Panasonic's Dolby Vision Adoption Casts Doubt on HDR10+ Future, Says Analyst

Samsung is the only remaining Dolby Vision "holdout" among major TV makers, Wedbush Securities analyst Steven Frankel wrote in a Monday research note to investors, after Panasonic’s CES announcement of Dolby Vision support in its new GZ2000 OLED TV for international distribution. He called that the most important Dolby-related announcement at CES. This adds "yet another manufacturer to the Dolby Vision ranks," said Frankel. More importantly, the "defection" of Panasonic just a year after it first agreed to support HDR10+ as a founding member of the consortium "casts some doubt in our mind around the long-term viability of HDR10+," Frankel said. That's especially true, "given the significant expansion of the Dolby Vision ecosystem seen over the past year." Dolby Vision is supported by 14 of the top 15 TV makers, with Samsung the "lone" exception, he said. Samsung, in a pre-Christmas announcement, said the HDR10+ global "ecosystem" had expanded to 45 "industry partners," including support from TV makers Hisense and TCL in China. Panasonic also remains an HDR10+ supporter. The analyst cited the irony of Samsung’s surprise CES announcement (see 1901070062) for support of Apple’s iTunes on select TVs “with Apple being a high profile supporter of Dolby Vision.” The growing number of Dolby Vision titles offered by Apple won’t be playable on the Samsung TVs, which will see HDR10 versions instead, he said. Konka also announced Dolby Vision support at CES, showing an OLED TV incorporating both Dolby Vision and DolbyAtmos, joining LG and TCL, which are building sets incorporating both technologies. Atmos content, meanwhile, is stacking up with DirecTV broadcasting select NBA games in the immersive audio format and adoption growing in the gaming market, said Frankel. Among the wide-ranging new Atmos sound bars shown at the CES: a $230 Anker model, Klipsch’s Bar 54A and Sennheiser’s $2,499 13-speaker “behemoth.”