Cyberpunk 2077 HDR vs SDR Comparison after Patch 1.05: Which is Better?

[@FellDownAHill]

God bless you breaking down HDTV settings optimization and teaching us about everything to look for as we are all peasants.

[@Jack-n-Crack-Witch-Week]

Less than peasants. Anyone without a ps5 at this point is Garret from Community’s incestual offspring

[@eskimo9754]

I must create a Religion to make money out of you foos.vincent and other "scientists" and wanna be professionals tell you that a worse Overall picture is better .my ancient 2016 samsung blows your New TV away on most content.tvs are degenerating because less and less a.i. and Digital improvements is used to make it more look like shiet because its what some guy calibrated it on

[@walksoflifesixnine]

Vincent's the only dude that we can't get mad at for having multiple PS5's.

[@ericmiller254]

Why do you kids want a ps5 anyway/ Get a PC people been telling you that for years THere are zero exclusives out for ps5 you would want And quite frankly what you get pales in comparison to PC and anything not in house sony gets a PC port if it's good.

[@RealSkyDiver2]

Besides that dude with 5 PS5

[@raulgarcia5846]

@@ericmiller254 How much would it take to build a PC with equal performance in all respects to a PS5? Alot more than $500.

[@ericmiller254]

@@raulgarcia5846 You can make a PC for 500.....This isn't the PS3 you're not buying it for the bluray player. Those were worth the money. Even less if you're clever. If people aren't buying them up for computational purposes, they're nto a good deal. PS3's were bought up for AI research Only thing you could possibly want is to play with your friends, which you can do on your old console. Just cuz Sony says it's more powerful doesn't make it true.

[@raulgarcia5846]

@@ericmiller254You can make a PC for 100. One that can play games at the quality of and has all the features a PS5/ Series X has for $500? No you cannot. Not even with used parts. They are making these at a loss with the gains to come later.

[@ToxMod]

If Vincent says HDR is broken then its broken.

[@tydendurler9574]

Especially if he takes 16min to say just that.

[@86rattlehead]

If he says it's bad - it's broken. If he says it's broken - it must be totally FUBAR.

[@zodiacfml]

it doesnt seem broken to me. they simply chose a technically good picture, ie, no blown highlights and no crushed blacks.

[@ToxMod]

@@zodiacfml To the average guy.

[@ToxMod]

@@tydendurler9574 I dont know if that was smart ass? or dumb ass? you tell me.

[@ombrandon]

Fantastic breakdown! I thought I was crazy deciding to play in SDR because the HDR felt broken, and I appreciate the thorough confirmation.

[@loki76]

It's like SDR is the real HDR. Because it certainly look more "HDR" than the HDR does.

[@seanlacroix]

That's what I was thinking. When I play it in sdr on my pc it looks amazing compared to hdr.

[@tydendurler9574]

2021...actual 4k/120fps consoles are out...and this is the sad reality. I swear to god the high tech adopters are the industry's idiots these days.

[@majidzohoori9962]

No it doesn't his comparison is 100% bullshit, HDR makes the picture look waaaaay better

[@K11...]

@@majidzohoori9962 What platform are you playing on?

[@BearMetro]

@@majidzohoori9962 Hell no lol. It looks washed out.

[@a18ttc]

This is like a Michelin 5 star chef trying to explain why adding ketchup to your microwave meal doesn't make it gourmet.

[@cacamacaaa]

haha the best comment!

[@tydendurler9574]

Michelin? Round here they make tires...who eats tires🤔

[@T0mT4yl0r]

So right.

[@lefouduroi9980]

@@tydendurler9574 They also make a guide for touring (Michelin tire company), which is where they started the Michelin Star system for restaurants. It has stuck and is the most relied upon ratings system for restaurant around the world.

[@rogerhalt3991]

@@tydendurler9574 Google the origin story for Michelin Stars and whilst you are at it, the origin of “Guinness World Records”. Mind blown.

[@richardalbert3423]

HDR looks like the character is developing cataracts

[@ilovelctr]

Lmao, the best comment I've seen in a long while.

[@MatteoRuberto]

Don’t give them ideas!

[@seanlacroix]

It makes it look like I have cataracts lol

[@O_Shag_Hennessy]

It's actually a glitch with character eyes, it does that in SDR as well.

[@polaroidsky]

That's pretty typical of HDR. I think you need a quality HDR capable monitor to make it work.

[@Phill6123]

Thank you! I was thinking of you when I heard the new patch on Cyberpunk fix the HDR! Thank you!

[@Justmeandmy20cents]

@@Android-ng1wn Its still fake HDR

[@davidartrip85]

I’ve been watching too many of your videos. I hear you saying “specular highlight detail” in my head randomly throughout the day now.

[@KhasrouhRecords]

thank you for doing these HDR Focused Videos with Cyberpunk 2077 .

[@TheIzzyLP]

I was waiting the whole day for your video about this patch! Thx!

[@DaPunkNdFunk]

Love your videos Vincent, also you are doing a great service to the whole community of gamers who (bugs aside) are willing to get the best out of this game! Your work is remarkable!

[@Khilab_Lacks]

After watching the Super detail "CoD: Modern Warfare" HDR video I was like this is the channel I've been looking for!!!! But its been a year and this kind of HDR game test videos weren’t really posted here until now.

[@Johnjrambo75]

Great work V. Another fix for Cd Projekt to do.

[@Raancido]

Can you please test if the next-gen patch released yesterday fix the hdr issues, that's should be very helpfully 🙏

[@tomashavlas5695]

it didnt, playinh rn and i try his advices and its still washed out. QLED 120hz Samsung TV 80T series

[@techsamurai11]

@@tomashavlas5695 what’s rn?

[@tomashavlas5695]

@@techsamurai11 right now

[@Lowkey-yb4nm]

Yea it’s still broken, just got it today and hdr is still washed out

[@rafograph]

This is a brilliant content. Thank you Vincent.

[@Ebenezum13]

This is honestly on every single game … HDR just making games plain and grayish, less colorful, lifeless… every single game

[@bollywongaloid]

I think HDR in gaming is broken full stop until they all come around to the HGiG standard. At the moment every dev is doing different things and as a result some games look amazing and others either look washed out or over-saturated, even after you calibrate them as best you can using the (usually inadequate) test image provided in-game.

[@InTheZone85]

this guy has another video of ps5 system hdr calibration and he uses hgig as his preferred choice. This allows proper calibration for each specific game when utilizing in game calibration

[@bollywongaloid]

@@InTheZone85 I know that’s exactly what I do. HDR is still inconsistent from game to game. Red’s look over saturated especially in games like god of war no matter how I use the in-game calibration.

[@Waddehaddeduddedaa]

In my experience, the only thing HGiG does is darkening the overall image, for example in RDR2. And I really don't want that with my B9 sitting in front of my widow front.

[@cmdrdredd]

@@Waddehaddeduddedaa it actually preserves more highlight detail than DTM and is brighter than DTM off.

[@TM-wf2eq]

amen brother. some games have spectacular HDR implementation. while (A LOT) others just give a shitty blurry over-bright desaturated image -- ESPECIALLY if your on PC with the fubar Windows HDR implementation

[@LegoVWCrazyFan09]

That's the thing I was waiting for and Vincent delivered so fast. Amazing, thank you.

[@jbobo3309]

Thanks for the demonstration Vincent! I found that using a tone mapping midpoint of .5 and setting the max luminance to my TV's specified max cdm² of 430 gave me phenomenal results over SDR personally, but I had to play around with the tone mapping and use a custom vivid setting calibrated on my TV

[@mindman1179]

Someone show this to CDPR.. this game would be an HDR standout if it worked right

[@lavir74]

Let's hope they will fix it. Also RDR2 had a fake HDR in the beginning, then Rockstar fixed it and now it is one of the best games to be experienced in such a mode.

[@Justmeandmy20cents]

Yes, this is the way. Was trying to play this game yesterday and the SDR signal looks way better for me too. Hdr also makes the game look less sharp. Seen some dumb f's online trying to prove that the hdr in cp2077 is actually good, BS!

[@goprojameshann810]

Same I play with HDR turned off and get a little better FPS also

[@ThereisNOpandemicWAKEUP]

It has more light, I like more light. Idc if it crushes everything else LOL

[@jayroman3384]

Lmaooo what was their argument for why the HDR was good?? I

[@jayroman3384]

@dear justice letter ohh I’m sorry I didn’t know you were a professional calibrator? Who are you again? How many subs you got? How long you been doing this? Ohh wait..

[@daze8410]

@dear justice letter If it's so good than why is CDPR working on fixing the HDR?

[@willc4920]

We need a 2.1 Phantom Liberty graphics update for Series X and LG OLED😅😅

[@kc-me6wl]

Was looking for this since the update - thank you Vincent

[@FlockerLP]

Are you planning on doing a follow-up video since the latest patch just released?

[@z1n53r]

The only video discussing this that makes me understand all these values and how they affect picture. Thank you for taking the time & money to do all this. I was playing on PS4 Pro at 2 tone mapping & changed it to 1 according to your findings and it's so much better. Thank you!

[@xbone8950]

I'm a simple man I get hdtv test video drop notification I watch.

[@wombat7961]

Idk why but this was much more compelling than watching Discovery Channel... I rather have this guy on 24/7 on my tv hahaha

[@MrJagermeister]

So is this something that could be fixed with a future patch, or is this something that needed to be done throughout development and will now never be “true” HDR?

[@wodensthrone5215]

It can be fixed if someone in cd projekt red knows how to program HDR properly, they added HDR to witcher 3 later on and its bad on that game. Really amazes me how Ubisoft, Bethesda, Square Enix and many other companies give you fantastic HDR but cd projekt red can't.

[@witlessfop36]

Changed the settings on my XBox One X - instant neon! Thanks Vincent 👍

[@chriscab8333]

Can you do a windows 10 HDR thoughts?

[@zakkwylde5545]

+2

[@NexGenTek]

Looks great on pc

[@Hijynx87]

I have a sony x950h and ingame there was no hdr settings? It wouldn't let me, unless I need to exit the game? My tv just made it look super dark and golden without turning it on in game.

[@liaminwales]

@@Hijynx87 on pc? Do you have HDR set in Windows options and correct hrz settings for the display? Windows HDR can be a pain at times.

[@chriscab8333]

@@Hijynx87 playing on windows?

[@justinmorrison5945]

I first found your channel 6 months ago when I was shopping for a new tv, but I’ve continued to watched even after I made my purchase because your content is so interesting, intelligent, and informative! And your personality is quite entertaining!

[@bryanbeckett869]

Vincent you beautiful bastard. This is good stuff.

[@billybadass7718]

Good work. I’m going back to SDR today.

[@amirhajimohammad3003]

Thanks for your work Vincent, love you. Anyway for you to test pc version? Would love you even more if you had videos on pc gaming calibration with lg cx

[@Viscte]

Still want that HDR video for Phantom Liberty that came out. Need another analysis or possible fix

[@kurorhino9644]

Great video! If possible, a comparison of the SDR output versus the SDR converted to HDR output (from the PS5) would be very interesting!

[@Huda88754]

11:28

[@lastmanustanding]

These videos are super helpful. Thanks very much. When I first booted the game, I noticed something bad with the colours compared to other PS5 games I bought. Then I changed the settings in the game and found SDR to be better.

[@Drew__Films]

So I took his advice and I'm playing in SDR. So yes, there are some advantages of HDR that I'm missing out on but the SDR pros really outweigh the HDR cons!

[@samthomas6045]

I know this comment is a year old, but does the sdr over hdr still hold true factoring in the updates?

[@AAscension]

@@samthomas6045 Yes. HDR still looks washed out on PS5 (Sony X905H). The lighter parts are brigther, but overall the blacks are grey.

[@b.3713]

@@samthomas6045 Tried HDR on my PC (brand new build. max settings etc) SDR is just better in this game, the Ray traced Lighting looks better, 1st person driving is kinda blurry with HDR on? idk but hdr is just not optimized here. SDR better unless youre uber picky or something

[@boxi360]

Thanks for the video! Please make another one when there are further patches came out.

[@Lock2002ful]

Would be interested in seeing a comparison for the PC version.

[@epitrop0s]

It's exactly the same on pc my monitor isn't true hdr it tops out at 408.62 nits so I had to really fiddle with the values and mid point but you can't see anything when you go that low

[@Lock2002ful]

@@epitrop0s Thank you very much for that input. I guess, I’ll just enjoy the game in SDR then and not buy a new monitor or tv. 😅

[@GenMuc]

@hdtvtest Do you think you could do an updated video for settings with all the new features that have been added to the game I wonder if the settings are better now since you last checked

[@FuriousPope]

I found use the mid-point as the actual "mid-point" gives me the best result. Meaning if you would set it to 10.000 (max)nits the mid point would be 5 (out of a max of 10). My old Oled is rated for 1000 nits and even though it only goes to about +-600 nits on a 10% window, it does tone-map best to 1000nits. So I set my tv to 1000 nits max with a 0.50 mid-tone point (UI at 120 nits). Blacks aren't perfect, but are pretty on par with SDR while still providing good specular highlight detail. (can see the price on the vending machine, and the wiring on the lamps). Menu screens still look pretty 'wonky', but the actual game looks way better then SDR like this, at least on my screen.

[@tewrecks6410]

CX?

[@FuriousPope]

@@tewrecks6410 Older pana oled, EZ950

[@mr8I7]

How do you find out the nits rating of your TV? I'm using a Sony KD-49XG9005 and can't seem to find the info anywhere.

[@ygelion5641]

Vints, I have to say your content is sooooo good. Great video dude!!!

[@EricK-vy7wt]

This channel is why I can’t just play a game without constantly tweaking settings. Blessing and a curse.

[@sithhunter965]

yeah but once we watch the video then the games look better once we change settings.

[@50greykitties]

This was such a good video. Glad to see the comparison

[@3ArtDigital]

Would you be able to test this again ? the game had many improvements in the past years

[@FEWGEE1]

I'd love to see you do a video on the latest official next-gen version of cyberpunk.

[@michaelfisher5096]

Any update to this?

[@MakeGamingGreatAgainMGGA]

Amazing stuff. I was messing around with hdr for so long on my ps5 , lg oled tv. But im just going to play it in sd now

[@sermerlin1]

Hey Vincent. Can you please check patch 1.5 now as they did say they balanced HDR and I am seeing a difference now. It's no longer as washed out and the HDR pops I'm actually seeing. I would love your thorough input on patch 1.5 HDR and whether its better to use HDR now.

[@SeanJohn127]

The hdr interface is still confusing to me. I dont know what im doing and theres no reference points.... Imma keep it on sdr lol

[@sermerlin1]

@@SeanJohn127 well the first one the nit is the setting the peak brightness value meaning the max capability of your TV. As my TV is sony XF90 and it can do up to 1000 nit so I set to 1000 nit. Third option the paper white is just a brightness level of UI so it doesn't glow searingly bright 1000 nit so you can lower it to normal 100-160 nit in order to be perfectly readable without going dry and blind due to squinting. Third option im not sure what it does yet but I leave it at 1.80 as 2.0 is just overall too bright for me. Maybe brightness floor or something or the difference between lowest and highest value idk. We really need vince on this.

[@TechnoZenGaming]

Image with washed out colors because the image is in a limited range, but your TV interprets this as a full range

[@packelwudding2801]

Hey please test the Auto HDR feature for backwards compatible games on series x 🙏🏻

[@Kuranghi]

TL;DR - It's got potential but currently mostly makes games look worse than just turning on DTM in your TV. I think I saw one example where it managed to look similar to a good HDR mode, like Doom Eternal. There is definitely a video out about it already, by EvilBoris I think.

[@marcangelus]

@@Kuranghi yeah I have to agree, it tends to add weird artefacts on textures and make things glow that aren't meant to, along with washing out the regular colours. I was comparing Slime Rancher on PC and Xbox and the PC version looks so much nicer. (And also performs so much better on a 4 year old GPU, but that's another story)

[@Kuranghi]

@@marcangelus I was really excited about it because they were talking about it intercepting the "signal" internally and increasing the dynamic range/colour space in a not-just post-processing way, but I think that was bollocks and even if it is using HW to do its not worth it if DTM in your own TV is better. The funny thing is the PS5's system level HDR tonemapping of SDR PS4 games is actually better in a some ways, because it doesn't make the HUD/UI too bright, like with Xbox Auto HDR. Ironic that Xbox touted it as a big feature and PS was just like: "Oh yeah, we're doing that too, but we don't need to tell anyone because its not a big deal and the results are spectacular anyway".

[@marcangelus]

@@Kuranghi Yeah it sounded cool but I wasn't really sure how it would work because post processed HDR (like in games such as A Plague Tale Innocence) generally looks bad, and the Auto HDR doesn't really make a massive difference unless you're playing a game with a lot of neon. HDR in general can be a mixed bag though. I was looking forward to playing Tetris in HDR, but all those lovely neon colours become washed out as soon as it switches to HDR on the main menu.. Overall, coming from being a PC gamer with a pretty old PC, (i7-4770k / GTX 1070), I've been disappointed with the console as my PC outperforms it in every comparison I've tried so far. Even Call of the Sea, apparently made for next gen, runs at 80-100 fps on my old PC and struggles with 60 on the Series X. It's crazy really, that they've managed to take hardware twice as good as mine and make it perform worse.. I'm hoping it's just teething problems for devs getting used to the new architecture but it certainly makes me worry that true next gen experiences are going to be severely hamstrung.

[@Kuranghi]

@@marcangelus I'd say problems like that with smaller/indie games such as Call of the Sea and Bugsnax its kinda down to the dev not doing a good job of optimising for consoles bandwidth limitations, I find that the PS5 drops way more frames at native 4K in Bugsnax than it does on my GTX 1080, even though you'd think it would outperform it. I have a 3770K as well, so a bit older than your 4770K, which maybe makes a difference frame latency wise. Too bad the IQ is broken on PC for Bugsnax, I couldn't get it to look right and when I started on PS5 I realised its because they have in some way artistically tailored it to look best in HDR, which PC doesn't have, so you are stuck with a flatter image but with good tonemapping (Thats with "Vignette" set to off in options, with it on its...) or a too contrasty image which is punchy but the tonemapping sucks and there are harsh highlight gradients that look like crap DTM.

[@ivansharpe7986]

This is what I have been waiting for!!

[@welshmouse]

So my LG oled tv has a setting called “black level”. When i change from auto to low, it seems to really improve the image. Im not an expert though, so I’ve no idea what its doing or if it is any good, but I’ve been playing in HDR since finding that setting and my only issue is it now seems to crush some shadow detail. I haven’t even tried SDR mode though, so intent to give that a go bow and see if its better.

[@edragyz8596]

"Black level" refers to the range of the display. For best results you want the display to match the range of the pc/console. If they don't match you could "crush" your blacks which will result in detail loss in shadowed areas. Do some quick googles to find which setting is which range, and match it with your console. Neither range is superior technically, it's like speaking 2 different languages, as long as both are the same it won't affect image quality.

[@edragyz8596]

It is likely you have crushed your blacks, a lot of people prefer it because of the higher contrast, but it is not how the image is intended to look.

[@welshmouse]

@@edragyz8596 im playing Pc, but i suppose this is doing the same thing as mentioned in the video of reducing the range to inprove black levels but crush blacks. So yeah, I’d say in this instance where cyberpunk has a broken black floor, its not a bad solution, at least until the hdr is fixed.

[@edragyz8596]

@@welshmouse Cyberpunk's black floor will be EXTRA CRUSHED.

[@lolerie]

@@welshmouse that can of course fix the issue, but the problem will not be fully fixed, because the limited and full are very different. That is both superwhite and black level. This must be fixed on dev end. You should never set different black levels.

[@Dragoniangore]

Thank you for sharing your findings.

[@SaltankX]

PC Version has a choice between HDR PQ and HDR scRGB.. what’s the difference?

[@Kuranghi]

I think it's HDR10 with a different colour space than BT2020. A larger one I believe. Far Cry New Dawn on PC has this option so maybe check out information on that mode to see if that helps you out, until someone explains this specific cyberpunk mode. It should be the exact same thing tbh so a description of the FCND mode should suffice anyway. If your display supports it I believe sRGB is going to look better. It did for me if I remember.

[@Ace21kg]

@@Kuranghi yeah ive used sRgb and it looks great.

[@xraystylex]

Scrgb is a colour space with 16 bits colours to render the image, it gets converted to your displays HDR 10 colour space after that in both ways. Usually pq stands for exact brightness levels in lumen in real life that your TV will display, here it would obviously just render the image in normal srgb space and convert to HDR. The real difference is, that some colour might get less banding with scrgb, but an additional more complex conversion must be used that might take 1 or 2 FPS.

[@Kuranghi]

@@xraystylex Less banding makes sense if its 16 bits. When I compared HDR10 BT2020 an HDR10 sRGB in Far Cry: New Dawn the colour palette was completely different than the BT2020 version. Do you know what would explain that difference? My TV is calibrated in SDR and HDR, but I don't think he touched the sRGB colour space mode since I had nothing outputting that. Maybe that would explain the difference. It was a very stark difference though so I'm sure something else was going on.

[@xraystylex]

@@Kuranghi yes, like I said, some colors have a greater dynamic range than others in scrgb, you can search Google for diagram pictures. That's why it would show different colours for the same data values if you just interpret data different. By selecting the colour space in game, the colours should show up the same in the end.

[@sk810180]

Vincent is a real savage his random inputs are GOLD

[@Vlad7six0]

Can you please make a video on the new LG CX firmware update? It fixed many issues

[@L1ft0ff]

what did it fix?

[@tukkeuma8958]

What firmware and what issues are you talking about?

[@seanlacroix]

Lg tells people what they fixed on the website. Check there

[@unknowna1]

Excellent investigative work Vincent

[@AdamBrackney]

On my LG C9 and CX you have to set the black level to low instead of high or auto. It completely fixes the washed out look and makes the image look so much better. I'm not claiming it's some perfect hdr representation at that point, but it does look much better.

[@bidensapedoooo]

Thank you I was hoping you'd do this

[@davelutherable]

Would love to see a follow up on the next gen version dude. I feel like they’ve changed HDR quite a lot and it has more pop now, but we’re completely in the dark once more as to whether it’s an improvement over SDR. We need a hero.

[@KontryBoy706]

it's STILL washed out compared to SDR... I'm playing it right now on PS5

[@sermerlin1]

​@@KontryBoy706 No it ain't. I can see color improvement when I switch it on, especially on neons and ads. They gain depth and clarity that is lost in the SDR which is usually perceived in the games with good HDR. I can also see the difference between bright neons and dark corners which you couldn't before this patch. The only thing that looks crap is the menus with HDR as if thery didn't update menus or something...

[@Gulatek]

@@sermerlin1 I’m about to start the game now on PS5 for the first time in my life and I noticed that the menus are washed out but if you tell me that you’re 100% sure about that HDR Quality in the rest of the game is fine , I’ll keep it in HDR.

[@sermerlin1]

@@Gulatek the rest is fine, really. Test it out. Go at night where there is contrasting scene with neons... For my TV which is 1000 nit sony XF90 i chose 1000 nit brightness, 130 nit paper white for UI (my eyes really hate searingly bright UI) And i chose 1.8 down from 2.0 which is too bright IMO. You will see there is depth where the neons are clear and vibrant while the rest of the scene is dark. It's no longer everything compressed into this ugly gray filter looking image. Then go back to the menu and you'll see that compressed gray filter looking image which looks ugly... I'd say it looks great now. I even compared it to SDR and I don't see washed out picture outside of menu. Only menu now looks horrible.

[@Gulatek]

@@sermerlin1 Thank you so much. I was about to start the game yesterday but I couldn’t and I’m going to start today. I’ve been waiting for more than a year to play this game and now my expectations are in the right place. I think I’ll have a good time.

[@Mexicocatfishing]

You are the King!!!!!! 🤘😎🤘 I love the way you brake everything down!✌️

[@caiopetri554]

Thanks, Vincent. I'm playing it SDR in my LG CX + PS5.

[@tewrecks6410]

settings pls?

[@cheatingthesystem21]

Love your analysis keep up the amazing work!!

[@AlleyKatPr0]

Just to add some colour to this very interesting topic: PBR or Physically Based Rendering was added to this after the game engine was originally coded without it. The easiest way to see the importance of this is the "Fresnel" and specular highlights. It's easy to spot this 'shader switch', as surfaces have a lot of 'grey' and washed out surfaces, with an almost 'waxy' look to surfaces, that were NOT originally meant to be PBR. They used as you've stated, SDR. I quote "REDengine 3 has a flexible renderer prepared for deferred or forward+ rendering pipelines." and "Cyberpunk 2077 uses REDengine 4, the next iteration of the REDengine. It introduces support for ray-traced global illumination and other effects, with this technique being applied in Cyberpunk 2077". So...they just took their SDR non-physical forward+/deferred renderer pipeline, and just added Global illumination, and then added a post-processing filter to give it fake HDR! Cheap yet expensive to render (from a CPU/GPU perspective) Moving forward, they cannot fix this, because they would have to redo the entire art for the game, rewrite the shaders, rewrite/change the renderer and strip out all of their hard work on the engine overall. The switch to PBR is perfectly fine - but not if you did it mid-way through development (which is what they did) and then adding GI at the 11th hour was a colossal mistake, just as; trying to create GTA 2077, with a crew of 50 people. They barely made witcher 3 work, and had to pull out the extra development with that game after launch (check the patch notes for W3 - they were still releasing patches well after a year of release) and I suspect this game will take another two years of patching and updates. This game is not worth the money being asked for it - and the graphics for HDR and SDR look dreadful, and, GTAV (the game they were trying to replicate for share holders) looked better than this *7 YEARS AGO* Plenty of topics to research on this: PBR Forward Rendering Deferred Rendering ACES/sigmoid curve tone mapping in computer games Global Illumination Fresnel in computer graphics (and the problems of glancing angles with light sources) Specular Highlights (similar to above) "Carmack's Reverse" (shadow volumes) Fast Inverse Square root (0x5F3759DF) And of course, the talks on GDC hosted by KZbin.

[@enesaslan8622]

Wow very nice comment! Thanks for the input

[@Jayme_Roy]

Nice long comment. I disagree with Cyberpunk having bad graphics, though. I just finished RDR2 then started 2077 a day ago. On ps4 pro, sdr, upscaled on a x900f sony. It's got flaws, yes. Texture load ins, draw distance, pop ins etc. Besides those, so far...it looks around RDR2 level. Certainly better than GTA V. Patch 1.04 for the first 6 hours then 1.05 for the another 6 so far.

[@Jayme_Roy]

And last year when my internet went out, I installed Witcher 3 retail vanilla and the game ran fine, except maybe a few minor bugs. This was on Xbox One S.

[@fosho8214]

Another great explanation by hdtvtest... thanks for vid

[@sKullkidi]

Man, HDR looks terrible compared to SDR in this game. So washed out... Really reminds me of the HDR in Red Dead Redemption 2. Night and day difference. I haven't actually started playing Cyberpunk yet because I'm waiting for more patches and hopefully the actual next gen version, but when I do it will probably be in SDR. But they might fix that as well...

[@jayroman3384]

Whoa whoa, after they fixed the HDR in RDR2 it’s actually pretty good. Initial release was terrible tho

[@sKullkidi]

@@jayroman3384Oh, didn't know they fixed it. That's awesome 😁

[@SoleEpiphany]

@@jayroman3384 I wouldn’t call it a fix as much as they added it lol. Even the terminology they used was misleading.

[@jayroman3384]

@@SoleEpiphany yeahh, honestly I don’t know why they kept the “cinematic” version. It’s like the refused to admit they had fake HDR and just called it cinematic. But yeah Bernhard the actual HDR mode in settings is called “game”

[@sKullkidi]

@@jayroman3384 ahh, lol

[@spidermangalarza]

Vincent's the best ,content genuinely driven by his love in his field. I'm not even mad you have two PS5's lol

[@Breezy.m16]

Hey @HDTVTest can you do an update to this video now that the Cyberpunk update has finally come to PS5, I must admit the HDR works now and I can finally play the game without it crashing, I would just like your professional opinion on the HDR and what video settings could be best 😊

[@FEWGEE1]

It still looks kind of washed out with raised blacks to me.

[@rafadrath7481]

+1

[@Viscte]

Let's get an update on this for patch 1.5 on the PC.

[@Boofster]

Vincent, please test this on the PC version with the 48CX as well. You have a 3090 video card right? Best settings would be much appreciated! I can't get it to look perfect even in SDR :/

[@louie242y]

Current Nvidia drivers have a bug that raises blacks in HDR systemwide. Combine that with Cyberpunk HDR already being bad and it becomes a nightmare. A hotfix for the HDR driver issue came out yesterday but it's not rolled into the current WHQL drivers. Also, seconded in wanting to see SDR Gamma settings on the C9/CX. I have my Gamma set to 1.20 and it looks solid but I can't tell if I over did it or not.

[@Amrylin1337]

Looks fine in SDR but yes, the HDR is still broken on PC.

[@Boofster]

Just saw this. Hotfix is here: www.reddit.com/r/nvidia/comments/kfrnb8/geforce_hotfix_driver_version_46097/ Going to try it right now :)

[@hdtvtest]

@Boofster: We have paid several times for buying the game on PS5 twice + Xbox... it's unlikely we'll want to pay another time... we're not made of money you know.

[@Boofster]

@@hdtvtest I will gladly sponsor a copy for all the hard work you do. Let's not make that the obstacle for what many of us are looking for. Contact me and I will take care of it.

[@veheikko]

Thanks for the great video, V!

[@maglorc]

If possible could you test HDR in the Witcher 3? I’m very sure the HDR implementation is not very good in that game as well, and it might indicate what their history is with developing games in HDR

[@uncouthliyouth4486]

Replaying witcher 3 now on my pc(initially played on my Xbox one X in HDR). I'm going off of memory here as I haven't done side by sides but I don't think it's as egregious as the implementation that's in 2077. It's not washed out but at the same time it seems kind of tacked on in the witcher 3. The colors did seem richer and popped more in Toussaint compared when going between SDR and HDR on my Xbox one x. Haven't missed it in my pc playthrouth yet, and I'm a big fan of HDR when it's done right.

[@aliensmadeus]

man, i really start to like your videos, keep going

[@highcollector]

For me HDR is working great, because I'm playing it on a PC. It has a different HDR implementation.

[@danw3735]

It's not, it's still broken on PC too. Turn off HDR in windows 10, and turn off hdr in game, and you will see the colours pop.

[@highcollector]

@@danw3735 don't use HDR pq, use the other HDR option and you will see...

[@matrix6977]

I’ve never seen your channel before, but I tried to toy around with HDR settings in game but obviously only on my single tv, but I felt like the HDR version was more washed out as well and have been sticking to the SDR version. I’m glad you made this video to really show the differences.

[@tewrecks6410]

SDR as in only ingame options or do I have to turn HDR off from PS5 settings as well?

[@Breezy.m16]

I've just started playing this and could really tell the HDR isn't right, I was really thinking about leaving the game till it is hopefully optimised to the PS5, I will definitely turn the HDR off now.

[@Optimusprimerules1]

High quality content as always. Great video. I'll keep this knowledge in mind when I get Cyberpunk

[@krookedvulture]

Remember when you could just play a game without needing to consult a technical expert and spend half an hour faffing about in TV and console settings? It's difficult to even tell how anything is _supposed_ to look any more HDR always looks washed out to me if when it isn't _"broken"_ Thanks for the video though, no shade at you!

[@apocalipsiz]

you answered a question that i had since i played the game from the first time, thanks

[@CmlDexter]

I think this HDR issue occurs on the console version. I would love if Vincent would be able to check PC versions to validate this :P

[@Artsificial]

You are my Babelfish for video tech anything. Respect, good Sir!

[@OutsideDuhBox]

On my pc at 4k I can attest that hdr makes the image a LOT clearer, smoother, punchier. There is just a LOT more DETAIL and the detail is Crispier. Not just about punchy colors but detail matters.

[@Amrylin1337]

It is still broken on PC.

[@OutsideDuhBox]

@@Amrylin1337 that it is but from seeing this video OMG so much better than on consoles...Jesus.

[@ПавелПовх-з3у]

@@Amrylin1337 On monitor? Yes, but so is every other hdr game, but on qled tv game looks fantastic.

[@NexGenTek]

@@Amrylin1337 looks great on my end

[@MrKeech666]

@@Amrylin1337 All HDR in games is broken in the sense that you have to calibrate for each game. However, they all "work" once you adjust the settings.

[@15flute289]

Sweet comparison Vincent 👍🏽

[@JAKOB1977]

The SDR looks more like HDR, then the neutered HDR setting... though it changes in later scenes.. likely the presentation. come again CDPR..a shame as a potent HDR would do wonders in a game like Cyberpunk2077 not last on an OLED screen. a shame they keep messing that up... on RDR2 they could argue it has been in production from an SDR-era, where HDR was questionable at best.. Cyberpunk2077 should have got this right... HDR did not came overnight.

[@Zinkolo]

God I'm so glad I found you. I never would have known why my HDR looked so wrong and why I can't output to RGB HDR at 4k. My tv can only handle ygbvr HDR 4k but it can do HDR RGB 1080p

[@Cyberpunk644]

SDR looks better

[@90lancaster]

SDR presents a superior and cleaner image, but it may be unfortunately the case that one might have to use the HDR work arounds just to be able to read some of the text better. But assuming that isn't such an issue the SDR is better. It does also explain why some of the interiors & underglow where things are not shadowing look even more weird than they should (even without raytracing enabled) too it because the balance is off kilter. But those who are saying "it looks fine to me" might have the Rat tracing on as that at least compensates a little for some of this - but it still doesn't get rid of the weird almost Half Life 2 like screen image lighting range it sometimes has (such as looking at pipes in shadow that look like they are still glowing in full sunlight). They way they calculated the normal lighting methods (pre-raytracing pass ) doesn't seem to be helping the broken HDR either. I hope it's fixable.

[@alexdarby9392]

Great job doing a side by side comparison. Hard for people to disagree when the results are staring them in the face.

[@SlyNine]

Can you test the different HDR modes in PC.

[@AlanPritchard1977]

be interested to see, before the patch the scrgb setting didnt work for me, now on scrgb, 1000 nits and mid tone set to 1.25 i think it looks ok.. but some areas in indirect light look a little flat

[@SlyNine]

@Alb 92 I don't either. Using HDR myself the game looks blown out. Too much bloom. I love the game but the HDR is shit

[@creativeintent1790]

side by side comparison kzbin.info/www/bejne/fnzFZWpmfb-Jpac

[@TheDanishDuke]

Vincent you are a genius for doing this - thanks ! 😄👍👑

[@christofin6057]

Everyone please send this in as a bug report, we must inundate them with reports of this issue

[@maxmaxneolit]

Must *we*, now? Great leadership skills right there. You know what, *you* go write an article explaining how you would run things differently. Let's start with that before you summon armies.

[@christofin6057]

@@maxmaxneolit What? I'm just asking other people to report this as a bug. It's obviously a bug. The game looks better in SDR than HDR. Black levels are clearly elevated, I realized this before this video even came out. CDPR probably isn't even aware of the issue. If you can't be assed to submit a bug report, fine, but why the fuck are you commenting dumb shit like this?

[@mrc247]

@HDTVTest / Vincent Can you please do an HDR test video when Cyberpunk patch 1.2 is released in the next few days? Unfortunately, there is no mention of HDR in the release note, but maybe they finally fixed it.

[@whereistheguru.]

I came here after testing patch 1.2 to write the exact same thing, please Vincent, it looks for me that they at least touched that matter. I can't say for sure without your testing equipment and trained eyes, but to my amateur eye it looks truly better than before.

[@mrc247]

@@whereistheguru. I hope Vincent still reads the comments on old videos. I don't know if there is a more direct way to reach him. Maybe twitter? thank you for a comment, sounds promising.

[@whereistheguru.]

@@mrc247 I checked his Fb and both Twitters, he appears to be really quiet there. I wrote a similar comment under his newest video, maybe you should do the same?

[@mrc247]

@@whereistheguru. good idea, I'll do it right away. Thank you for your commitment.

[@mrc247]

​@@whereistheguru. by the way I opened a thread in the CDPR forum weeks ago because of the HDR problem: forums.cdprojektred.com/index.php?threads/hdr-implementation-is-broken.11057288/

[@HayabusaPaul]

Vincent, does this apply to the PC version as well?

[@klownicle]

I have PC as well, tho it may have been my own configuration. Initially HDR was washed out. I then set my TV to Game Mode and the overall black level improved on HDR mode. I'll have to see how SDR works out. I have a Q90R.

[@kidShibuya]

It does. I play on PC and its completely washed out in HDR.

[@HayabusaPaul]

@@klownicle I have a Q80T

[@Skylancer727]

@@kidShibuya weird, I'm not having that on my PC. It looks really vibrant and contrasted to me. I'd need to find where his comparison shots came from for better reference.

[@klownicle]

@@HayabusaPaul As always must be a Samsung thing! But what I was first noticing was my "black" transition screens were grey, and I thought this seemed weird. But went with it. I noticed that my desktop looked brighter when Windows HDR was on so I changed to Game mode then turned on HDR in windows and it looked better. Started the game and noticed immediately that Cyberpunk looked better. But now I'm definitely curious to see how SDR looks in Game Mode with HDR in Windows turned off.

[@zivkitaro]

Thank you. As always insightful and well presented.

[@SnowBob302]

Fans of anything will refuse to see the truth no matter how thouroughky the evidence is presented. Way to call them out, thanks for doing this. I think they have so many playability problems with this game that it will be a while before they get to the issue of the HDR implementation. I hope you can bring this to the attention of the guys at Digital Foundry. I think they have one of the strongest relationships with developers to raise issues with games.

[@MrKeech666]

Don't blame the games, blame the 4+ HDR certifications out there. We need a standard.

[@qSPARTANp]

@@MrKeech666 Or they could just implement HDR10 like most others.

[@arioch888]

To get this game to look better in HDR, I set my PC to RGB/Full/10-Bit and then used black level low. This darkened the game overall but added a lot more pop to the image. To compensate for the darker image, I set the midpoint around 1.75. This is on LG C9 OLED by the way and I prefer that look with the mis-match over SDR or washed-out HDR image at default.

[@MrWinnieP]

I don’t know why it even needs to be compared. I could immediately tell when I had HDR enabled it looked super washed out and worse than SDR. Some people smh 🤦‍♂️

[@illtones_]

Super obvious to me as well from jump but some people rather believe the labels than their own eyes

[@jamesfurz7406]

Top Man! I hope this get sorted out soon, my OLED looks really disappointing in HDR due to the poor blacks but the extra detail is noticable.