes that feel cinematic without the unwanted judder—or the overcooked artificial smoothness that makes you question your life choices when watching a classic movie. If it works as advertised, it could finally fix the one place where Filmmaker Mode has always struggled: keeping motion authentic without forcing TVs to do the heavy lifting—and screwing it up—but only expect to see that feature on TVs utilizing the premium variant of Dolby Vision 2 called Dolby Vision 2 Max.
Who’s Jumping on Dolby Vision 2? (Hint: Not Many Yet)
Hisense is first out of the gate, bringing Dolby Vision 2 to its flagship 116-inch RGB-MiniLED TV, powered by the new MediaTek Pentonic 800 with MiraVision™ Pro PQ Engine—the first silicon chip to integrate Dolby Vision 2.
“Dolby Vision 2 jointly with Hisense RGB-MiniLED Technology, can not only deliver dramatically astonishing picture, but also increase the potential of TVs with ultra-wide color and ultra-high brightness, which haven’t been possible until today,” said Sonny Ming, GM of Hisense TV Product Marketing.
And while Hisense is a solid brand to kick things off—they sell millions of TVs worldwide every year—the real question is how deep this goes. Will Dolby Vision 2 stay locked to their top-tier sets, or eventually trickle down through the rest of the lineup? And what about other manufacturers? Don’t hold your breath for Samsung—they still refuse to play nice with Dolby Vision at all. But maybe this means we’ll see an upgraded version of HDR10+ soon (HDR10+ Pro, anyone?).
Meanwhile, CANAL+ is the first media and entertainment group to jump on board, promising Dolby Vision 2 across movies, shows, and live sports. Great for French subscribers—but let’s be honest, CANAL+ isn’t exactly a household name in North America. Still, the move shows that content adoption is coming, even if the rollout looks more like a cautious trickle than a flood.
“This partnership with Dolby reflects CANAL+’s pioneering spirit of innovation… With the launch of Dolby Vision 2—across movies, series, and live sports—that experience reaches breathtaking new heights,” said Stéphane Baumier, CTO of CANAL+.
What We Still Don’t Know About Dolby Vision 2
Which TVs will support Dolby Vision 2?
The obvious first question: which TVs are actually getting it? So far, the only confirmed launch partner is Hisense, but even there, no specific models outside of the 116UX RGB-MiniLED 4K TV ($24,999 at Amazon) have been named. Until we know whether Dolby Vision 2 is locked to their flagship sets or something broader, it’s a wait-and-see game.
As for the rest of the industry—LG and Sony have long backed Dolby Vision and Panasonic is on-board as well, so they’re all natural candidates, but nothing official yet. TCL could also be in the mix given their history of supporting Dolby Vision, even in their more affordable sets. Samsung, on the other hand, is still digging in with HDR10+ and continues to ignore Dolby Vision altogether, so don’t expect them to change course anytime soon.
Is Dolby Vision 2 backwards compatible?
That’s the second big question: can today’s TVs be upgraded to support it, or will it only run on next-gen sets with new chipsets built for Dolby Vision 2? Based on Dolby’s release, it looks like new hardware will be required, which is not great news if you just dropped thousands on a flagship OLED like the Sony Bravia 8 II, LG G5, or Panasonic Z95B—all sets that were part of the Value Electronics TV Shoot-out judged by Chris Boylan and crew. Bottom line: if you own any of those recent five-star TVs, don’t expect Dolby Vision 2 to show up via a firmware update.
Dolby Vision 2 and Dolby Vision Max?
As if HDR standards weren’t already confusing enough, Dolby is now splitting things into two new “tiers”: Dolby Vision 2 and Dolby Vision 2 Max. The only real explanation Dolby has offered is that Max “delivers the best picture on the highest performing TVs” and comes with “additional premium features“—including Authentic Motion that we explained rather crudely above.
Translation: if you want the absolute best Dolby has to offer, you’ll need to shell out for the most expensive TVs. Everyone else? You’ll get the “standard” Dolby Vision 2 experience and probably a sense of FOMO.
We contacted Dolby for additional comments on the announcement but had received no response at publication time.
The Bottom Line
Having no advance briefings on the topic, we were as surprised as everyone else about the Dolby Vision 2 announcement. And with just a single TV maker and a fairly obscure studio on-board at launch, it feels a little premature. It’s almost as if Dolby had to get this news out before some competitor beat them to the punch. Will Dolby Vision 2 be the “next big thing” in consumer display technology and in consumer media? Only time will tell.