Dolby has partnered with several car manufacturers over the last few months to offer Dolby Atmos surround sound in vehicles. Now, it wants to make the experience even more immersive with Dolby Vision. At CES 2025, the company announced its collaboration with Samsung Display to bring Dolby Vision to more cars around the world.
But what’s the need for HDR on a car’s infotainment system? How many of us really consume video content in our cars?
For context, Dolby Vision is an HDR technology that offers vibrant colors—those that truly pop on your displays. From phones like the recently-lauched OnePlus 13 and Vivo X200 Pro to TVs, it’s integrated into various devices to give your a more immersive viewing experience. Now, it’s coming to cars.
Does Dolby Vision In A Car Even Make Sense?
Last year, when I experienced Dolby Atmos in a car, I kind of knew what to expect—immersive surround sound while listening to my favorite music on the road. But heading into the Dolby Vision in-car demo this year was different. I didn’t know what to expect because I couldn’t quite understand the use case for it. However, after sitting in the Li Mega and experiencing Dolby Vision Atmos for cars, I want it in my car right now.
As it turns out, there are a few use cases and enough incentive for consumers to want Dolby Vision in their cars.
It’s supported on the infotainment system as well as the screens (if available) for riders in the back. It’s not about giving you a better look at your controls with HDR; it’s meant to bring a TV-like viewing experience to your car.
For example, when your partner goes for a quick grocery stroll while you wait in the car, and 10 minutes stretch into 30. You no longer need to watch your favorite content on a small mobile screen. Instead, you can fire up the infotainment system and tune into whatever you like.
However, it does raise concerns. For instance, will you be able to watch content while the driver is driving? And will the experience be consistent across different cars?
Dolby says that car manufacturers can tune the settings to decide whether users can watch content on the infotainment system in a moving car. You should expect different results across vehicles because:
- Like Atmos, where manufacturers can use different numbers of speakers to tune the Atmos experience, Dolby Vision’s display quality could vary.
- I experienced it in a high-end car with anti-reflective OLED screens. While Dolby assures that the same tuning can be applied to LCDs, the experience may still depend on factors like display size, reflectivity, and the number of screens in the car.
While I’m still skeptical about having HDR displays in cars, I can see why some would want Dolby Vision Atmos in their cars.
