Dolby Vision 2 will be great, but I’m not buying a TV for it

I have to admit, I didn’t expect Dolby Vision to have a successor, as I just thought of it as a way of enhancing picture quality and little else. Dolby shocked me with the announcement of another iteration, and it goes beyond picture quality. Some of the features of Dolby Vision 2 include the ability to fine-tune the brightness of your screen automatically, and it’ll give creators more ability to get the picture the way they want it. After some early reservations, I think it’s a sizable upgrade from what we have now.

It’ll take a while for Dolby Vision 2 to start rolling out, and even when it does, I don’t think I’ll be among the early adopters. I’m confident Dolby Vision 2 will be worth it for people who splurge for it, but I’m fine with waiting around. Despite Dolby Vision being my favorite HDR format, there are still many 4K Blu-ray discs that haven’t even adopted it. HDR10, the default format, is still a big difference over regular SDR, and once we get past that, I wonder if it’s just diminishing returns.

I’m not upgrading to Dolby Vision 2 just yet

I’ll wait and see if it’s worth it

Dolby Vision 2 is being positioned as a premium upgrade, and it’s not going to be readily available even when it comes out. Dolby says it’ll be on Hisense TVs first, and to be honest, that’s not a TV brand that’s even on my radar. I’m not sure if it’s an outright software update or if it’s something I’ll need to upgrade my TV for. If that’s the case, then I can see myself waiting quite a while. I’m not in the market for a new TV, and I’m perfectly happy with how Dolby Vision works currently with my setup.

Admittedly, I don’t have the greatest TV — a Sony X90J — but it’s perfectly serviceable for what I need it to be. It handles 120 FPS for PS5 and Xbox Series X, and it supports regular Dolby Vision. These are two things I was looking for in a TV when I was in the market for one a few years ago. TVs have come a lot further since that point, and with the likes of OLED and Mini-LED gaining ground, there are plenty of upgrades I can make. Dolby Vision 2 will only sweeten the pot, but I’m still willing to wait it out until I see how Dolby Vision 2 performs in the real world.

Dolby hasn’t let me down yet, with either Atmos or Vision, so I don’t have a reason to not trust them. Seeing the initial blog post left me with a lot of questions, but I’m starting to see there’s more good than anything. I believe it could’ve been explained better to the general audience, and that’s still largely the case. In a break from how things currently work, Dolby will be introducing two tiers of Dolby Vision 2. The first one will be available on all TVs that support the format, while the second tier, Max, will be on high-end models. I don’t know what this entails just yet, but I hope it’s not a case of the more expensive TVs getting much better software because that’s a slap in the face to owners who can’t afford to spend that much. It’d be especially disappointing considering Dolby Vision, the way it is right now, just works whether you spend $1000 or $3000. Of course, your screen matters significantly, but that doesn’t change the fact that the software is still the same.

Separate tiers are annoying, and it’s another reason to wait

I need to know what I’m buying

It’s way too early to tell what the difference between Dolby Vision 2 and Dolby Vision 2 Max is, and that’s another reason to slow down and wait to see what’s on the horizon. We could run into a situation where Max far surpasses the regular Dolby Vision 2, and it makes more sense to save up some cash and buy a TV that supports the better format. Of course, that could end up not being the case, and it’s something I’d be very hopeful of.

Dolby Vision 2 Max sounds like it will specifically be for high-end displays, so it could be a matter of the low-end models not having any reason to have Dolby Vision 2 as there are no improvements to be made. That would be the best case scenario for me, but I’d still feel left out knowing I could get more from my Dolby Vision. As it stands right now, I’m just not going to be in the market for a new TV for at least a few more years. This means I’m willing to wait it out and see how the format matures. When new software comes out, there’s a decent chance of problems, so it pays to wait it out sometimes.

I’m a fan of new tech becoming available for everybody at an affordable price, and it seems like Dolby is meeting that standard in a roundabout way. Sure, there’s a better version of the format locked away behind more expensive TVs, but having Dolby Vision 2 is better than not having it. Considering how good regular Dolby Vision already is, I imagine the base Vision 2 will be an increase, and if that’s what the mainstream consumer is getting, I think it’ll be perfectly fine.

Despite all this optimism, I don’t think anybody should go out and buy a new TV as soon as Dolby Vision 2 releases. It’ll be worth waiting around and seeing if all of these promised upgrades end up having a noticeable impact. If it’s just a small leap ahead, I can see a lot of people being fine with their current TVs. Even if it’s bigger, I can’t envision people rushing out to dump their expensive TVs in favor of one that supports Dolby Vision 2. This could all end up being a moot point if Dolby Vision 2 is a software upgrade, but that hasn’t been shown to be the case. Either way, I’m excited to see the future of Dolby Vision 2.