LG TVs have the monopoly on Dolby Vision 4K 120Hz gaming support and VRR. But not for much longer, it seems (via flatpanelshd).
Taiwanese chip giant MediaTek has announced that its upcoming Pentonic series chips for 8K and 4K TVs will support Dolby Vision’s most advanced gaming tech, including 4K@120Hz, ALLM, VRR and reduced latency (Dolby Vision Game mode).
“The Pentonic series will enable TV manufacturers to support features designed for gaming in Dolby Vision along with other advanced capabilities”, claims MediaTek. “These technologies… will be available starting in 2H [second half] 2022.”
Apparently, “more than 60% of all TVs worldwide” are powered by MediaTek, including many of the best TV sets from Samsung, Sony, Panasonic and Philips. Philips’s top sets already feature a Dolby Vision game mode that works up to 60Hz, but Sony TVs currently have no Dolby Vision game mode at all, so gaming in Dolby Vision incurs a lot of input lag. Samsung, of course, refuses to support Dolby Vision altogether, and we’d be very surprised if the new MediaTek chips prompted a change of heart.
Samsung aside, though, the arrival of the Pentonic chip could bring more advanced Dolby Vision gaming to many more gamers.
Well, Xbox gamers at least. Earlier this year, the Xbox Series X and S became the first consoles to support Dolby Vision for gaming. Sony has yet to reveal whether the PS5 will join the party.
MediaTek’s Pentonic chip also supports Dolby Vision IQ with Precision Detail, too. The tech promises to get even closer to the image quality seen in a mastering suite, although we’ve yet to see how it measures up.
The new wave of Pentonic-powered TVs with Dolby Vision 4K 120Hz gaming support are due to hit shelves in late 2022 or early 2023.
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