Dolby Vision 2 Rollout Begins on Hisense TVs as Silicon Limits Legacy Sets
Hisense 2026 lineup gets initial firmware update, but hardware constraints restrict the upgraded HDR format on older sets.
Dolby Laboratories Inc. and Hisense Visual Technology Co. have initiated the commercial deployment of Dolby Vision 2, rolling out firmware updates to Hisense’s 2026 smart television lineup to deliver the first market implementation of the next-generation High Dynamic Range (HDR) standard.
The update is landing first on Hisense’s UX, UR9, UR8, and U7 series running either Google TV or Hisense’s proprietary VIDAA operating system. However, the upgrade exposes a strict hardware barrier for display technology: Dolby Vision 2 requires MediaTek Inc.’s Pentonic 800 system-on-chip to run its underlying image processing engines, preventing millions of legacy Dolby Vision televisions from acquiring the new features via software updates.
The deployment marks the first major overhaul of Dolby’s dynamic HDR platform in over a decade, designed to automatically calibrate brightness, contrast, and color on a scene-by-scene basis. While legacy sets will remain backward-compatible and capable of playing Dolby Vision 2 content, older displays will bypass the expanded metadata and upgraded picture-processing commands embedded in the new format.
Dolby’s second-generation format splits capabilities into standard and premium “Max” tiers. The standard implementation features a rebuilt image processing engine and an automated system named Content Intelligence, which interprets scene-specific metadata left by mastering engineers to adjust display parameters for varying content types, such as dark film scenes or high-brightness live sports broadcasting.
The premium Dolby Vision 2 Max designation, featured across the four Hisense series, introduces “Authentic Motion” to eliminate judder without creating artificial frame-smoothing artifacts, alongside “Light Sense 2” ambient lighting integration. The technologies aim to bolster premium TV sales as manufacturers face sluggish consumer upgrade cycles and competition from open-source alternatives like Samsung Electronics Co.’s HDR10+ standard.
Content availability remains a key bottleneck for early adoption. Streaming operators Canal+, Peacock, and iQIYI are currently the only distributors offering content authored specifically for Dolby Vision 2’s enhanced metadata architecture. Dominant global streaming platforms, including Netflix Inc. and Walt Disney Co.’s Disney+ have yet to announce support for the upgraded standard.
Dolby plans to expand the rollout later this year through hardware partnerships with TCL Electronics Holdings Ltd. and TP Vision, which manufactures Philips-branded televisions in European markets.
