Microsoft announced in September last year that its new Xbox Series X and S consoles will receive in-game support for the high-end Dolby Vision dynamic format at some point in 2021. It has now been confirmed that the company is already living up to that promise.
Xbox Series X and S owners in the console’s Alpha test ring reported that, following the latest update (numbered 2104) sent to their consoles, some S / X series games were played in Dolby Vision on compatible TVs.
I checked in at Microsoft after a few enthusiastic testers from the Alpha X / S series (including the Twitter user) @ jujackson79, who provided other useful information for this article) began posting on social media about what they saw on their Dolby Vision TVs, and the company confirmed the development with the following statement:
“As we announced last year, we are excited to bring Dolby Vision gaming support to our new Xbox consoles in 2021. The feature is currently being tested and we will have more to announce in terms of general availability and functionality soon.”
Dolby Vision support now appears on some Xbox Series X and S titles for Microsoft members … [+]
Photo: Microsoft
Alpha Ring users report that Dolby Vision currently appears to be supported by four AAA triple titles: Border countries 3, Gears 5, Wreckfest and Halo Master Chief Collection.
Given that Dolby Vision seems to be included in the title code, rather than being something that the console can add to every game you play, I think having four high-profile titles that support it at launch is quite encouraging. You definitely have to hope for the future Halo Infinite will receive Dolby Vision support if he gets older now Hello MCC it runs and experience suggests that Microsoft always wants to make sure every Gears title pushes the technical envelope.
Initial reports from Alpha Ring players suggest that the brightness, blackness, and color saturation of Dolby Vision games look more refined than in their original HDR10 shapes. As I would expect based on the impact of Dolby Vision (which, among other things, adds additional information to the HDR stream to help compatible TVs provide more accurate and dynamic images) on video sources.
Microsoft cannot confirm at this time when the Dolby Vision game update will be released on all Xbox Series X / S consoles; the final release date will ultimately depend on how many potential problems with it are discovered during the current public testing phase. But you have to think now that it will arrive for everyone in the first half of 2021.
Dolby Vision can provide more color accuracy, improved brightness and contrast with compatible ones … [+]
Photo: Dolby
The timing of Dolby Vision’s arrival on the latest Microsoft consoles couldn’t be better for LG’s official EMEA Xbox Series X TV partner, which has just started launching Dolby Vision 2021 compatible OLED TVs (my review of OLED65G1 can be found here). Although, by the same token, it provides another reminder that Microsoft’s Xbox Series X TV partner for the US and Canada, Samsung, does not support Dolby Vision on any of its TVs.
Find out more from me about Dolby Vision Series X / S games in the coming weeks.
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