Peacock Will Be the First Streamer to Integrate Dolby Vision 2, But Should You Care?

A few months ago, Dolby and NBCUniversal announced that the Peacock streaming platform will be the first to “embrace Dolby's full suite of advanced picture and sound innovations,” including Dolby Vision 2 and the Dolby AC-4 audio codec. Peacock offers a wide-ranging portfolio of movies and original TV shows, including a spectacular version of The Day of the Jackal starring Eddie Redmayne, and a delightful comedy-mystery series called Poker Face, from Rian Johnson of Knives Out fame. Peacock is also home to must-see live sports, including the 2026 Winter Olympics, and live specials, like Wicked: One Wonderful Night, a two-hour live production featuring stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande performing songs from the Wicked films. While Peacock may not be as dominant in the streaming industry as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, or Disney+, it currently has around 41 million paid subscribers who will be among the first to enjoy Dolby’s newest innovations. Peacock will also extend the availability of Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos across live sports throughout 2026. Although the streaming service is the first to announce its commitment to support Dolby Vision 2 and Dolby AC-4, these technologies are not expected to launch until later this year, by which time other streamers may have followed suit. Dolby first announced its next-generation take on the company’s industry-leading HDR solution in fall 2025. (See our article What We Know About Dolby Vision 2 So Far.

 Peacock is raising the bar for what streaming entertainment can be with Dolby. This partnership reflects our vision to push the boundaries of live sports and entertainment, delivering experiences that truly stand apart. With Dolby, Peacock stands as the premier destination for viewers who expect nothing less than exceptional entertainment at home.

— John Couling, Senior Vice President of Entertainment at Dolby Laboratories

We deliver the most compelling content with the highest quality experience and unparalleled reliability on Peacock. Our partnership with Dolby ensures that whether our subscribers are streaming a thrilling playoff game, the latest Universal blockbuster, or a critically acclaimed Peacock Original, they're experiencing it exactly as creators intended – with breathtaking picture and immersive sound that brings every moment to life.

— David Bohunek, Senior Vice President of Global Video Engineering at NBCUniversal

Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos are already available on many titles across various streaming platforms — Netflix seems to have a lot — but Peacock will be onboarding more live sports into Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos experiences throughout the coming year. Expect to see Sunday Night Football, NBA basketball, and Major League Baseball games available in both Dolby formats as 2026 progresses. Building on the success of Dolby Vision, Dolby Vision 2 is “designed to meet the evolving expectations of today’s viewers and unlock the most out of your television,” according to Dolby, and Peacock is preparing to adopt this next-generation innovation. Dolby says that Dolby Vision 2 is about more than just HDR. It can reportedly help to “solve the debate on whether the picture is too dark” by intelligently adjusting contrast, and deliver more cinematic motion by adjusting motion processing on a scene-by-scene basis,  as dictated by the content creators. This should enable viewers to avoid both the dreaded “soap opera effect” and distracting judder, while allowing creators more control over how their content is presented to folks watching at home.

See our article: New Filmmaker Mode For Ultra-HD TVs Aims To Put An End To ‘The Soap Opera Effect’.

Meanwhile, the Dolby AC-4 audio codec is said to be Dolby’s most advanced and efficient lossy audio codec to date, delivering “crystal-clear sound with up to 50% greater efficiency than traditional codecs,” according to the company. Not only does it reportedly provide “the highest audio fidelity possible while using a fraction of the bandwidth of traditional codecs,” it also offers new personalization and dialogue enhancement features, according to Dolby. 

Dolby Vision 2: Supported TVs

So, Dolby Vision 2 seems to offer a potentially significant feature-set, and we can reasonably expect that Peacock won’t be the only streaming service to embrace this next-gen technology. So, which TV manufacturers are supporting Dolby Vision 2 on their recently-announced 2026 TVs? As my good friend Hamlet would say, “Aye, there's the rub.” So far, only Hisense, TCL, and TP Vision (owner of the Philips brand) have announced that they will support Dolby Vision 2 across upcoming models. Even worse is the realization, confirmed during CES 2026, that Dolby Vision 2 has hardware requirements that prevent any pre-2026 TV from gaining the feature via firmware updates. So even though Dolby Vision 2 might have a lot to offer, the reality is that you won’t be able to experience it without buying a new TV, and there will probably be a relatively small number of models to choose from this year.

Hisense was first to sign on, announcing that its 2026 RGB MiniLED TVs (including UX, UR9, and UR8 models) will be first to support Dolby Vision 2. Other new Hisense MiniLED TVs will gain support for the feature via a future firmware update. TCL has said that its 2026 X QD-Mini LED TV Series and C Series TVs will support Dolby Vision 2 after a future update as well. Dolby Vision 2 Max, which requires the use of an ambient light sensor, is confirmed for TCL’s X11L SQD-Mini LED TV.

The 2026 OLED TVs from Philips will feature Dolby Vision 2, according to owner TP Vision. This includes the new flagship OLED951, along with the OLED811 and OLED911 series. Sadly, these TVs are not typically available in the USA, and we have not heard anything to suggest that they will be this year. The Philips 974-series OLED Roku TV is available in the USA, exclusively in a 65-inch size, through Sam’s Club. So far, that has been no announcement about a potential replacement for this more budget-oriented ($1,300) OLED model.

OLED fans on this side of the pond are surely wondering about the brands that we do have here in the States, starting with LG and Samsung. Unsurprisingly, Samsung has not said anything about Dolby Vision 2. Not only is Samsung the only major TV manufacturer never to have supported the original version of Dolby Vision, the company even helped create HDR10+, a free and open-source alternative to Dolby’s HDR solution. (Netflix began offering content in the HDR10+ format in 2025. See our article Kaleidescape Joins 8K Association, Netflix Adds HDR10+.) Samsung is now spearheading the launch of HDR10+ Advanced in 2026, once again providing a free alternative to Dolby’s technology, for which hardware partners must pay royalty fees if they want to support it in their devices.

We may not be surprised to learn that Samsung is abstaining from the Dolby Vision 2 conversation, but LG’s response to Dolby Vision 2 has been very surprising indeed. LG has been a longtime supporter of Dolby Vision. In fact, the two companies first announced that LG’s TVs would support Dolby Vision ten years ago at CES 2016. But at CES 2026, LG made no mention of Dolby Vision 2 support when announcing the brand’s otherwise-promising lineup of upcoming TVs. In fact, according to What Hi-Fi?, LG’s Director of Product Strategy and Marketing in the US, David Park, stated that the company has “no plans to support Dolby Vision 2 in 2026.”

Sony and Panasonic remain big question marks in the Dolby Vision 2 conversation. Sony no longer announces its new TVs at CES, instead waiting until early spring each year to unveil its latest offerings. On March 25, 2026, the company announced its first 2026 TV models, including the BRAVIA 3 II and BRAVIA 2 II. It is entirely possible that the Japanese brand’s 2026 TVs will support Dolby Vision 2, but I’m not holding my breath. A bit like Apple, Sony tends to wait until new tech is somewhat ironed-out and well-received before adopting it for the company’s products. Unlike Sony, Panasonic has announced its latest high-end TVs at CES in recent years, but this year, the company was a no-show. We will likely have to wait until late spring before Panasonic introduces its full lineup of 2026 TVs. Until then, we probably won’t know if the brand has plans to support Dolby Vision 2.

Hisense and TCL both make some great TVs these days — these Chinese companies should not be considered inferior to their Japanese and South Korean rivals, in my opinion — but for many enthusiasts, OLED remains the gold standard of picture quality. And the fact remains that OLED TVs (in the USA, anyway) are almost exclusively offered by LG, Samsung, Sony, and Panasonic. It is curious, then, that the launch of a potentially-significant technology like Dolby Vision 2, which will surely be more appealing to enthusiasts than to the average consumer, might be a completely OLED-free affair. Should you care about Dolby Vision 2? It’s too early to know whether the technology will make a sizable impact, but it’s certainly possible. Unfortunately, most of us won’t be able to experience it for ourselves until the tech is adopted by more TV manufacturers. Will support for Dolby Vision 2 be a factor in your next TV purchase? Share your thoughts in the related forum thread below.