What’s the difference between HDR10+ vs Dolby Vision?

Several things impact the quality of the image you see on your TV, from the number of pixels on the screen (resolution) to the inbuilt display technology (LED, OLED, QLED and others) and backlighting. There’s another aspect, though, that’s sometimes overlooked: the playback technology.

In this article, we look at what playback technology does, and compare the two options used in most TVs you’ll buy today: Dolby Vision and HDR10+.

Playback technology is essentially the software that optimises colours and contrasts in shows and movies for vibrancy and realism. It works in tandem with the TV’s display technology ‘hardware’ - the screen itself - to present colours and contrast in the most true-to-life manner.

Playback technology started to gain momentum when High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging techniques were first applied to high definition televisions (HDTV) in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Since then, it has undergone significant advancements, and today, the two primary players are Dolby Vision and HDR10+. Televisions that support these technologies are considered to be HDR TVs.

Dolby Vision and HDR10+ are very similar in their functions, using dynamic metadata (specific display information) to optimise colour, contrast and brightness, scene-by-scene. HDR10, the predecessor of HDR10+, used static metadata to set the maximum brightness and luminescence once at the beginning of the content, rather than scene-by-scene.

Whichever of these two playback technologies your TV uses, it enables it to deliver a more nuanced and immersive viewing experience than an older TV using standard dynamic range (SDR) playback technology.

While both Dolby Vision and HDR10+ play the same role, they do have some slight distinctions. When used to create content, Dolby Vision supports a higher peak brightness (measured in ‘nits’), which provides an extra layer of realism in scenes with extreme lighting conditions, like bright skies or dark shadows. Content filmed using this technology is optimised to display at its best on TVs with Dolby Vision playback, though it will also come very close in quality when played on HDR10+ TVs.

If, for example, a show filmed in Dolby Vision was played on a TV with Dolby Vision playback, and on another TV with otherwise identical specs but HDR10+ playback, the telly with Dolby Vision may provide a slightly superior viewing experience. Conversely, content filmed in HDR10+ may display slightly more as intended on TVs with HDR10+ playback.

The difference, however, is that Dolby Vision's early adoption and partnerships with major studios and streaming services have positioned it as a leading HDR format for premium content. Content creators for streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ often produce HDR content using Dolby Vision technology. This makes it likely that more, though by no means all, of the shows and movies you want to watch will be optimised for Dolby Vision playback.

Meanwhile, HDR10+ does have the advantage of being an open standard HDR format, which means that any manufacturer can implement the technology in their TVs without having to pay the type of fees involved in licensing Dolby Vision. Having said this, Dolby Vision is not exclusive to high-end TVs, with entry level models from brands such as Hisense and TCL using Dolby’s playback system.

Whether you're diving into the latest Dolby Vision content on your Samsung TV or enjoying HDR10+ gaming on your Sony OLED Android, the playback technology is working away to optimise your experience.

For most people, the type of playback technology in a TV will not be the main factor influencing which model they buy. However, if all other factors between two models are equal, a preference for Dolby Vision over HDR10+, or vice versa, may just sway you.

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