Microsoft has announced that the Xbox Series X and Series S consoles will finally support Dolby Vision gaming from today.
While the next-gen Xbox consoles already supported Dolby Vision for movies and streaming apps, this will be the first time that games will benefit from the HDR format.
For those unfamiliar with the term, Dolby Vision is a dynamic HDR (high dynamic range) video format, which adapts the brightness and colour range of a display to optimise the picture performance of a TV at any given moment. Microsoft suggests it will also allow for better clarity in both bright and dark scenes, so you don’t need to groan the next time you go venturing into a gloomy cave.
Of course, you’ll need to make sure your TV is compatible with Dolby Vision in order to benefit from this new Xbox feature, which you should be able to check in your TV’s picture settings.
Microsoft claims that over 100 games will be compatible with Dolby Vision, although not every title will offer support from day one. Microsoft is yet to reveal the full list of games that will offer support, but has confirmed Halo Infinite will be one of them.
Dolby and Xbox plan to offer support to developers to increase the number of supported games in the future, either via built-in features within the Xbox platform or to directly implement the technology into the game engine.
Dolby Vision will work alongside other next-gen features such as ray tracing and variable refresh rate, but Microsoft has said that it’s working closely with Dolby in order to update firmware support for Dolby Vision when playing games at 120Hz.
The Xbox Series X and S will become the first games consoles to support Dolby Vision, with Sony yet to confirm whether it will be heading over to the PS5 too. But since there is no exclusivity agreement between Microsoft and Dolby, there’s seemingly nothing stopping Sony’s next-gen console embracing Dolby Vision support in the future.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
