In the home theater space, there’s a tendency among some hobbyists to chase perfection. These are people who not only loathe the idea of getting anything less than highest bitrates, but build out elaborate 11-channel Dolby Atmos setups with multiple ceiling satellites. For them, building out a system isn’t just a matter of positioning a few things and plugging them in — there are days of planning, and they may take the “theater” part very literally.
I’ll have more to say about that in a future article, but one smaller example of perfectionism is the insistence on another Dolby format, Vision. It’s still considered the gold standard for HDR (high dynamic range), and will probably hold that title until Vision 2 takes its place. But it occurred to me recently that in a few ways, HDR10+ can actually be better for the average person. Hopefully you’ll see why by the end of this piece.
What’s so special about Dolby Vision?
The peak of the game (if you can play)
First, credit where credit’s due. If you’ve got a mid-range or high-end TV, Dolby Vision may often deliver the best HDR experience you can get. The format has, for instance, been designed to accommodate peak brightness up to 10,000 nits, a level TVs are only now starting to achieve in the real world. That translates into absurdly bright highlights. For a frame of reference, the 3,000 nits on my Apple Watch Ultra 2 is enough to make it readable in the midday sun. If you’ve got a state-of-the-art TV and you’re trying to watch HDR content in a sunlit room, Vision has you covered.
QuizHDR10+ and Dolby Vision
Trivia challenge
Dynamic metadata, tone mapping, and peak brightness — how well do you really know the battle for HDR supremacy?
HDRDisplay TechStreamingStandardsPicture Quality
What key feature distinguishes HDR10+ and Dolby Vision from standard HDR10?
Correct! Both HDR10+ and Dolby Vision use dynamic metadata, meaning tone mapping instructions can change on a scene-by-scene or even frame-by-frame basis. This allows displays to render highlights and shadows far more accurately than static HDR10, which applies a single set of instructions to the entire film.
Not quite. The defining difference is dynamic metadata. Unlike base HDR10, both HDR10+ and Dolby Vision carry tone mapping data that adapts throughout the content, ensuring each scene looks as the creator intended on a wide variety of displays.
Which company developed and licenses the Dolby Vision HDR format?
Correct! Dolby Laboratories, the audio and imaging technology giant, created Dolby Vision. Because it is a proprietary format, manufacturers must pay licensing fees to include Dolby Vision support in their TVs, projectors, and streaming devices — a cost that has influenced some brands to favour alternatives.
Not quite. Dolby Vision is owned and licensed by Dolby Laboratories. The proprietary nature of the format means device makers pay a fee to support it, which is one reason rival formats like HDR10+ exist as royalty-free alternatives.
HDR10+ was developed as a royalty-free alternative to Dolby Vision. Which company is primarily credited with creating it?
Correct! Samsung developed HDR10+ and launched it in 2017, largely in response to the licensing costs associated with Dolby Vision. Samsung made the specification royalty-free and later partnered with Amazon and Panasonic to help grow its adoption across TVs and streaming platforms.
Not quite. HDR10+ was created by Samsung. The company wanted a dynamic metadata HDR format that manufacturers could adopt without paying royalties, and it launched the standard in 2017 alongside partners including Amazon and Panasonic.
What is the maximum peak luminance specification that Dolby Vision supports?
Correct! Dolby Vision’s specification supports peak luminance up to 10,000 nits, far exceeding what current consumer displays can actually achieve. This future-proofed headroom means the format is designed to remain relevant as display technology continues to improve over the coming years.
Not quite. Dolby Vision supports up to 10,000 nits of peak luminance. While no mainstream consumer TV today reaches that level, the generous ceiling ensures the format won’t become technically obsolete as display brightness capabilities continue to advance.
Which major streaming platform was among the first to offer HDR10+ content, helping drive early adoption of the format?
Correct! Amazon Prime Video was an early and enthusiastic adopter of HDR10+, working closely with Samsung to bring the format to streaming audiences. Amazon’s involvement was significant because it gave HDR10+ a high-profile platform at a time when Dolby Vision had a strong lead in streaming content availability.
Not quite. Amazon Prime Video was a key early partner for HDR10+, collaborating with Samsung to bring the format to its streaming library. Netflix, by contrast, has been a strong supporter of Dolby Vision rather than HDR10+.
Dolby Vision IQ is an enhanced version of Dolby Vision that adds which additional capability?
Correct! Dolby Vision IQ uses a TV’s built-in ambient light sensor to adjust the picture’s tone mapping in real time based on the lighting conditions in the viewing environment. This means the image stays optimally calibrated whether you are watching in a darkened home cinema or a bright living room.
Not quite. Dolby Vision IQ enhances the standard format by incorporating ambient light sensing. The TV reads the light level in the room and adjusts tone mapping accordingly, so the picture always looks its best regardless of the environment you are watching in.
What colour bit depth does Dolby Vision use, compared to the 10-bit depth of standard HDR10?
Correct! Dolby Vision supports up to 12-bit colour depth, which allows for over 68 billion possible colours compared to the roughly one billion available with 10-bit HDR10. In practice, most current displays are 10-bit panels, but 12-bit support future-proofs the format for next-generation screens.
Not quite. Dolby Vision supports up to 12-bit colour, enabling a dramatically larger palette than 10-bit HDR10. While most TVs on the market today are 10-bit, the 12-bit specification ensures Dolby Vision has room to grow as panel technology evolves.
Which of the following devices was notably the first smartphone to support Dolby Vision recording, not just playback?
Correct! Apple’s iPhone 12 Pro, launched in 2020, was the first smartphone capable of recording video directly in Dolby Vision HDR. This was a landmark moment for the format, bringing professional-grade HDR capture to a mainstream consumer device and significantly raising the profile of Dolby Vision beyond traditional cinema and television.
Not quite. The Apple iPhone 12 Pro made history in 2020 as the first smartphone to record video natively in Dolby Vision. Apple’s decision to bake this capability into its flagship camera system brought HDR video recording to millions of everyday users for the first time.
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The format also supports up to 12-bit color. This is largely academic, since even a 10-bit gamut is going to contain colors your eyes can’t register, and you can’t yet buy a consumer TV with a native 12-bit panel. Nevertheless, it does allow for the most accurate color processing, since it matches the representation possible on high-end Hollywood studio monitors. That’s 68.7 billion colors, for the record.
Vision’s greatest advantage is one that’s sometimes glossed over: manual adjustments by filmmakers. While both HDR10+ and Vision support dynamic metadata — that is, the ability to adapt on a scene-by-scene or even frame-by-frame basis — the tools for mastering Vision allow studios to control tone mapping very precisely. This doesn’t appear to be an option for HDR10+, so on paper, it’s possible for Vision content to more directly match the capabilities of your TV.
Why HDR10+ may be just as good or better
Talking practical virtues
For a start, HDR10+ is actually on par with Vision in most respects. While it’s frequently claimed that HDR10+’s brightness is capped at 4,000 nits, that’s not true. It can go toe-to-toe with Dolby, up to that 10,000-nit mark I mentioned a moment ago. The source of the 4,000-nit myth may stem from the fact that when the format launched in 2017, that’s what reference panels were limited to. If you’re going to watch a movie on an RGB TV, HDR10+ won’t be holding your highlights back.
There isn’t even a functional limit on color depth. While it’s accurate that HDR10+ is typically presented at 10-bit depth, that’s because there’s not much point to more when your TV can’t handle anything higher, much less your brain. Samsung tells me that it’s already possible to generate 16-bit HDR10+ metadata, which is frankly insane. You might hypothetically see that on screens in the 2030s, when we’re all wearing AR/VR glasses designed to perfectly replicate the real world — but I can’t imagine any benefit to that when you’re sitting down to watch The Godfather for the twelfth time.
Where HDR10+ can actually offer an advantage is in shadow detail. That might sound ridiculous to some of you, given that Vision’s manual authorship allows filmmakers to (in theory) salvage detail in the darkest scenes. In practice, however, many TVs end up crushing this detail anyway, since they don’t have the performance to represent it properly. And many TVs default to modes called Dolby Vision Dark or Dolby Vision Cinema, which work not just on assumptions about performance, but ambient lighting conditions too. You’ll only get the best experience with these modes if you’re watching in a dim or pitch-black room, which doesn’t help if you’re trying to watch My Neighbor Totoro with your kid on a Saturday afternoon.
To be fair, Vision does typically come with fallback Bright or Custom modes you can use. But HDR10+ can potentially be more watchable from the get-go, and the gap with Vision Bright is liable to be small regardless. As I mentioned, both Vision and HDR10+ are dynamic, allowing them to closely adjust to individual scenes or frames. This already lessens the chance of highlights or shadows being out of control, no humans required.
In some circumstances, HDR10+ is better for an even simpler reason: availability. Because Vision is a Dolby standard, it comes with a licensing fee, and not every platform or TV maker considers that fee worth it. You can’t watch YouTube in Vision, for example, and Samsung outright refuses to support the technology, even on TVs costing five or six digits. I do think that Samsung is being unreasonably stingy — but it’s hard to knock it for backing a format that’s open and royalty-free.
Could HDR10+ overtake Vision someday?
The king is dead, long live the king
To put it bluntly, no. Vision had a years-long headstart in the content department, and the Dolby name still carries a lot of prestige. Even without any overwhelming spec advantages, customers recognize the brand from Atmos and decades of earlier audio formats. It’s a name that gets people in the door, and of course the cinephiles are genuinely going to care about that manual refinement. It’s nice knowing that if you’ve paid $2,000 for a TV, Vision will let you see every dollar onscreen.
More significantly, Vision and HDR10+ are both ending their days in the sun. Vision 2 and HDR10+ Advanced were announced in late 2025, and should start appearing on select TVs in 2026, no matter that there isn’t any content mastered for the standards yet.
The real question is which of those standards will reign supreme. Dolby is doubling down on the auteur angle, and reserving some features — primarily enhanced motion smoothing and bi-directional tone mapping — for a higher tier called Vision 2 Max. HDR10+ Advanced doesn’t have that split, but it’s dependent on AI for a lot of its judgment calls. The battle’s outcome is going to depend not just on how valuable either approach is to customers, but how much filmmakers, streaming services, and TV makers skew towards one or the other. There’s a strong possibility that the standards will co-exist permanently. One thing I can guarantee is that even if few studios latch on to Vision 2’s extreme HDR control, Dolby’s not about to surrender without a fight.
