HDR is a Disaster on PC

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HDR is a Disaster on PC
HDR is a great way to improve the visuals of your game by increasing the dynamic range allowing for brighter highlights and more shadow detail. In fact HDR may be the biggest visual improvement you can make to your display, and at little to no performance cost its much more practical than something like raytracing. With all that said, it may not be for everyone as at least on PC HDR is somewhat of a mess.
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[@GraphicallyChallenged]

Thank you to Vip-cdkdeals.com for sponsoring this video! Vip-cdkdeals.com Halloween Sale 30% Coupon code: GPC20 ▬ Windows 10 pro (15,9$):biitt.ly/6IlTy ▬ Windows 11 pro(22$):biitt.ly/M5PEn ▬ Office 2021(43$):biitt.ly/UYWj1 HDR is a Disaster on PC HDR is a great way to improve the visuals of your game by increasing the dynamic range allowing for brighter highlights and more shadow detail. In fact HDR may be the biggest visual improvement you can make to your display, and at little to no performance cost its much more practical than something like raytracing. With all that said, it may not be for everyone as at least on PC HDR is somewhat of a mess.

[@mechlost]

I agree 100% the HDR that everyone seeks is not really all it is cracked up to be...as you have so many parts and pieces to consider...from a hardware level: does the monitor really support HDR? How many dimming zones does the monitor have, is there enough contrast and color (DCI-P3 100%+) to make it worthwhile, do you have an expensive OLED with both fantastic color/contrast to make it work better...once you get past the hardware hurdle then comes all the software level stuff...sure there is windows auto-HDR...but as mentioned it is not necessarily the best implementation. Folks should instead focus on color gamut, color accuracy, contrast ratio, image sharpness, and speed/smoothness (if gaming).

[@BucephalusHume]

This video was really bad. Sorry to say this so harshly but you basically talked about a whole load of nothing. You started to raise some interesting points but then you didnt develop them at all and a lot of what you said was just outright wrong. This couldve been a really informative video but you just gave your uninformed opinion on the topic without actually giving objective, balanced and researched information.

[@jamestamz]

QuantumTV wannabe

[@WordWizzard4]

Thank you for the Win+Alt+B shortcut. I've been manually navigating to advanced display settings every time. 😭

[@clem9808]

How's that hard? Just press windows key then type in "settings". Easy as that.

[@WordWizzard4]

@clem9808 Hard? No. Tedious navigating through two or three windows vs a simple keybind? Yes.

[@Phantomdude]

@@clem9808 Why did they invent cars? walking works just fine

[@emporioalnino4670]

Thank you so much

[@emporioalnino4670]

​@@clem9808Why did they invent phones? Carrier pigeons work just fine

[@PoRRasturvaT]

Any game that doesn't let you calibrate white point, black point, overall brightness and interface elements brightness has worthless implementation. Period.

[@edwinwebber5776]

I see you've played the last 3 Far Cry games too.

[@AwesomeBlackDude]

All my videos are shot in HDR, and I searched for a new monitor with every type of support feature but came to realize it has everything except HDR. Now, there are some steps to get around the HDR video editing problem, but eventually, the HDR footages have to be restored back to HDR format. So, the first step is to take the original HDR and make a duplicate copy. Take the proxy non-HDR copy video footage into a pc video editor software where I can do everything except for color grading. Once the editing is all done, I replace the converted non-HDR video back to the original HDR and render out the final video. The main reason why you can't edit with the original HDR video footages is that the colors are washed out. To put in the color grade, I ended up using my Sony phone video editor app. My biggest video project isn't in real HDR because somebody stole my Microsoft electronic backpack with the original HDR footage. The worst part is my backup copy stored in my Sony mobile phone was having some major issues, and I ended up restoring it back to factory default.

[@georgewhite5794]

There is little information for some monitors on the black point and white point

[@killertruth186]

Even then, you still have to worry about Windows HDR.

[@sunnohh]

Any feature that requires that much work probably aint worth it?

[@badpuppy3]

Microsoft needs to stop worrying about the damn AI and just get their OS in order.

[@mttrashcan-bg1ro]

Don't you see? They're trying to get the AI really good so it'll fix Windows for them

[@Alexander-tv8jy]

@@mttrashcan-bg1ro lol :D

[@harjassingh9357]

But then they can’t sell it to the military industrial complex 😐

[@DeadPixel1105]

HDR does more than "makes your brights become brighter and your darks become darker". It expands the color gamut, increasing the shades of color that can be displayed. In turn, this creates a much more 'realistic' presentation. For example, if you take two pictures of a yellow school bus - one picture is HDR and the other is non-HDR. The HDR picture will display a shade of yellow that is much more accurate to real-life. Meanwhile, the non-HDR picture of the school bus will still be yellow, but when compared to the real-life school bus you'll notice the shade of yellow is slightly 'off', because it cannot display the proper shade of yellow without HDR.

[@sunnohh]

Reads too ad like

[@ericthomas2388]

Sounds great in practice, but this isn't achieved 19/20. It's extremely rare, and it's not built to work outside of bt.2020 mastered media AND only on genuine OLED/QLED 10-bit panels. Not to mention the other 1000 exclusions that must be present for it to make an objective difference. It's simply not that simple, any number of variations would alters what colors you're are actively seeing.

[@GoldenSW]

From my experience HDR on my LG C9 simply dimmed the image too much on most of the HDR video content. When it's properly implemented it can look incredible. But it can be so bad sometimes I prefer the SDR variants simply because the image is more consistent in brightness and I can always tell what's going on without fiddling with settings or making the room pitch black. I know there are ways to fix this to a degree with better tonemapping but a technology that's advertised as superior in every way shouldn't require this much involvement from the end user.

[@GENKI_INU]

It depends on what you're talking about. In terms of HDR in gaming, "HDR" can do close to nothing in some cases because realtime rendering is already in RGB using the widest color gamut possible, only limited by the capabilities of your display. So pretty much the only benefit in this case is MAYBE brighter highlights, and reduced visual banding in dark scenes, which could be solved in SDR anyway if proper dithering is implemented. It doesn't change the fact that good tone-mapping on SDR content on an OLED display can already look "HDR" to begin with.

[@elmariachi5133]

And yet the human eye can separate just about one million colors.

[@Lloyd-Franklin]

I was looking for a new monitor and was surprised that a £2000 monitor only had DisplayHDR 400, for that price I would at least expect DisplayHDR 1000.

[@evaone4286]

Even DisplayHDR1000 can be shit hdr. It just refers to the brightness peak capability. You can have high brightness and shit colors.

[@agentnukaz1715]

That's ridiculous, on black friday I picked up a 4k mini led with 1000hdr for $670

[@insensitiveprick7680]

I got a 50 inch HDR1000 tv for £600 the other week, TCL Mini LED 50C805K. Windows reports back peak 1499 nits brightness. It only has two HDMI 2.1 ports but it does the job. AMD has a hard coded 400 nit problem with Freesync Premium Pro however, so until this is resolved, it is best only using Nvidia GPU's with this tv.

[@Everett...]

@@agentnukaz1715 EU prices are horrible. The US is basicallly one of the only places in the world where electronics are "Affordable"

[@TreenighetMaranata]

Your reaction and opinion is understandable, and what it really boils down to here is being patient about "HDR", ie if you want to use it!

[@haakoflo]

I just got a G8 Neo, and at first I had the issues in this video, where I needed to turn off HDR for SDR content. After finding a good set of settings, I just leave it on. Now SDR looks like SDR should, HDR looks like HDR should and even Auto HDR is a good improvement over SDR.

[@ceuser3555]

What are the settings? Too bad it is not calibrated with the best settings out of the box.

[@haakoflo]

​@@ceuser3555 I find I get the best results using RPG mode on the monitor. Apart from that, it's basically about using the Windows 11 HDR calibration tool and finally set the SDR brightness to about 20. I also enable Auto HDR, and find that there is no need to bother with switching between SDR and HDR mode depending on content anymore.

[@ceuser3555]

@@haakoflo thanks. I returned my odyssey neo g7 because I hated the color and how the images looked out of the box. My alienware 27 inch 1440p with g sync ultimate looked way better out of the box. The color and images were more vibrant and sharp. I am using windows 10.

[@99Ctube]

@@ceuser3555 Neo G7 owner. Yes the factory settings are really bland looking maybe the colors are more accurate this way but in general you should ramp up contrast to around 85, change picture mode to RPG, set black equalizer to anything between 10-13, saturation to between 60 and 70 and Gamma to Mode 1. Lot of fiddling around but once you find settings that look appealing, the HDR in games and videos is actually pretty good (appart from really small specular highlights Mini-Led can't compete with OLED in this regard)

[@corzabourne2101]

Hdr gets broken when games are using gamma 2.2 in a srgb colour space. You can use a windows colour profile to fix this

[@juneacannon]

Where to get?

[@BeginsWithTheEnd]

I just wish Microsoft would fix how Windows looks while in HDR, the black levels are incorrectly raised and midtones are washed out even after using their calibration tool. It would be nice to set it to forget it because some videos on KZbin are available in HDR but you have no way of knowing without already having HDR enabled and it would be nice to not have to disable HDR every time I'm done playing a specific HDR game.

[@The_Danny666]

Windows HDR calibration in Microsoft store

[@friggindoc]

Oblivion, Crysis and Half life 2 did HDR with directx 9 back in 2007. Tone mapping and eye adaptation was faking HDR really well long before before HDR displays were a thing.

[@killertruth186]

Which it explains why Oblivion looked so good. Same with Elder Scrolls 3 Morrowind.

[@amartinez97]

@@killertruth186 vanilla morrowind actually looks horrible and doesn't support HDR without mods.

[@GENKI_INU]

And these are standard features today that have been part of SDR ever since. Personally, I don't think there's anything wrong with "SDR" because it still keeps getting better, scaling with improved hardware specs in displays. On the other hand, HDR is not quite ready for market and in my opinion is a bit overrated, which kind of reminds me of VRR in the same way. Most people will have a better and more consistent experience with a decent OLED in SDR content that's properly tone-mapped, and with dithering where applicable.

[@killertruth186]

@@amartinez97 Eh, the same can be said with other games. But most games doesn’t support HDR anyways.

[@tamodolo]

That HDR you mentioned is not the same as display HDR. That old game HDR is a common peasant for every game today supporting display HDR or not. It's a light technique. It has nothing to do of actually output wider range of collor and bright information.

[@user-eg5er2ce9t]

my display dims each time a close a game on HDR

[@SaffronTheBat]

if using a tv for windows hdr, if you find the desktop looks washed out, I've found the tv "color vibrance" settings, tuning that up can actually help make things look normal, and the sdr brightness slider.

[@DETERMINOLOGY]

You shouldn't have to do that tho. Such if you have a samsung G7 its powerful enough to pop. On windows it doesn't click but on console im sure the monitor would work well together

[@genejones7902]

What is the difference between 'Use HDR' & 'Auto HDR' settings in Windows 11? I have mine set to use HDR using an Alienware AW3423DW monitor. I left the panel in the default true black 400 mode. On KZbin there are only a couple of HDR channels that really pop (do not know if I'm allowed to say here). I was wondering if this particular monitor works automatically or I'll have to use windows+B method? P.S. It has the latest firmware and does appear to work well in some games except RDR2. I gave up trying to make it work with that game lol.

[@modernbassheads5051]

Open up the display settings while you’re in RDR2, turn auto hdr off then go back to the game screen, then go back to the windows settings and switch hdr to on, minimize it and it should work. You gotta go back and forth

[@parkebostrom8898]

When I launch a Windows game, my 2020 LG CX OLED TV automatically enters HDR mode. I've never needed to press Win+Alt+B. (Prior to this video, I'd never even heard about Win+Alt+B.) When I exit the game, the TV switches out of HDR mode automatically. The TV has done this since 2020.

[@Ham24brand]

Same

[@RogueStatusX]

Bro you're talking about a TV, many more people game on monitors

[@Mustang_Willy]

So something he said confused me. If I have HDR turned on in Windows, do I still have to use the key binding when I'm loading up a game? I thought if it's turned on thru the windows setting it's just on all the time. Am I wrong about this? Also for context my PC is connected to a LG CX OLED TV

[@CriPPleR_HD]

If you have it on before launching HDR content, you do not have to use the shortcut. I would be careful leaving HDR on for too long when on the desktop. I personally never had burn in using OLED but my friend did due to using HDR on the desktop for too long.

[@Ham24brand]

Wait, I don’t have to hit Win+Alt+B. It switches automatically for me.

[@MtnNerd]

Yeah they must have fixed it some time after this video

[@victorx4648]

04:48 As a person with an HDR monitor (ASUS PA-32UCX), I never turn the HDR off, except when I need to do an SDR color-accurate grading, and everything looks good. So there's no point in pulling the HDR knop front and back. Turn it on and set it up properly once and forever. Also, there are no more problems with the availability of HDR video content. Even the original Star Wars are now available in HDR. From my experience, very few contemporary releases are not available in HDR nowadays.

[@casualgamer4112]

Thank you for this video. I wasn't aware hdr was so problematic on windows being is been available since windows 10. This saved me from taking the plunge for now.

[@HorseWithSnakeLegs]

Using the windows HDR calibration app and resetting it really really quickly and leaving "Auto HDR" on in windows settings has led me to have an awesome experience. If a game wont calibrate it correctly in settings, turn it off and let auto HDR do the work.

[@canson1988]

you mean you eneabled auto hdr and then disabled hdr in windows 11? or you have hdr always on ? for me when i have hdr on for my asus g14 laptop my windows is a little washed out.

[@TheEdmaster87]

@@canson1988 Windows 11 Auto-HDR needs to have regular HDR open, then run a supported game in SDR then you will se nice difference in highlights, but the problem is that if the game does not follow the HDR calibration, then this Auto-HDR is broken, this can happen, but now MS has fixed many of the issues with it.

[@teomanakdogan956]

why do you have to disable hdr in windows

[@emp1985]

HDRTray instead. Just click on the button/icon on the tray to turn on/off HDR. Workaround still, but a better workaround :)

[@neth77]

I have a Dolby Vision / HDR10+ monitor and when i turn on HDR in windows everything just looks worse lol. So over it.

[@OllyO-gt8pg]

used hdr10 in 4k for my pc for years with no problems in gaming, on an LG 55" TV @120hz

[@WOW36720]

I have big problem with HDR. My monitor support HDR but only below native resolution and I can't enavle it in windows settings or in games but because HDR on my monitor looks bad (colors are more gray) I don't complain about that. However in few games that don't even have HDR settings this crap enable its self and I have no idea how to disable and there is no HDR setting in my monitor menu. Do someone have idea how to fix it?

[@CARTUNE.]

Me, Apex PC Pred, Ryzen 9, 3080, with my entire graphical settings purposefully set to “claymation” because I’m all about that FPS baby. 😅😅😅

[@nikkmann149]

idk, might be my monitor but I just leave hdr on and everything looks fine all the time. I do have sdr brightness set to 0 , maybe that helps. Windows 11, acer x27 predator

[@killertruth186]

I have forgotten to mention that sometimes auto HDR doesn't actually change correctly or apply right (even some games would permanently dim the screen after exiting and the only fix is to turn off the display and turning it back on). And sometimes driver re installation or just flatout turn the monitor off then back on to get the colors back. This is just mainly Microsoft's fault for HDR being the way it is now after claiming to be supporting HDR.

[@MistyKathrine]

I usually keep a System > Display window open on my second monitor to toggle HDR on and off when I'm playing games, recording HDR content, or editing HDR video. I toggle that off and on a lot.

[@canson1988]

or use win+alt+b

[@MistyKathrine]

@@canson1988 That worked for awhile but then there was an update where that stopped working for awhile so I got into the habit of using a window.

[@PCproffesorx]

I have the aw3423dw qd oled and have been debating whether to just leave HDR on the whole time or switch back and forth with win alt b, Yea there is some SDR content that doesnt look great with it on constantly, but im still trying to figure out whether its bad enough or if I just set it and forget it with HDR turned on all the time.

[@haukionkannel]

In TV, the TV normally automatically detects if the signal is HDR or not… so impossible in Windows… 😂😢😂😢😂😢

[@jjlw2378]

I have an LG C2. I just leave HDR on all the time. I find the picture to look good in all content. It's just not that serious to me.

[@carlozzz3300]

@@jjlw2378its not that serious to u bc the lg c2 switches between sdr and hdr automatically duh😭

[@jjlw2378]

@carlozzz3300 Ohh, I thought all displays did that. Is it just a TV thing or an LG specific thing?

[@cqllel5186]

HDR is kind of neat.. But it makes errything rly dark and forces me to turn up brightness I learned recently that HDR effects input lag and now I wonder if it effects anything else, such as game performance

[@MikeC-mf7dv]

FYI for anyone flipping around the HDR settings in Windows 10 AND using a 4KTV as a monitor, (don't know about Win 11) is that Win 10 can get confused about the color settings and that a reboot may be needed for Windows and your 4kTV to get the HDR/SDR straight again. Also many media players have an 'auto' selection in the players settings so HDR will be output automatically. You don't have to have Windows HDR on. The same with (some) games.

[@nathanwhite617]

There is also a lot of confusion about how to use HDR, like, if HDR is on, is it over saturating my colors on desktop? It doesn’t look like it, but reviewers don’t really explain this. some games like Destiny have horrible HDR, but that is Destiny. Calibrating is also confusing for me, an HDR enthusiast. Do peak brightness at the absolute max of my display in a 3% window? Or 100%? I just do what looks best but it would be nice to have some guidelines.

[@GameDevSaiTejVejju]

After experiencing hdr in general especially in videos and some games, I wish more games do it and windows fixes their implementation.

[@OMGtheykilledKenny42]

Most cheap "HDR" displays/TV might as well just be plain 4K.

[@GameDevSaiTejVejju]

@@OMGtheykilledKenny42 Yep, there should be a minimum benchmark to be called HDR

[@kousikadhikary]

I don't know what kind of problem you are having but I never have to enable and disable HDR to view HDR videos. It happens for me automatically. Game HDR implementations are game dependent. Some people like Windows Auto HDR over the in-built ones. I myself use the in-built one when available and which doesn't have Auto-HDR kicks in automatically,

[@paddington2063]

But when it’s good, it’s so fantastic I can’t imagine playing without it.

[@DeadPixel1105]

Yes, very true. Doom Eternal implements HDR very well and it looks amazing. Just one example.

[@genasgenas]

Consoles have great HDR

[@scottstamm7022]

Yeah, HDR is a mega issue at the moment. I use a Dell S3220DGF monitor and AVeRmedia Live Gamer 4k. Both do HDR, but I can't mirror displays and have HDR on. I can't run HDR on both and use OBS to copy display from monitor to capture, w/o white blowout on the image. HDR is just a no-go at this time.

[@neikory]

The games that have a good HDR support do look great, the issue is not the tech itself but developers not building their games around HDR at all.

[@Muffinsmasher69]

The only thing that's a disaster is games not having support for it. Also, for some reason windows has to have it's own HDR support for games that don't have it natively, instead of every application.

[@felixlersha]

Totally agree that HDR on Windows is a complete catastrophe. I actually have a PC with a RTX 3080 connected to a premium Samsung 65" inch QLED TV and HDR just doesn't work as it should, so I don't even bother turning it on in Windows anymore. It's no failing of my TV and I've tweaked every setting imaginable from the gamma to the color tones to game mode settings and nothing really makes HDR pop in Windows 11 like it should. It also leaves all SDR content (which is the bulk of what I watch anyway) all dull and washed out, even maxing out that stupid slider in display settings. Given HDR capable displays have been on the market for 10 years now it's frankly an embarrassment how flawed HDR in Windows in 2024 is right now.

[@IRaoulDuke]

You need to have an OLED monitor to really see the impact of HDR fully.

[@haukionkannel]

Noup, just take for example Sony X95L and connect it to your PC and you get great HDR… if the game does have good HDR… ofcourse…

[@juliosalguero4638]

​@haukionkannel my fv43u has fantastic hdr. But dead island 2 has amazing hdr. So colorful and bright.

[@SuperFunkphenomenon]

in the end you mentioned that you would still use HDR. Don't you have any other content?

[@Feckerhead]

I just upgraded from a LG Ultragear 32 1440p HDR monitor to a Alienware aw3423dwf. On the LCD pannel HDR appeared broken, I hated it and have to agree it appeared to not work. Now fast forward to the Alienware OLED, HDR on OMFG. I have never been so Amazed by what I was seeing on screen until now. LCD pannels just don't get bright enough and blacks are to grey to properly display what HDR has to offer. If you have a beast of a computer and an OLED monitor you will see and get all the benefits HDR has to offer but LCD/IPS pannels are no where near good enough to achieve what HDR can do.

[@GUY-on-Earth]

isn’t Windows 12 coming out sometime next year, maybe this will fix it?

[@edwinwebber5776]

And ARGB lighting on the hardware side... We can only pray.

[@shazbot16]

When I hit win+alt+b it make both of my monitors go into HDR mode even though I only want it on my primary. Windows is so annoying.

[@renzalightning6008]

Always found that HDR left much to be desired half the time mostly down to poor implementation. Sometimes on Elden Ring I get a noticably nicer picture, but other times it just looks white and the brightness is on max and not nice. It feels like another nice gimmick that just got chucked in without really being set up right.

[@ArcueidBrunestuddo]

I have an ultrawide displayHDR 1400 monitor and it looks just fine to me leaving autoHDR on.

[@mr.rainbowlovescoffee]

thank you for your help. I needed this.

[@kemy6775]

On Windows Display settings just pull the “brighten SDR content” slider right and it’ll make everything normal. Then you don’t have to keep switching on and off.

[@WaterspoutsOfTheDeep]

I love mini led for hdr, the localized lighting is in itself a feature not on other displays as it can get super bright making the whole scene just come alive 95% of the time. Suns, street lights and so on just look amazing and the bit of bloom completely lends itself to what is being lit up 95% of the time anyways. I think it's the best hdr monitor in the pros outweigh the cons when comparing to oleds. Even for sdr I prefer it 95% of the time for the same reason, like say star wars a light saber will just glow like crazy it just looks so amazing. I can totally look over scenes where it doesn't let itself as well as oled like a starfield where the contrast between all the tiny stars and dark space isn't as good but by and large it lends itself well to the majority of scenes at least the way the eye perceives what you watch and focus on because when shows are filmed those light contrast differences are largely what the mini led focuses on, the tiny minute contrast differences are largely unnoticed and not in the foreground.

[@scottie_dawg]

Allen Wake 2 and Cyberpunk 2077 with path tracing and HDR on my LG 45”OLED untrawide with perfect blacks looks so insane, it’s the literally biggest graphics upgrade in the last 20 years. I toggle HDR on by switching my monitor to gsync and windows remembers. Make sure you run the windows 11 HDR calibration, windows 10 HDR is broken.

[@arseniuskoenig]

Starfield also looks awesome now

[@stuartedwards6996]

@@arseniuskoenig Starfields HDR looks way better with the LUMA mod, it's literally night and day.

[@phantomflame0658]

I agree these LG OLED's are incredible but the biggest issue is everything else looks like crap now. As you said biggest upgrade in years. We suffered with LCD's far too long. I have a C3 42"

[@AnbenK]

My monitor washed out when this is turned on, took me so long to figure this out. Indeed a disaster

[@q6_zilla]

Really hoping Windows 12 fixes the HDR issue on desktops. I thought they would've pushed a big update to 11 but it never happened.

[@michaelcopeland3348]

I have an LG OLED 27-inch monitor and it says it's not supported in the Windows settings for HDR. I am connected to a 6700 XT with a DisplayPort and have updated windows and GPU drivers. All of the settings have been reset and are as stock as I can get them. No this is not a good experience 😂 didn't expect this much tuning and updating with PC

[@Gryllus2501]

I have a gigabyte 32u 4k 144hz HDR400 monitor on Zotac RTX 4090. Such pain to try to use HDR in games. Nor does Windows 11 make easy. Trying to get windows settings, Nvidia control panel settings, then game settings to work. Doesn’t add much in most games. Had few games where HDR was experimental so much crashes or just bad looking lighting. Mainly play without it. Now for PCVR, I be trying on some games as Quest 3 has support over link and “virtual desktop“ app. Think streaming tv might be nice. Eh 🤓

[@ThatOne5]

switching ON or OFF HDR on my BENQ EX3410R +RTX4060 ti 16GB MSI Gaming X Slim gave me BSOD twice already once ingame with cyberpunk 2077 2.1 and another one on KZbin playing a video.

[@RoninLeonim]

Ive been running Windows 11 in HDR full time since beta and its worked very very well on a PROPER OLED HDR display, most of these issues with SDR content looking washed out are problems with LCD 400-600 nit HDR displays. HDR tonemapping on my LG display helps keep everything consistent looking but makes the HDR a bit less natural looking in some cases but overall looks great and I almost never need to fiddle with it. Auto HDR looks fantastic on all my SDR games even if its not "TrueHDR". So yes you are overblowing things. But I agree that these criticisms are largely true on Most of LCD HDR displays including annoying having to toggle HDR off and on depending on content - this isn't an issue on my LG C1.

[@prixat]

Same here, Windows 11, Nvidia GPU, Samsung TV. It's in HDR permanently, no switching required and no problems with any non-HDR content! Even the "Auto HDR" that Windows applies to older games works with no problems on the games I have.

[@phantomflame0658]

I have an LG C3 42 with Radeon 6950XT and when I use HDR on the desktop it looks washed out an awful, almost like you mismatched your TV and GPU settings (limited and full range) and all the blacks are dark greys. I only use HDR in games. If I want to watch HDR content I use the KZbin/Prime/Netflix app on the smart TV as that seems to work better for me. Am I missing something obvious?

[@prixat]

@@phantomflame0658 The OS, the cable, the HDMI port and the TV, all 4 have to have HDR support. Is the cable HDMI 2.1? On the TV I had to switch HDR 'On' for the HDMI port I was using, it's 'Off' by default. Though that's probably just a Samsung thing.

[@SomoneTookMyName]

My biggest complanate is the flickering.

[@brofister9682]

i'd be willing to buy oled if we got a good 1440p 165hz display on 27"

[@gsestream]

so, instead of making the situation even worse to program, to HDR apis, make the programs developers fix their SDR to emulate HDR perfectly, and I dont mean eye adaptation, I mean black and white. min-max.

[@insensitiveprick7680]

My Windows 11 keeps HDR on at all times, you just have to enable Auto HDR.

[@Jacob-hl6sn]

Yeah i'm not switching constantly so i guess im using sdr

[@Razarex]

What's wrong with just leaving HDR on at all times? Then you never have to worry about turning it on or off

[@TheBorkka]

windows has looked good with HDR for like 6 months or more. I never turn it off now.

[@DETERMINOLOGY]

And to add. Windows HDR seems to look washed out. As to console if you have a good HDR monitor it works

[@olliecrayford]

I have both systems, a high-end pc, and both the series x and ps5. HDR for console and with TV's hits so good that you can change colour saturation when needed and brightness levels. On my monitor with pc, it's really bad on most games. The colour seems very greyish and dark with it bring bright but also it being hard to see. Good thing with pc. Is it having reshade and able to calibrate everything yourself. And there's no way I'm spending close to 4k aud for a oled monitor alone when you can just calibrate the image yourself using reshade.

[@genasgenas]

Glad HDR works perfectly on consoles. No headache

[@Yuki2204]

Can't say i've had any of these issues and i've been using an Oled panel for a long time, I literally just leave it in HDR mode and Auto-HDR does a good job for a free function for older titles that don't support it.

[@dealerauctionnightmare4689]

Using HDR on my system makes pictures look horrible.

[@ryzen89]

You can avoid the windows alt b - before you go in a game. You go into System > Display > Graphics > Click your Game > Options > Uncheck Auto-HDR

[@nilox4037]

I have an HDR TV that I use for Forza and Elden Ring. I always keep HDR on and I never get an issue except in Elden Ring where I have to re-enable HDR when I start the game sometimes.

[@urik7793]

I know this is a bit older but you can just turn on HDR for windows in WIN11 and then enable "auto HDR" and my PC is always in HDR with no black screen flipping. Non-HDR content is fine too. You can use windows HDR configuration (from windows store) to calibrate it after those settings are enabled and it then applies that filter. Boom all done. Some games in game HDR settings I may adjust but its mostly minimal and my HDR looks great.

[@Nertez]

To me, RDR2 had absolutely THE BEST HDR implementation I've ever seen in a video game. Nighttime bonfire in the distance never looked so good as in there.

[@itag295]

There are only 2 games that work pretty good on my monitor (iiyama 43"): Elden Ring and Returnal. They don't require HDR activated on windows. I just need to enable HDR on monitor and ingame and it looks superb. Most games need windows HDR and it looks greyish even after ingame tuning.

[@lava1rain]

Have you tried the Samsung QDOLED G8 34 inch Ultrawide? That is the monitor I have and so far, it looks amazing. However, I do agree that Microsoft needs to implement HDR support so it is easy to dial in a great picture like on Consoles.

[@27klickslegend]

I just have HDR and Auto HDR on, if the game has HDR already it "just works" - if the game does not have HDR - AutoHDR takes over and it works. if I watch youtube, HDR content works. Samsung Odessey OLED G8... The only issues I have with HDR are... screenshots / screensharing looks terrible unless I disable HDR first, and when I'm fullscreen it takes a moment for the HDR mode to kick in.

[@gustavmh8423]

totally agreed windows some times say hdr is not suported some times does when it work looks like shit in games and win desktop same i dont know why sometimes work if is the cable windows

[@str8chillaxin]

NOOO. I need good HDR news

[@simonsayz5422]

if the monitor can display it right, HDR looks so good SO GOOD

[@granglerarcade1950]

Hdr is crap on pc anyway i have had many hdr tvs from expensive to cheep you set it up right works on one game swap to another and it is just crap so i use reshade fake hdr.

[@DaBigBoo_]

yep

[@garethsmith6611]

So now we know about RTX HDR, but i just leve hdr on all the time so never have to think about turning it off. I only use my pc for gaming anyway, so its no issue

[@GRUNGyy]

using a samsung odissey neo 49, combine with 3090, i dunno, im not having your problems, neither to switch with ctrl alt b, it auto switch anytime i go in a game that i turned HDR in the options, and as for "emulated HDR" by windows, i find its just alright, we know they are old game, its cool to have them already looking that good. so far the game i really enjoyed its HDR is "THE FINALS" , i actually tried it with another pc that didnt have HDR and its night and days difference.

[@keflas3842]

Lot of double encoding going on they need to just render 16bit instead of 10/12 it just re encodes it again after the driver does, pq mode only works with frame generation

[@DenverStarkey]

when i'm watching tv on my 4k hdr equipped tv or streaming on it m, or plying blu rays/4k blu rays yeah the hdr looks freaking amazing... on pc gmaes though going through the game options it just looks like washed out shit , like the image has milk fog over it.

[@Eft0n]

"not a lot of content supports hdr" nvidia rtx hdr enters chat. it adds hdr to movies, videos and games

[@dominickdote6548]

Although I agree that HDR on PC is not always as good as on say a console, I am not having a lot of the issues mentioned here. I have a several year old 77 inch LG OLED. When I launch a game that supports HDR, the screen flickers , the HDR icon on the tv pops up and away I go. I confirm that HDR is actually activated in the game just in case but I do not have to manually turn it on and off in Windows. (Running Windows 11)

[@DETERMINOLOGY]

"Although I agree that HDR on PC is not always as good as on say a console, " Thats all that needs to be said If someone has a samsung neo G7/G8, DEF worth getting a console to take full advantage of HDR, Those monitors on pc HDR looks washed out and those isnt what you would call push over monitors either.

[@agentnukaz1715]

Too late went mini-led, didn't know about the windows thing thnx

[@skapunker1986]

I have a Triple Samsung G7 Odyssey setup. the amount of games i succesfully managed to play in HDR i can count on a single hand. experimented here and there a bit with "Special K" and now recently Nvidia brought out RTX HDR, and it just works !!! im so amazed i can play non hdr games in hdr now. loving it. before i treated HDR as an gimmick that barely ever worked. but now im having new hope.

[@itranscendencei7964]

I rarely play games that actually support HDR, so the only time I would ever really use Windows HDR would be for watching video content that supports it. Not even all the video I watch supports it, and most of the games I play genuinely look better in SDR. So I just leave that sh!t off.

[@BryceCzirr-jz7ju]

RTX HDR - Hold my Teraflops

[@daysofgrace2934]

Playing The Last of Us on HDR on Win11 QE55Q9FNA, ran the Win 11 HDR app and it looks beautiful. My monitor is 5 years + old so I can only do 1440P or 4K HDR 10bit 4:2:2 mode at 60Hz Freesync. I will check the Samsung OLEDs & QLED Nano screens...

[@IncessantWake]

HDR on PS5 looks good but damn does it look like crap on my PC. I use the same monitor for both.

[@leonthesleepy]

The worst part is when HDR monitors dont let you calibrate the brightness, and the games/apps dont let you calibrate brightness either. Just enjoy burning your eyes out i guess

[@disaster6467]

No issues here, I'm using windows 11, lg cx48 12900k/4090 combo and I always keep hdr on, games like cyberpunk looks amazing, most monitors look like crap even my lg ultrawide does, but with an Oled tv , it's day and night

[@BigBananaVT]

I have 2 monitors with HDR and while it CAN look fantastic in some scenarios I can't use it most times. Streaming on Twitch still doesn't look right with it, me being a Vtuber as well as a clipper for other Vtubers our colors look too whited out or too dark, and like you said theres not a ton of games that support HDR properly. Looks great when I CAN get it right, but it's just not enough to bother right now. Def getting some OLED monitors later to replace these. Also got a new OLED TV coming tomorrow from the Black Friday sales so looking forward to putting that up on my wall!

[@Skylancer727]

I'll be honest, I've yet to see even developer intent HDR that I thought looked better than just using my display's built in HDR brightness and colors for SDR content. Many games flipping back and forth looked nearly indistinguishable and some it looks objectively worse. Final Fantasy 7 Remake looks nearly identical for the most part, but the menu is now the wrong color in true HDR. Final Fantasy has a very distinct blue menu system going back to the first game, but true HDR makes it basically grey. I think it also says a lot with how people wanting HDR are also now demanding better control of the darks, white point and peaks. It honestly takes far more effort to get an accurate HDR result with true HDR where with fake HDR it at least looks consistent to SDR just with more contrast. Final Fantasy 15 in HDR makes night impossible to see with no control over the darkness which is just completely crushed, and Forza Horizon 4 in HDR actually made the contrast go down from fake HDR with the brights being held back and the entire image being dimmed just so the sun could be so bright compared to the screen.

[@HomercidelRage07]

Has this gotten any better in the last seven months?

[@Sideways_Singh]

RDR 2 didnt have HDR at launch it was added in later its not like native HDR, but theyve updated it n its much better now then it was when they released it.

[@TheEdmaster87]

There are many HDR broken games out there for PC, infact, so many you would not believe it. Luckily you can fix these with some tools, or even add HDR on non-HDR games. You can use re-shade with lilium HDR fixing and analysis tools on every game, then on non-hdr games, you can use auto-hdr tools (majorpainthecactus) for re-shade and add hdr, if a game is made in and runs on unreal engine 4.5 and unreal engine 5 game, you can enable, tweak and fix hdr in that game, even though the game it self doesn't support HDR natively. If you have an OLED TV, you can also adjust TV Settings to fix HDR this way. Some games are better off running in SDR, then if supported use Windows Auto HDR feature, which can be much better than the game creator's HDR implementation. There are many guides how to do this on youtube. I play all my SDR and HDR games in HDR specially after fixing them, once you learn how it work, and what the settings and fixes mean, you will never go back to SDR gaming again, especially on the newest and brightest OLED, miniLED monitors and TVs from 2020 and newer.