Dolby Vision is now fully software based

[Mavrick]

Dolby's HDR standard is now available in a software version, which means it can show up on existing TVs and game consoles.

Dolby has announced that its HDR standard Dolby Vision is now fully software-based, meaning that existing devices such as consoles and televisions can take advantage of it.

"There are implementations that can run Dolby Vision in software, certainly in the console space but also in the TV SoC (System On a Chip) space," Dolby reps said Friday in Forbes.

Dolby Vision is a standard for High Dynamic Range (HDR) video that allows compatible displays and source devices to show content with much higher contrast and color saturation than previous broadcast material. It is a competitor to another standard, HDR10.

Many proprietary standards require specific hardware. And while there will be hardware implementations of Dolby Vision as well, offering a software version means customers won't necessarily need to buy a new TV to watch encoded content.

That means Dolby Vision could conceivably be added to a Sony PS4 or Microsoft Xbox One game console, or a streaming device like Nvidia Shield. All the device needs, according to Dolby reps cited by Forbes, is sufficient processing power.

Several products that support Dolby Vision are already on the market, including TVs from LG and Vizio, as well as the Google Chromecast Ultra streaming device. Sony said its Z9D television from 2016, as well as select 2017 models, will add Dolby Vision via a software update later this year.

At the moment, no discs or games have been released with Dolby Vision on board, but Amazon, Netflix and Vudu offer Dolby Vision streaming content.

One advantage that Dolby Vision has over HDR10 is that Dolby Vision won't require HDMI 2.0a to run. It will run with HDMI 1.4, which potentially allows compatibility with more legacy hardware.

Representatives from Dolby did not respond immediately to CNET's request for comment.

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