Don’t expect Dolby Video or Dolby Atmos on PS5 anytime soon

The PlayStation 5 is a superb games console (if you can find one for sale) but the Xbox Series X and Series S do have a major advantage when it comes to HDR and audio support. They are both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos enabled, for video and audio respectively.

Sadly, that won’t change anytime soon, neither. It has been revealed that Xbox has a two-year exclusive on Dolby’s formats.

Of course, unless you have a TV that supports Dolby Vision, plus a soundbar or surround sound setup that supports Dolby Atmos, you likely won’t care. But those who do, will be dismayed that the PS5 will not gain support until 2022 at least – for games, streamed video and/or 4K Blu-ray output.

The Xbox and Dolby exclusivity period was revealed on the French brand of Xbox’s Wire blog pages. It was subsequently taken down again, but not before garnering attention from eagle-eyed Twitter user Roberto Serrano.

“Les Xbox Series X|S sont compatibles Dolby Atmos depuis leur sortie et le Dolby Vision arrivera sur ces consoles au cours de l’année 2021, les deux technologies resteront exclusives à l’écosystème Xbox pendant deux ans.” pic.twitter.com/QIDUU11xSQ

— Roberto Serrano’ (@geronimo_73_) June 1, 2021

Dolby Atmos will continue to be free to Xbox Series X/S owners, but headphones access requires a one-off licensing payment. Dolby Vision is available on supported content via the consoles’ Netflix, Disney+ and other streaming apps.

It is also coming to games soon, with the mode currently being tested by Xbox Insiders first.