Vimeo adds Dolby Vision support, but only for Apple devices

Starting today, video upload and streaming service Vimeo is enabling Dolby Vision for creators, as well as the folks who stream content from the site, making it the first service of its kind to support Dolby’s dynamic HDR format. The only catch is that you’ll need a compatible Apple device for both uploading and playback of Dolby Vision content.

“Vimeo’s mission is to enable professional-quality video for all,” said Vimeo CEO Anjali Sud in a press release, “and today we are delivering that power in Dolby Vision to hundreds of millions of Apple users globally.”

Apple introduced the ability to record video in Dolby Vision when it launched its iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro smartphones in 2020 but failed to create an easy way for owners to share their HDR videos with friends and family. Most of Apple’s iOS, macOS, and iPadOS devices made since 2017 can display the higher brightness and greater number of colors that are the hallmarks of HDR formats like Dolby Vision. The Apple TV 4K streaming media device has been compatible with Dolby Vision since its introduction in 2017 if you connect it to a Dolby Vision-compatible TV. But the only Dolby Vision content they’ve been able to access so far has been from major streaming services like Netflix and Disney+.

Vimeo is no stranger to HDR content; the service, along with competitor YouTube, has supported HDR uploads and streaming for a while now, but these videos couldn’t be uploaded (or streamed) in Dolby Vision.

According to Vimeo, the process for uploading and downloading Dolby Vision content is very easy:

Vimeo users can now natively upload Dolby Vision videos shot on iPhone 12 models or edited in iMovie or Final Cut Pro. Similar to how professional content distributors support playback of content in Dolby Vision, Vimeo will automatically detect and play back videos in Dolby Vision on all compatible Apple devices, including iPhone 8 and later, 2nd-generation iPad Pro and later on iOS 14, Apple TV 4K on tvOS 14 connected to a Dolby Vision TV, and Mac on macOS Big Sur or later.

What’s strange about Vimeo’s announcement is that while the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro might be the only phones that can record in Dolby Vision, there are plenty of non-Apple devices that can play the HDR format — and yet, Vimeo is restricting Dolby Vision playback to Apple products. The Vimeo app is available for Roku, Android TV, and Amazon Fire TV, plus there’s support for streaming to a Chromecast device from an Android smartphone. All of these platforms possess at least one or two devices that are Dolby Vision-compatible, but so far, Vimeo hasn’t said when or if they will be able to access Dolby Vision content from the streaming service.

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