Dolby Vision 2 promises a new era for high-end HDR with AI upgrades

Dolby Vision has been a cornerstone of HDR content on TVs for over a decade, and now the next generation of it has finally arrived.

Dolby has officially announced Dolby Vision 2, an enhanced version of its HDR technology that leverages the advancements of modern-day TVs and offers new AI tools. Some of the highlights include a redesigned image engine, Content Intelligence, which uses AI to “authentically and automatically” enhance the picture quality on your TV, and Authentic Motion.

“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,” Dolby said in a press release.

Content Intelligence better adapts your TV to what you’re watching

Precision Black will help improve the clarity of images that are “too dark”

The foundation of Dolby Vision 2 is based on Dolby’s new image engine, which it says is “a redesigned and even more powerful image engine.” One of the building blocks of this new engine is a feature called Content Intelligence, which utilizes AI to automatically optimize your TV’s picture quality based on the content you’re watching. Content Intelligence has three primary tools to achieve this: Precision Black, Light Sense, and Sports and Gaming Optimization.

Precision Black is designed to minimize frustration over images during shows or movies that are “too dark.” Dolby says Precision Black will make scenes like this clearer by “improving clarity,” but in a way that does not compromise the artistic intent of the filmmakers. So if you have ever struggled sometimes with scenes being too dark while watching content in HDR, it seems like Precision Black is here to prevent that.

Light Sense is a key part of Content Intelligence that adjusts your TV’s picture quality using “advanced ambient light detection” and reference data from the content source. Its goal is to make images brighter in well-lit rooms and darker in rooms with less light. Dolby describes Light Sense as a way to “fine-tune picture quality” and create an “ideal viewing experience.”

Additionally, Sports and Gaming Optimization, included with Content Intelligence, will bring several enhancements for this content type, such as new white point adjustments and improved motion controls.

Dolby also notes that, in addition to Content Intelligence, Dolby Vision 2 features new tone-mapping capabilities. This includes bi-directional tone mapping, which allows creators to maximize the benefits of today’s high-performance TVs, such as higher brightness, sharper contrast, and more deeply saturated colors.

Finally, one last feature Dolby highlighted is Authentic Motion, which it describes as a “creative driven motion control tool” that allows artists to reduce unwanted judder on a shot-by-shot basis while still maintaining a cinematic look. Since motion smoothing is so controversial among filmmakers, it will be interesting to see how this feature performs and if creators actually adopt it.

There are two versions of Dolby Vision 2

Dolby Vision 2 Max offers more features on higher performing TVs

Dolby

Dolby Vision 2 will debut first on upcoming Hisense TVs, which are powered by a MediaTek Pentonic 800 chip — the first silicon chipset to include Dolby Vision 2. While it hasn’t been announced which TV brands will follow after Hisense, given the fact that big brands like LG, TCL, and Sony have models that support Dolby Vision, there is a good chance we can expect to see a lot of announcements about TVs with Dolby Vision 2 later in the year and early next year, especially during CES 2026 in January.

Another interesting tidbit about Dolby Vision 2 is that Dolby has decided to make two different versions of it for TV manufacturers: Dolby Vision 2 and Dolby Vision 2 Max. Dolby Vision 2 is the standard version, which includes the “core next-generation capabilities made possible through the new Dolby Image Engine and Content Intelligence.” While Dolby Vision 2 Max, on the other hand, will offer more premium features on the “highest performing TVs” that leverage their full capabilities.

If you’re worried that your current TV, which supports Dolby Vision, might suddenly become obsolete due to Dolby Vision 2, don’t be. It won’t affect your ability to watch Dolby Vision content in the future; you’ll just miss out on the additional features Dolby Vision 2 offers, such as Content Intelligence.

Overall, Dolby Vision 2 appears to be a promising advancement for Dolby’s HDR technology, and its new AI features under Content Intelligence, such as Precision Black and Light Sense, seem genuinely beneficial. However, since we haven’t yet seen them tested thoroughly yet, it’s too soon to determine if they will meet expectations. Authentic Motion is the feature that raises my eyebrows the most, mainly due to how much I hate motion smoothing, so it will be interesting to see if and how creators use it.