Xbox Series X and Series S get Dolby Vision support for gaming

28 September 2021
Promises support for over 100 next-gen titles with Dolby Vision support.

Sort by:

  • S
  • Same
  • jwZ
  • 05 Oct 2021

Solun1, 30 Sep 2021Well yes, but that's what I said in the first place, t... moreIMAX your phone too on the Honor Magic 3 from China.



Nevertheless, some Xbox gamers have problems getting Atmos to work on One, but not sure about functionality of Atmos on Series.

    Marco M, 29 Sep 2021Atmos in itself is not a gimmick, but there are gimmick imp... moreWell yes, but that's what I said in the first place, that Atmos in relatively cheap consumer electronics has nothing in common with state of the art Dolby Atmos equipment in IMAX or home theaters which is exactly what you're describing.

    Dolby Atmos in my laptop with two tiny speakers is a joke and as I also said, even though I paid for Dolby Atmos software that's supposed to "transform any device into a professional home theatre", I choose to use Nahimic which was already pre-installed for free.

      Kangal, 29 Sep 2021This is actually a neat feature. I really like the Xbox Ser... moreThis tactic basically relies on MS tricking Sony.
      1) Each company (and developers) to a certain extent knows what the other company is going to do. So I believe MS should have purposely developed a "inferior console" and leaked some mis-information. Such as poor sales, poor support, financials etc etc to say that their next-gen console would focus more on their profit-margins in early 2020.

      2) And in late 2020, they should announce the "Xbox Street X", with a confusing name, a large and ugly design, which runs hot, has poor specs, priced at USD $600 point, has expensive accessories, and comes with gimmicky titles. And doesn't support features like Backwards Compatibility, Ray Tracing, VRR, Dolby Atmos-Vision, Full Web-browsing, etc etc. And isn't fast enough to do native-4K, relying on a 4K-checkerboard technique. Then MS should go as far as sending lots of prototype units to game publishers to work on, few units to prominent online reviewers, and even limited supply boxed to retailers. This would've meant Sony laughs at MS, and relax on their own console. So in this scenario, Sony ends up developing a "Bad PS5" which is even worse than now in terms of features (No Backwards Compatibility, No RayTracing, No advanced features etc etc), and this "Bad PS5" specs are (20%-60% slower) weaker than our Standard PS5, and Sony has priced it higher at a USD $600 price to match. Sony is happy to do less and make more money, this helps their (profit-margin) bottom-line.

      3) Then at the last minute, bam, MS apologises and cancels the product just before launch. They cite the covid restrictions, supply issues, etc etc as the culprit. People are angry but understanding, and for the most part they don't care as the masses are more interested in the PS5. MS apologises and promises to release the system very soon when they are ready. A slimy business move indeed. It will have the half-baked PS5 competing with itself, which doesn't matter to MS, as they won't be losing market share.

      4) Then MS says they will "re-develop" the next-gen console to actually release a year later, in Oct 2021. The "Xbox Street X" is literally scrapped. By this period, they would have stopped Xbox One/S/X production and ended stock. And now they released the new "Xbox Two". This as a better named product, beautiful design, that runs cold, runs silent, ships with the Elite2 controller, and priced at a great $300 value. It has great Backwards Compatibility (Xbox/360/One), runs all enhanced "XB1X" games, and has a couple awesome exclusive games too. Again, this unit lacks a Disc tray, so it is Digital Only, which gives a monopoly to MS for game sales and streaming. It supports next-gen games with an output of 4K-HDR-RayTracing with 120fps, but all games are actually rendered in 1080p. They do by using a new RDNA-2+ gpu inside, but it is a small unit with a modest 4TF performance, which only a slight upgrade. However, thanks to the much faster 4.0GHz Zen3 CPU, 16GB GDDR6 memory, and the Soldered 512GB nVme SSD, it does support all next-gen titles very well, and MS make a promise/mandate that all new titles will be rendered at a minimum 1080p/120fps with an option to dip to 60fps for single-player/artistic games. MS announces this console quickly/without promotion, doesn't send any units of these to reviewers, and ships it to all box-retailers by having their stocks full in-hand. This shocks the industry and makes people think twice about the PS5, on a strictly value proposition.

      5) But wait, there's more!
      Upon release of the Xbox Two, one week later MS holds a press release/announcement. This is their true fifth-gen console aptly named "The Xbox V". It's even better named, more beautiful design, runs quiet, runs cool. And it is priced cheaper at $500, and better than expected. The next day and following, there are ads for it everywhere on TV, Radio, Billboards, and everywhere online. Whilst pre-orders start the next week, having heaps of stock in MS's warehouses boxed and ready. They would also have a new 5th-gen controller dubbed "XP5" for Xbox Pad 5 with an updated design. This console also uses upgraded hardware, like 4.0GHz Zen3 CPU, a more modern 12TF RDNA2+ GPU, ample 32GB GDDR6 memory, and a 1TB nVme SSD that is user replaceable. Not to mention a much more polished API, Software, and launch titles/exclusives (not gimmicky). Overall there's a huge and noticeable (30%-90%) performance difference between the "Bad PS5" versus the improved "Xbox V". For reference, such a difference would lead to a visual gap between the PS2 and Original Xbox, you can see this in titles like NFS Carbon and GTA San Andreas. The Xbox really differentiated its graphics during that generation. Hence, the "Bad PS5" suffers immensely against the "Xbox V" with all third-party releases for five-to-eight years, or basically the entire lifespan of this generation (not enough RAM, worse APIs, and slower CPU and weaker GPU). This sudden reveal, launch, and appealing package puts Sony at a difficult position.

      Therefore, Sony having an early victory in 2020 proves useless in terms of profit and market share, and the console race really heats up. Xbox only needs to go from strength to strength, and avoid making any blunders the greedy suits from MS may try to pull. But remember this is just a thought-exercise, whilst interesting and entertaining, none of this matters to the reality of the situation we have in the current-generation.

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • X9q
        • 29 Sep 2021

        I’m okay with my ps5 ThAnks

          I've been team PlayStation since the start, but I may actually give Xbox a try.

            • A
            • Anonym
            • Lci
            • 29 Sep 2021

            AnonD-558092, 29 Sep 2021"requiring downloading Dolby's app and then payin... moreFurthermore, Dolby Atmos for headphones only requires payment if the headphones' manufacturer didn't license that feature (i.e., properly licensed headphones either come with the code already in the box, or are detected as licensed, no additional purchase required). The "paid purchase" is actually a nice way to give more choice to the consumer: you can buy *any* headphones you believe to be better quality or better value, regardless of their Atmos licensing status, and lose nothing because you have the choice to license it later.

            The GSMA author is mixing and matching Dolby stuff that really has nothing to do with the other, fundamentally misrepresenting what is very much a positive to the consumer (i.e., no need to overpay for audio equipment) and painting that choice as a negative.

              AnonD-558092, 29 Sep 2021"requiring downloading Dolby's app and then payin... moreWhat you're referring to is passthrough. The Xbox Series X|S can, by default, passthrough an Atmos signal through HDMI to a compatible receiver or television. So can the PlayStation 5 or even the PlayStation 4, for that matter. This isn't hard to do because the console is literally just passing over the responsibility of decoding the audio to the connected device. But if you want to decode the Atmos audio on the console itself, such as when connecting the headphones, then you have to pay for the app because the Xbox itself cannot decode Atmos without it.

                Solun1, 29 Sep 2021I have both Atmos and Vision on my laptop (bought in April ... moreAtmos in itself is not a gimmick, but there are gimmick implementations of it. Such as soundbars and up-firing speakers.

                A proper 7.1.4 setup (7 "ear level" speakers, X subwoofer(s) for the LFE channel and below the other speakers crossover point and 4 speakers in the ceiling) with Dolby Atmos or DTS X is great for an object-based audio experience.

                  This is actually a neat feature. I really like the Xbox Series X, but if I had to buy a new console I might actually go with the PS5. They're pretty close in terms of capabilities, but Sony has great exclusives on top. As a disclaimer, I've always owned a PlayStation simply because it is more supported in my country. I consider myself a fan, but not a fanboy.

                  I think the way the PS4/Pro dominated last-gen's Xbox One/X was humiliating for Microsoft. It all came down to a bogged-down launch for MS, whilst Sony was firing on all cylinders. And I do think MS could have done some homework, and done a very sneaky move to actually pull a big lead over Sony this new-generation. I mean Sony have become complacent, and MS has become hungry, so it isn't completely un-realistic to expect such a comeback.

                  Here's how MS could've pulled it off:

                    AnonD-558092, 29 Sep 2021"requiring downloading Dolby's app and then payin... moreYou're absolutely correct.

                    Dolby Atmos for Home theater/TV is free on Xbox. Only the headphone version requires separate payment for those who use it.

                    I assume the reason why Microsoft does this per download has to do with the licensing agreement with Dolby.

                      Anonymous, 29 Sep 2021Xbox is slowly becoming the complete package and one stop e... moreRumors Xbox will get Android support too. With Gpu and other hardware pretty expensive, it make sense even for pc enthusiasts to buy Xbox

                        • A
                        • Anonymous7
                        • X{g
                        • 29 Sep 2021

                        I still prefer pc gaming nowdays

                          I have both Atmos and Vision on my laptop (bought in April this year). I had to pay for Dolby Atmos but Dolby Vision was enabled for "free". However, it's just a different sound mix and I prefer to use Nahimic which was also pre-installed on my laptop because it provides a better sound mix than Atmos. Sadly Dolby Atmos is just a marketing gimmick and has nothing to do with state of the art equipment in IMAX or even some home theatres.

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • teu
                            • 29 Sep 2021

                            Xbox is slowly becoming the complete package and one stop entertainment power house. I hope the android app compatibility that windows 11 gets will be incorporated into xbox as well. It will certainly give an edge over playstation

                              • A
                              • Anal
                              • AW2
                              • 29 Sep 2021

                              Xbox is ticking all the boxes!

                                • D
                                • AnonD-558092
                                • jRn
                                • 29 Sep 2021

                                "requiring downloading Dolby's app and then paying to enable decoding of Atmos content on the console."

                                Completely false. I have Dolby Atmos enabled on my Series X without paying. It only requires an Atmos-enabled audio output (including the TV itself). The only paid part is the Atmos For Headphones feature. I only have an Atmos TV (no sound system) and I have both Atmos and Vision enabled. It makes for a great system.

                                  1 of 1