A new report says that the upcoming Xbox One S console will support the HDR10 color standard for 4K TVs. That means similar TVs that use the rival Dolby Vision might not be supported.
The Xbox One S was announced last week at E3 2016. In additon to being 40% smaller than the current Xbox One, the new version of the console will be able to support native 4K video on supported TVs. It will also offer owners high dynamic range (HDR) color support. However, there are currently two competing HDR standards: Dolby Vision and HDR10.
According to Polygon:
After some confusion last week, Polygon has been able to confirm with Microsoft that the Xbox One S will support HDR10 when it launches in August. The company was silent on support for Dolby's standard.
If the Xbox One S does not, in fact, support the Dolby Vision standard for HDR video, that could be a problem for owners of some 4K TVs which use it exclusively:
Vizio, LG and a number of smaller manufacturers have signed on with Dolby, a standard that offers better HDR performance but requires licensed Dolby hardware in both the media player and the 4K television used to display the content. (Vizio is promising an update to its M- and P-Series 4K televisions later this year to support HDR10 as well as Dolby Vision.)
It's likely that the Xbox One S doesn't support Dolby Vision due to the cost of licensing Dolby-based hardware. The HDR10 standard has the approval of TV makers like Sony and Samsung. HDR color will be supported by upcoming Xbox One games from Microsoft like Gears of War 4 and Forza Horizon 3.
Pre-orders for the Xbox One S have begun, with the starting price of $299.99. Shipments of the 2TB version are scheduled to begin in August, with the 1TB and 500GB version due for launch later in 2016.
