HDR10 Is the Fallback; Dolby Vision and HDR10+ Are Upgrades

A TV that supports only HDR10 still plays HDR10+ titles, and, Dolby says, Dolby Vision titles, as HDR10. What Dolby Vision and HDR10+ add is dynamic metadata, instructions that change scene by scene, and the brands split on them: Samsung’s S90F lists HDR10+ but not Dolby Vision, LG’s C6 lists Dolby Vision but not HDR10+, and TCL’s QM7K lists both.

Everything below is what the format owners, TV makers and streaming services state on their own pages, read on 13 October 2026. We have not measured any TV or stream.

The four formats

Format	Metadata	Licence, as its owner states it	Who lists it (pages we read)
HDR10	Static: one set of values for the whole programme	Not stated by an owner we read	LG C6, TCL QM7K; Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max; Apple TV 4K
HDR10+	Dynamic: scene by scene, or frame by frame for live	No per-device royalty; TV makers pay $10,000 a year and certify	Samsung S90F, TCL QM7K; Apple TV 4K (3rd generation only); Netflix’s quality labels
Dolby Vision	Dynamic, adjustable shot by shot	No fee to author or deliver titles; device terms not stated	LG C6, TCL QM7K; Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, Prime Video; Apple TV 4K
HLG	No mastering metadata needed	Royalty-free	Samsung S90F, LG C6, TCL QM7K

What the metadata does

An HDR picture is mastered on a display brighter than most TVs, so every TV has to squeeze it into what its own panel can show. Metadata is the instruction for that squeeze. Dolby puts it as “a set of instructions that tells a display how to act”.

HDR10 sends one instruction for the whole film. HDR10+ Technologies, which runs the rival format, describes HDR10’s static metadata as a single tone-mapping curve applied to the entire programme, which can crush shadows or clip highlights when a dark night cuts to a bright explosion.

HDR10+ and Dolby Vision send it scene by scene. HDR10+ uses scene-based data for films and frame-by-frame data for live encoding. Dolby says Dolby Vision lets the colourist customise the mapping for “any scene or shot”, and that its metadata processing on Dolby Vision devices is “tested and approved” with its partners. Neither owner publishes a comparison we could check, and we have not compared them on a screen.

HLG takes a different route. The BBC and NHK designed it for live broadcasting, because, the BBC says, metadata “often gets lost or becomes out-of-sync” as it passes through a production chain. HLG carries no description of the mastering display; the TV adapts the signal itself. It also plays on standard dynamic range sets, and the BBC says it is royalty-free.

If your TV lacks one, you lose the extra data, not the film

Both dynamic formats fall back. HDR10+ Technologies says that on an HDR10 display, HDR10+ content “is simply just HDR10 content”. Dolby says a device without Dolby Vision that does support HDR “will play back in HDR10”, and an SDR set gets an SDR version derived from the Dolby Vision metadata. A missing format costs you the scene-by-scene data, not access to the title.

How much that data is worth depends on the set. As our guide to TV price tiers puts it, supporting a format and having the brightness to render it are different things, and only the second costs money to build.

Which brands list which

TV (US spec page)	HDR10	HDR10+	Dolby Vision	HLG
Samsung S90F (affiliate link to Amazon, opens in a new tab) (QN65S90FAFXZA)	not separately listed	Yes	Not mentioned	Yes
LG C6 (affiliate link to Amazon, opens in a new tab) (OLED65C6PUA)	Yes	Not listed	Yes	Yes
TCL QM7K	Yes	Yes	Yes (Dolby Vision IQ)	Yes

Samsung’s spec page lists “HDR 10+ Yes (ADAPTIVE/ GAMING)” and HLG, and the words Dolby Vision appear nowhere on it. Samsung Canada’s HDR guide, updated 1 September, recommends HDR10+ and does not mention Dolby Vision either. LG’s C6 is the mirror image: its HDR row reads “Dolby Vision / HDR10 / HLG”. That split shows on our shortlist of the best-reviewed TVs, where the Samsung S90F (affiliate link to Amazon, opens in a new tab) is the pick for buyers to whom Dolby Vision does not matter.

Support varies by model and year, so check the spec sheet of the set you are buying. The same goes for anything you plug in: Amazon’s new Fire TV Stick 4K lists HDR10+ but not Dolby Vision, as our look at the 2026 Fire TV range found.

Which streaming services use which

• Netflix labels titles Dolby Vision, or “HDR or HDR10+”, and says every device in the chain, including a streaming stick and receiver, must support the format. HDR10+ Technologies says Netflix delivers HDR10+ only in the AV1 codec, so it needs a device that decodes AV1.
• Disney+ names HDR10 as its “default HDR format” and Dolby Vision as “a more dynamic version”. Its page does not mention HDR10+, though Samsung said in October 2025 that Disney+ was offering over 1,000 Hulu titles in HDR10+ on Samsung TVs.
• HBO Max offers “select titles in 4K UHD with HDR10 or Dolby Vision” on the Premium plan.
• Prime Video’s help refers to titles in Dolby Vision. HDR10+ Technologies quotes a Prime Video vice-president saying all its HDR content carries HDR10+ metadata.
• Apple TV 4K outputs Dolby Vision, HDR10+ and HDR10, but Apple says HDR10+ works only on the 3rd-generation model.

So for a reader choosing a TV, Dolby Vision is the format these services’ help pages name most often, and HDR10+ is the one Samsung’s TVs carry instead. Brightness and black level, which decide how much any HDR format can show, come from the panel; how OLED and Mini-LED make light covers that half.

Questions people ask

Is HDR10 good enough or do I need Dolby Vision?

HDR10+ Technologies and Dolby both say an HDR10 TV plays their titles as HDR10, so a missing format should not lock you out of a title. What you lose is the scene-by-scene metadata. Whether you would see that depends on the TV; we have not compared them.

Do Samsung TVs support Dolby Vision?

Samsung’s US spec page for the S90F OLED lists HDR10+ and HLG and does not mention Dolby Vision, and Samsung’s HDR guide names HDR10+ but not Dolby Vision. Check the spec page of the exact model you are looking at.

Does LG support HDR10+?

Not on the LG C6 we read: its US spec page lists “Dolby Vision / HDR10 / HLG” and HDR10+ appears nowhere on it. Check the spec page of the exact model and year you are looking at.

What happens if I play Dolby Vision on a TV that doesn’t support it?

Dolby says a device that lacks Dolby Vision but supports HDR plays it in HDR10, and an SDR device plays an SDR version derived from the Dolby Vision metadata. You still get a picture; you lose the dynamic metadata.

Which streaming services use Dolby Vision?

On their own help pages, Netflix, Disney+ and HBO Max name Dolby Vision, HBO Max only on its Premium plan, and a Prime Video help page refers to titles in Dolby Vision. Each says it depends on the title and the device.

What is the difference between HDR10 and HDR10+?

HDR10 carries static metadata: one tone-mapping curve for the whole programme. HDR10+ adds dynamic metadata, scene by scene, so the TV can map a dark night and a bright explosion differently. An HDR10-only TV ignores the extra data.

What is HLG used for?

Broadcast. The BBC and NHK designed HLG for live TV, which they say cannot rely on metadata surviving the production chain. It needs no mastering metadata and is compatible with standard dynamic range sets.