Move over Dolby Vision 2. Samsung has just announced HDR10+ Advanced, a next-generation upgrade to the open high dynamic range (HDR) video standard; the big question now is who will win an emerging slugfest between the two.
Designed for the next wave of ultra-bright, high-colour-depth TVs, the technology was unveiled during an exclusive media briefing at Samsung’s headquarters in Suwon, South Korea, and I got an early look at what’s on the cards.
Like Dolby Vision 2, HDR10+ Advanced features a raft of visual embellishments, including AI-powered tone mapping, genre-based optimisation, Intelligent Frame Rate Conversion, and adaptive gaming enhancements.
The development comes after Dolby dropped Dolby Vision 2 onto a surprised industry at IFA 2025, marking an intensifying race between the two leading HDR formats. While Dolby Vision continues to dominate the premium TV and streaming space, Samsung is clearly positioning HDR10+ Advanced as the open, royalty-free alternative for manufacturers and content creators seeking flexibility and scale.
At Samsung’s demo in Korea, Channel News was among those given an early look at HDR10+ Advanced in action. Side-by-side comparisons using twin 115-inch Micro RGB displays, one running standard HDR10+, the other the new HDR10+ Advanced spec, revealed a clear uptick in brightness, depth, and colour fidelity. The upgraded format produced a more dynamic, lifelike image, particularly in highlights and shadow detail. Samsung said that the technology was still being finalised but would make its official bow at CES 2026.
First introduced in 2017, HDR10+ was developed as a dynamic metadata upgrade to HDR10, allowing compatible TVs to adjust brightness and contrast on a scene-by-scene basis. It’s been adopted by major manufacturers, including, Hisense, TCL, and Amazon, and currently spans over 16,000 certified products and 174 adopters.
HDR10+ Advanced builds directly on this platform, targeting next-generation displays capable of 4,000 – 5,000 nits of peak brightness and 100% BT.2020 colour gamut coverage. This makes it particularly relevant for Micro RGB displays, which are expected to arrive in force during 2026, from Samsung, Sony, Hisense and TCL.
It also extends the statistical metadata that TVs can interpret, allowing more refined tone mapping and more accurate rendering of fine image gradations. At the heart of HDR10+ Advanced is a new Bright mode, designed for TVs capable of extreme luminance. It uses AI-driven tone mapping algorithms to enhance brightness and colour reproduction dynamically, allowing brighter highlights without compromising mid-tone accuracy or detail.
We can also expect Genre-Based Optimisation (dubbed HDR10+ Advanced Genre). This allows content creators to embed specific genre metadata that identifies a programme as sports, drama, animation, or news, so that capable TVs can apply specific tone-mapping curves optimised for that content type.
Motion smoothing, the bane of home cinema enthusiasts, is also getting a revamp. Intelligent Frame Rate Conversion (or HDR10+ Intelligent FRC) allows HDR10+ Advanced devices to signal both the need and the strength of motion smoothing (judder cancellation), dynamically adjusting by scene type and ambient lighting conditions. 
Gaming hasn’t been forgotten either, with a new Adaptive Gaming Mode that allows real-time tone mapping based on both on-screen action and ambient light levels.
Additional refinements include per-zone brightness control for improved contrast handling and detailed local tone mapping, plus advanced colour data transmission to ensure content creators’ intent is preserved across different display types.
All of this signals a heavy processing load, so I wouldn’t expect it to roll out on entry-level sets, but higher end models will be obvious beneficiaries, and buyers will definitely see the benefits on their new UHD screens – higher peak brightness, wider colour, more depth and nuance.
Prime Video looks likely to be the first major streamer to embrace HDR10+ Advanced. Samsung says the Amazon service currently has a fistful of new TV shows in development which will use the technology.
Look for HDR10+ Advanced to launch at CES 2026, before rolling out on Samsung’s flagship TV ranges sometime thereafter.
