Microsoft today announced Dolby Vision gaming support for its Xbox Series X / S consoles. This feature, which has been in beta testing since May, will now be available in over 100 HDR games. Although Xbox has been supporting HDR10 for many years, Dolby vision gaming will be the first to support dynamic metadata. Microsoft claims this will result in brighter highlights and sharper contrasts, as well as more vibrant colors.
There are over 100 next-generation HDR titles that have Dolby vision optimized for Series X / S today. In the future, you'll see more games such as Halo Infinite taking advantage of DolbyVision, says Katie Slattery (an Xbox program manager at Microsoft).
Microsoft is also working with Dolby in order to add some of the Dolby Vision benefits to existing HDR10 or Auto HDR games. Slattery says Microsoft will bring new visual enhancement capabilities to existing HDR10 or Auto HDR games that use Dolby Vision technology.
Developers have the option to enable Dolby vision in their game engines
Developers have two options: integrate Dolby vision into their game engine, or take advantage of the built in DolbyVision technology within the Xbox development platform. Although games that use Auto HDR don't qualify as DolbyVision games, Microsoft claims they will benefit from the DolbyVision mapping technology within Xbox. This will allow them to display more precise images on DolbyVision TVs.
To take advantage of the new feature on Xbox Series X / S, you will need a compatible DolbyVision TV. Microsoft also recommends enabling automatic low latency mode (ALLM). Dolby Vision works with ALLM, Variable Refresh Rat (VRR) and 120Hz games.
To check if your TV supports Dolby Vision, go to Settings > General > TV and display options > 4K TV Details. If your TV supports Dolby Vision gaming, enable it in Settings > General>> Video Modes > Dolby Vision Gaming. To enable Dolby Vision and 120Hz modes, you may need to update your TV firmware.
