Samsung and TCL Move Away from Dolby Vision Amid Cost Concerns.

In a strategic shift within the TV industry, major manufacturers like Samsung and TCL have started steering away from supporting Dolby Vision, a premium HDR format, in favor of the royalty-free alternative, HDR10+. Dolby Vision, which offers a high-end visual experience with 12-bit color and dynamic metadata, is widely recognized for its superior picture quality, but it comes at a price. Dolby Laboratories charges manufacturers a licensing fee—approximately $3 per device—to use its technology, a cost that companies like Samsung are reluctant to bear due to their massive sales volumes.

In response, Samsung developed HDR10+ in 2017 to compete with Dolby Vision. While HDR10+ also supports dynamic metadata for enhanced color and contrast, it operates at a 10-bit color depth, which can result in less color precision compared to Dolby Vision’s 12-bit capability. However, this distinction is less noticeable on most consumer TVs, which don’t fully utilize 12-bit color, making HDR10+ a more cost-effective yet visually comparable solution for most viewers.

TCL, a brand known for offering value-driven models, has also leaned toward HDR10+ in some of its lower-cost TVs. While Dolby Vision is still found in TCL’s higher-end products, the switch to HDR10+ in more affordable models allows the company to keep costs down while still delivering an advanced HDR experience.

This move aligns with broader industry trends, as many streaming platforms—such as Amazon Prime—support HDR10+ alongside Dolby Vision. As long as HDR10+ remains free of licensing fees, it will likely continue to gain traction among TV manufacturers seeking to balance cost and quality.

Will This Decision Pay Off for Samsung?

While Samsung’s decision to avoid Dolby Vision has sparked debate, it remains to be seen whether this cost-saving strategy will affect their long-term competitiveness. Some speculate that if other manufacturers or content providers rally around Dolby Vision, Samsung might face pressure to reconsider its stance, especially if HDR10+ does not evolve to support 12-bit color in the future.

For now, however, Samsung and TCL are betting that HDR10+ can offer an equally satisfying viewing experience at a fraction of the cost, leaving Dolby Vision to dominate in the more niche, high-end market.

Dolby Vision vs. HDR10+: A Detailed Comparison

Dolby Vision and HDR10+ are two leading High Dynamic Range (HDR) formats that enhance the viewing experience by improving brightness, contrast, and color accuracy. While both formats are similar in their goals, they differ in several key aspects, including color depth, licensing fees, and industry support. Here’s a breakdown of their major differences:

1. Color Depth and Dynamic Range

• Dolby Vision: Dolby Vision supports up to 12-bit color depth, which translates to around 68 billion colors. This allows for smoother gradients and more accurate color representation, particularly in scenes with subtle color transitions like sunsets or shadows. It also supports up to 10,000 nits of peak brightness, though most consumer TVs max out at much lower brightness levels. The format uses dynamic metadata, meaning it can adjust settings like brightness and color on a scene-by-scene or even frame-by-frame basis, providing a highly refined visual experience.
• HDR10+: HDR10+ offers 10-bit color depth, supporting about 1 billion colors. While this is lower than Dolby Vision, it is still a significant improvement over standard SDR (Standard Dynamic Range). HDR10+ also uses dynamic metadata, allowing for scene-specific adjustments in brightness and contrast. However, the format’s peak brightness is usually capped at 4,000 nits. Despite this, many TVs do not yet reach such high brightness levels, so the practical difference between HDR10+ and Dolby Vision can be minimal for many consumers.

2. Licensing and Cost

• Dolby Vision: One of the main reasons manufacturers like Samsung avoid Dolby Vision is the licensing fee. Dolby Laboratories charges around $3 per device for the use of Dolby Vision. This fee is applied to every TV or device sold with Dolby Vision support, which can add up to significant costs for large manufacturers. This cost can either be absorbed by the manufacturer or passed on to the consumer, leading to higher-priced products.
• HDR10+: HDR10+ is a royalty-free standard. Developed by Samsung in partnership with Panasonic and 20th Century Fox, it was created specifically to avoid the costs associated with Dolby Vision. This makes it a more cost-effective option for manufacturers, which is why brands like Samsung and TCL favor it for many of their models.

3. Industry Adoption and Content Availability

• Dolby Vision: Dolby Vision has broader adoption across various industries, including both content creators and hardware manufacturers. Streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, and Apple TV offer a large selection of Dolby Vision content. Additionally, many high-end TV brands such as LG, Sony, and Vizio support Dolby Vision, making it widely available for premium models. Dolby Vision is also supported by Blu-ray players, gaming consoles like the Xbox Series X/S, and several streaming devices.
• HDR10+: Although HDR10+ is growing in support, its content library is smaller compared to Dolby Vision. Streaming services like Amazon Prime Video offer HDR10+ content, and the format is backed by Samsung, Panasonic, and TCL in their TV ranges. However, some major streaming platforms like Netflix do not support HDR10+ yet. HDR10+ is primarily found in mid-range TVs and streaming devices, but it does not have the same widespread content availability as Dolby Vision.

4. Compatibility and Flexibility

• Dolby Vision: Dolby Vision is more proprietary and requires manufacturers to integrate specific hardware components and software into their devices. It is also backward compatible, meaning content can be downscaled to devices that support only HDR10 or SDR.
• HDR10+: Since it is royalty-free and open source, HDR10+ is more flexible for manufacturers to implement without worrying about licensing constraints. Like Dolby Vision, HDR10+ content is compatible with HDR10 devices, albeit without the dynamic metadata features. This flexibility makes it an attractive option for cost-conscious manufacturers.

5. Real-World Impact on Viewing Experience

• Dolby Vision: With its higher color depth and dynamic metadata, Dolby Vision offers an incredibly refined viewing experience, particularly in scenes with significant changes in lighting or color. The ability to adjust parameters on a frame-by-frame basis leads to more lifelike visuals and better HDR performance in high-end TVs.
• HDR10+: While HDR10+ also uses dynamic metadata, its 10-bit color depth means it can experience more noticeable color banding in extreme cases compared to Dolby Vision. However, for most users, especially on mid-range TVs that don’t fully utilize 12-bit color, the difference in quality might be hard to discern.

Both Dolby Vision and HDR10+ significantly enhance the HDR experience, but their differences come down to cost and performance. Dolby Vision provides the highest possible quality, especially for high-end displays, but comes with licensing fees that can drive up costs for manufacturers and consumers. HDR10+ offers a nearly comparable experience without the added cost, making it a popular choice for more budget-conscious brands and consumers.

While Dolby Vision enjoys broader content support and offers more future-proofing with its 12-bit capability, HDR10+ remains a compelling alternative for those looking for excellent HDR performance without the premium price tag.

Other HDR Formats for TVs:

1. HDR10: The most widely adopted HDR format, which uses static metadata. It supports up to 10-bit color depth and is the baseline HDR standard found on most TVs.
2. HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma): Developed by the BBC and NHK, HLG is designed for broadcast TV. It doesn’t require metadata, making it easier to implement in live broadcasts.
3. Advanced HDR by Technicolor: A lesser-known HDR format used for live broadcasts and production workflows. It is backward compatible with SDR displays.
4. SL-HDR1: Developed for live broadcasts, SL-HDR1 uses HDR metadata to enhance SDR signals, making it suitable for backward compatibility with SDR TVs.

Sound Formats for TVs:

1. Dolby Atmos: A surround sound format that creates a 3D audio experience by allowing sound to move around the room, including overhead, enhancing immersion in movies and games.
2. DTS:X: Similar to Dolby Atmos, DTS:X offers object-based audio but gives more flexibility in speaker placement. It also allows for manual adjustment of dialogue levels.
3. Dolby Digital: A standard 5.1 surround sound format, often found in home theaters and streaming services.
4. DTS-HD Master Audio: A high-definition audio format that supports lossless audio, typically used in Blu-ray discs.
5. Dolby TrueHD: Another lossless audio format used on Blu-ray discs, offering high fidelity audio similar to DTS-HD Master Audio.
6. PCM (Pulse Code Modulation): A raw, uncompressed audio format used for delivering high-quality sound in two-channel stereo.
7. AAC (Advanced Audio Codec): Commonly used for streaming and broadcasting, AAC is a compressed audio format but offers better quality than MP3 at lower bitrates.
8. MP3: One of the most well-known compressed audio formats, though its quality is lower compared to AAC or lossless formats like Dolby TrueHD.

These formats enhance the overall audiovisual experience by providing better color depth, brightness, and immersive sound across different types of media and devices.

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