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Dolby Vision 2 will be available first on some 2026 Hisense TVs
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Dolby Vision 2 launches on select 2026 Hisense TVs, bringing a new HDR engine and tiered feature set.
The format can only be decoded on devices that integrate the MediaTek Pentonic 800 SoC, so firmware and hardware teams must target that chip for full support. New scene-by-scene optimization and motion-smoothing features require updated metadata handling, affecting both encoding pipelines and playback software. Legacy Dolby Vision hardware will continue to work but will ignore the extra metadata, limiting feature availability.
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Only TVs with the MediaTek Pentonic 800 processor can fully implement Dolby Vision 2; older models will fall back to standard Dolby Vision.
Dolby Vision 2 is split into a Max tier with Authentic Motion and enhanced ambient-light control, and a base tier offering bidirectional and local tone mapping plus an intensity slider.
Advanced features rely on new Dolby Vision 2 metadata, so existing Dolby Vision content cannot benefit without re-authoring.
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The rollout starts with Hisense's 2026 UX, UR9, UR8, and U7 panels, making them the first devices to support Dolby Vision 2. This support hinges on the inclusion of the MediaTek Pentonic 800 SoC, which provides the necessary processing power for the new HDR engine. Engineers working on TV firmware will need to integrate the SoC's SDK and ensure the driver stack can parse the expanded metadata. Devices lacking this chip will continue to display Dolby Vision content but will ignore the new data fields, effectively disabling the added capabilities.
Dolby Vision 2 introduces two capability levels. The Max tier adds Authentic Motion smoothing, an updated ambient-light sensor algorithm, and professional tone-mapping controls, while the base tier supplies bidirectional tone mapping, local tone mapping, and an intensity slider. Implementing the Max tier requires additional sensor integration and motion-processing pipelines, increasing firmware complexity and potentially hardware cost. The base tier can be deployed on less expensive panels that lack ambient-light sensors or the motion engine, offering a path for mid-range models.
From a content-creation perspective, the format brings a new algorithm that optimizes each scene, as highlighted by the Engadget feed. This means that mastering workflows must generate Dolby Vision 2 metadata for each frame or scene, a step not required for legacy Dolby Vision. Playback software must therefore be updated to read and apply this per-scene data, and to expose user controls for the intensity slider and motion smoothing. Existing Dolby Vision assets can still be shown, but they will not benefit from the new scene-level adjustments.
The requirement for new metadata also creates a compatibility boundary. Content that was authored for the original Dolby Vision will display on Dolby Vision 2 hardware, but features like Authentic Motion will be unavailable because they depend on metadata that was never embedded. Engineers must therefore plan for dual-path handling: a fallback to standard Dolby Vision processing when the extra data is absent, and full processing when it is present. This duality adds branching logic to the video pipeline and may affect performance budgeting.
While Hisense leads the launch, the article notes that TCL and Philips will add support later in the year. This staggered adoption suggests that ecosystem tools, SDKs, testing suites, and certification processes, will evolve throughout the year. Teams developing cross-brand firmware or content distribution platforms should monitor the upcoming releases to ensure their pipelines remain compatible across all Dolby Vision 2-enabled devices.
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