HDR10 vs Dolby Vision vs HDR10+: what the formats change, and which TVs have which

Every HDR TV supports HDR10, and most also carry a second logo: Dolby Vision, HDR10+ or both. They’re less different than the marketing suggests. All three describe the same kind of video signal; they differ in the instructions that travel with it, and in who licenses them.

The three formats side by side

The fourth format, HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma), is for broadcast: no metadata at all, and it degrades gracefully on SDR sets. Every TV we list supports it.

What metadata does, and why “dynamic” helps

HDR video is graded on a mastering display, usually far brighter than your TV. The PQ signal describes absolute brightness, up to 10,000 nits, so a TV that can show 800 nits has to compress everything above its limit. That compression is called tone mapping.

• With HDR10, the TV gets one description of the whole film: the mastering display’s range and the brightest pixel anywhere in it. It has to pick a single tone curve that copes with the brightest scene, so a dark scene may be dimmed or flattened to make room for highlights that aren’t even in it.
• With Dolby Vision or HDR10+, the TV gets a description of each scene. A night scene keeps its shadow detail; a sunlit one compresses highlights only as much as it must. The HDR10+ whitepaper describes static tone mapping as applying “the same adaptation across an entire piece of content”, and dynamic metadata as the fix.

Two practical consequences:

1. The dimmer the TV, the more dynamic metadata helps. A budget LCD has to tone map nearly everything; a 2,000-nit Mini LED or a bright OLED has to tone map much less. On the brightest TVs, HDR10 and Dolby Vision versions of a film can look very close.
2. Many TVs do their own dynamic tone mapping on HDR10, analysing each frame themselves (LG calls it Dynamic Tone Mapping). That narrows the gap further, though it’s the TV’s guess rather than the colorist’s instructions.

Which current TVs support which format

From the manufacturers’ spec sheets: LG and Sony support Dolby Vision but not HDR10+; Samsung supports HDR10+ but not Dolby Vision; TCL and Hisense support both. The LG QNED85A is the exception among the lines we list: HDR10 and HLG only. The full brand-by-brand list is in TVs with Dolby Vision.

Where you’ll see each format

• Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+ and Max publish many titles in Dolby Vision, usually on their top plans; on other TVs they send HDR10.
• Prime Video uses HDR10+ for much of its own content.
• UHD Blu-ray discs always carry HDR10; many add Dolby Vision, fewer HDR10+. Your player has to support the format as well.
• Games: the PS5 outputs HDR10. Xbox Series X|S consoles support Dolby Vision gaming on TVs that accept it, such as LG’s OLEDs.
• Broadcast and live sports: HLG or HDR10, when they’re HDR at all.

If any device in the chain (streaming stick, AV receiver, soundbar passthrough) doesn’t support a format, you get the HDR10 version. That’s the fallback both dynamic formats were designed around.

Does the format matter when choosing a TV?

Less than three other things:

1. Peak brightness and contrast, which decide how much HDR the TV can show at all. A Mini LED with many dimming zones or an OLED beats a dim LCD regardless of logos (Mini LED vs OLED).
2. Your room: in a bright room, brightness and anti-reflection matter most (best TV for a bright room).
3. Processing, including the TV’s own tone mapping.

Then use the format as a tie-breaker: if you mostly stream Netflix, Disney+ or Apple TV+, prefer Dolby Vision; if you mostly watch Prime Video, HDR10+ helps; if you can’t decide, TCL and Hisense cover both.