Sorry, home theater fans – Dolby Vision 2 HDR isn’t confirmed for 4K Blu-ray or projectors yet
At IFA 2025, I had a chance to speak to Dolby about the launch of Dolby Vision 2 and Dolby Vision 2 Max.
One of the burning question I naturally had was naturally around support outside of TVs, because this wasn’t mentioned in Dolby’s original information. And right now, Dolby’s being cagey, but isn’t ruling anything out.
When asked directly about devices beyond TVs – including the best 4K Blu-ray players and the best projectors, but also devices like iPhones, which have original Dolby Vision support – we got a response from Dolby’s Aaron Dew, Senior Product Manager, Home Entertainment. He said: “There’s a lot of other kinds of displays, and there’s more to talk about in the future. This week we’re talking about TV,” but also hinted, “You won’t get bored!”
I’m not too worried about projectors – as they become more like TVs, they increasingly use the same kind of processing chips as TVs, which means they could unlock access to Dolby Vision 2 by using a new MediaTek chip with support.
We might see a slower level of adoption than in TVs, but I expect it to arrive – especially given how great the results can be when watching Dolby Vision 2 on displays with limited brightness, at a similar level to what you’d get from a projector.
The question of 4K Blu-ray players is a lot more complicated, though. The problem is that new ones just aren’t coming out very often. Ironically, this year we’ve had three – a new Sony model that’s basically just an older model with streaming features removed, and then very recently a couple of high-end models from Magnetar made with audiophiles in mind – but otherwise they’re few and far between.
The model we rate the most highly, the Panasonic DP-UB820, just turned seven years old, for example. Even if Dolby Vision 2 starts being included on discs, will the players be able to do anything with it? Will Dolby be able to persuade the manufacturers to update these machines?
I can’t say I’m optimistic, but who knows – Dolby Vision 2 Max has some features of interest to videophiles, including Authentic Motion to eliminate judder, and bi-directional tone-mapping to help ensure picture accuracy on the brightest TVs, including the latest high-end options among the best OLED TVs. And videophiles love 4K Blu-ray, so maybe there’ll be enough interest.
I doubt we’ll hear anything about it this year, though – my guess is that CES 2026 is next best chance to hear about any future steps for Dolby Vision 2, including more information about which TVs will support it, and whether LG will change its stance of rejecting it.
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At IFA 2025, I had a chance to speak to Dolby about the launch of Dolby Vision 2 and Dolby Vision 2 Max. One of the burning question I naturally had was naturally around support outside of TVs, because this wasn’t mentioned in Dolby’s original information. And right now, Dolby’s…
