Dolby Vision 2 has made the jump from announcement to living rooms, with Dolby Laboratories and Hisense confirming that select 2026 Hisense televisions are now the first sets in the world to receive Dolby’s next-generation picture format. Dolby Vision 2 Hisense support starts rolling out immediately, with more models following over the coming weeks.
Dolby Vision 2 Hisense rollout: which TVs are first
The update lands first on Hisense’s 2026 UX, UR9, UR8, and U7 (U7 PRO in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Central and South Asia) televisions running Google TV or VIDAA OS, reaching viewers across North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region over the coming weeks. These are the same RGB-MiniLED and MiniLED models Hisense already positions at the top of its 2026 lineup, so the Dolby Vision 2 Hisense rollout effectively arrives as a firmware upgrade rather than a reason to buy new hardware for owners who already picked up one of these sets this year.
“Dolby Vision 2 sets a new standard for what television can look like, and today consumers can experience that difference for themselves,” said John Couling, Senior Vice President of Entertainment at Dolby Laboratories. Sonny Ming, General Manager of Hisense’s TV Product Marketing Department, added that the update is meant to deliver “the vivid, true-to-life viewing experience Hisense displays are designed for” as soon as a set is powered on.
What actually changes on screen
Every Dolby Vision 2 Hisense set gains a new image engine and Dolby’s Content Intelligence system, which reads metadata embedded in supported content to adjust brightness, contrast and color scene by scene without requiring viewers to switch picture modes themselves. A new intensity slider lets owners dial the effect up or down to compensate for glare or personal taste. Because the update applies to the underlying engine, Hisense says owners will notice a difference across content they already own in Dolby Vision, not only new Dolby Vision 2 releases.
The UX, UR9, UR8 and U7 PRO also qualify for the higher Dolby Vision 2 Max tier, the first TVs in the world to do so. That unlocks Authentic Motion, a creator-driven motion tool designed to eliminate judder and the “soap opera effect” on newly authored titles, along with Light Sense 2 for scenes in brightly lit rooms and a set of Pro picture settings aimed at viewers who want manual control rather than a fully automatic picture.
Content catching up
CANAL+, iQIYI and Peacock have all committed to delivering titles mastered for the expanded Dolby Vision 2 palette, joining the content partners Dolby announced when it unveiled the format in 2025. Existing Dolby Vision libraries on those and other platforms remain compatible with the new Hisense hardware without needing to be remastered.
Pricing and availability
There is no separate cost or purchase required: Dolby Vision 2 Hisense support is delivered as a free update to qualifying 2026 UX, UR9, UR8 and U7 televisions, rolling out in phases by region starting now. Hisense has not published an exact schedule for every market, and owners of earlier Hisense models should not expect the Dolby Vision 2 Hisense update, since Dolby Vision 2 depends on hardware capable of running its new image engine. Background on how Dolby Vision 2 differs from the original Dolby Vision format is available in bestofhighend.com’s Dolby Vision 2 explainer.
Key specifications
- First Dolby Vision 2 televisions: Hisense 2026 UX, UR9, UR8, U7 (U7 PRO in EU/MEA/CSA)
- Rollout: phased firmware update, North America, Europe and APAC, starting August 2026
- Dolby Vision 2 Max support: UX, UR9, UR8, U7 PRO (first TVs worldwide with this tier)
- New features: Content Intelligence, intensity slider, Authentic Motion, Light Sense 2, Pro settings
- Content partners: CANAL+, iQIYI, Peacock (existing Dolby Vision content also compatible)
- Price: free firmware update for qualifying models
