Is HDR worth it?

[GensticaArcaica]

 

 

Well, I posted another advice topic before, but i've got more budget so I'll try to go for the next tier.

I'm going to wait until Black Friday, knowing that right now only the PG35VQ is available in Spain, and it cost about 3000USD, the monitors that i'm looking for are:

-Acer Predator x35/Asus PG35VQ/AOC AG353UCG (For what i've heard it's the same as the other 2 and it will cost significantly less around the price of the LG, but i'm not sure) 

-LG 38GL950G

If the AOC thing is correct, then we're at the same price range, the LG with 3840x1600 and a 38" display and the others with true HDR (FALD, HDR1000, and all that sort of stuff) but 3440x1440 and 34".

The big point right here is if the HDR is that different in games that support it, I would try it, but i don't have the opportunity to do so due to where I live.

 

[5x5]

Unless you're doing professional work and making serious money with it, 2000-3000$ for a monitor is absolutely insane. Not worth it imo.

[Princess Luna]

I suppose it depends on the person but I still think HDR is just one more gimmick that does nothing but crank up brightness on everything and rather breaks immersion due to excessive unrealistic glowing on games.

[Guest]

In my personal opinion, HDR will never be worth it if companies continue on the path or not knowing what the heck it is.

There is no clear, conscience agreement on what constitutes HDR on both the hardware and software front.

Windows is a mess at handling it even after multiple revisions. You have all these standards that are just more about letting you get away with the least possible thing.

So HDR means something different to the ones making the panel, the ones making the "standard" the ones writing the software, the one doing the color grading, and even.... to you, the end user.

 

I have 4 devices that range from HDR400 - HDR10 and the experience is vastly different across everything.

 

One could say I am not a fan lol. Hope that rant made sense.

[ACatWithThumbs]

I have an HDR monitor and it looks really great, but I don't think it's really worth it unless the screen is OLED/Micro LED, dimming zones are just not good enough.
Also HDR on Windows is completely broken and the support is horrid from Windows, games, and Nvidia/AMD, so it's a hassle to set up and use properly.
There also issues with HDCP 2.2 and other protections, which make even streaming content or playing a blu-ray on PC annoying.

For the price you're much better off buying an OLED TV and a cheaper standard G-sync monitor.

[Knight77]

On 8/14/2019 at 3:04 PM, Princess Luna said:

I suppose it depends on the person but I still think HDR is just one more gimmick that does nothing but crank up brightness on everything and rather breaks immersion due to excessive unrealistic glowing on games.

It’s definitely not a gimmick. 
 

If a game supports it, then it’s a huge difference in colours. 
 

 

[Fasauceome]

5 hours ago, Knight77 said:

It’s definitely not a gimmick. 
 

If a game supports it, then it’s a huge difference in colours. 
 

 

Not to those less color sensitive. To me, the deep blacks of IPS panels were simply my last stretch of improvement, HDR is simply not apparent to me. I use an Aorus AD27QD.

[Knight77]

16 hours ago, fasauceome said:

Not to those less color sensitive. To me, the deep blacks of IPS panels were simply my last stretch of improvement, HDR is simply not apparent to me. I use an Aorus AD27QD.

Perhaps you’re an exception. 

Especially if you think IPS panels offer any kind of “Deep Blacks” compared to something like an OLED display. 
 

Ive owned a $6,000 FALD TV and a $6,000 OLED and the latter is leagues ahead when it comes to blacks. 
 

So that’s a major point there because no consumer IPS monitor will come close to a high end TV and no where near a OLED - and I’ve also owned a PG27UQ. 
 

But the best way to describe SDR is that it lacks brightness, depth and is WASHED OUT. 

 

The colours just don’t pop or have any real range to them. 
 

Switch to HDR on a high end display and it’s just WOW. 

 

I love the Costa Rica 4K HDR demo video on YouTube. It looks ridiculous. The Green Snake has never been so.... green. The reds, blues, yellows have never been so vivid before. 
 

And on the backdrop of OLEDs infinite black - it looks crazy good. 
 

HDR in itself is a massive step forward for visual quality. 
 

HDR10+ and Dolby Vision are very impressive when seen on a high quality display. 
 

But the benefits and differences are easy to tell and I love watching 4K HDR Blu-Rays on my OLED. 

 

For anyone reading this on a high end HDR smartphone or high end TV / Monitor - just YouTube “4K HDR” and their are some fantastic demo videos!

 

[WereCatf]

On 8/14/2019 at 5:04 PM, Princess Luna said:

I suppose it depends on the person but I still think HDR is just one more gimmick that does nothing but crank up brightness on everything and rather breaks immersion due to excessive unrealistic glowing on games.

Eh, personally, I don't agree. I've recently picked up RDR2 on the PS4 and HDR looks fricking gorgeous. That said, not a lot of games seem to do HDR right just yet.

[Princess Luna]

2 minutes ago, WereCatf said:

.

I believe it's like @Den-Fi has stated, the lack of a proper standard and far too many variations on how to implement it leads to a whole lot of awful implementations that taints the technology reputation.

[Fasauceome]

11 minutes ago, Knight77 said:

Especially if you think IPS panels offer any kind of “Deep Blacks” compared to something like an OLED display. 
 

I've got my Note 8, the blacks look better sure but not leagues better.

[Knight77]

11 minutes ago, fasauceome said:

I've got my Note 8, the blacks look better sure but not leagues better.

OLED is pure black. 
 

These two images are taken from TFTCentral from the monitor you said you had. 
 

So yes, a truly “Black” image from an OLED is leagues ahead of IPS. 

[Fasauceome]

Just now, Knight77 said:

So yes, a truly “Black” image from an OLED is leagues ahead of IPS

In a technical sense yes, but if you're not as sensitive to it, again it just won't show. 

 

I have a hard time thinking I'm an outlier when most people I know seem not to be able to notice either.

[Knight77]

2 minutes ago, fasauceome said:

In a technical sense yes, but if you're not as sensitive to it, again it just won't show. 

 

I have a hard time thinking I'm an outlier when most people I know seem not to be able to notice either.

It may be different for others but I can always tell a washed out black image or a black image that’s gone grey due to IPS panels. 
 

Even the review from TFT central comments that’s there’s a lot of IPS glow and not much panel uniformity and you will tell the difference easily when watching movies or with games that are very dark - sure it will be less apparent in a full colour screen but we are talking about HDR and it’s strengths and benefits from a high quality screen and thus we are comparing this monitor with a 1,100:1 contrast and 400nits of brightness to something with infinite contrast and double the brightness. 
 

Like I said before, a high quality 4K HDR video running on a LG C8 / C9 will look ridiculous and make that monitor look 10 years old by comparison. 
 

It’s difficult to get the point across unless they are side by side but theirs no shock when LG sweeps every picture quality awards for their HDR Screens every year, for the past few years running. 
 

There was a review done by Forbes for a few HDR games and things like “game changer” and “sublime” were mentioned because it does add so much more to the experience, imo. 

[Princess Luna]

12 minutes ago, Knight77 said:

So yes, a truly “Black” image from an OLED is leagues ahead of IPS

Yes it is, IPS Glow is a very known issue, however if I may say the latest high end VA panels have really even out the fight a lot, this is the main reason why I ditched IPS for VA on my current main monitor, much superior contrast ratio and deeper blacks even if not on OLED levels.

 

I believe value wise it is the far best alternative right now.

[Fasauceome]

3 minutes ago, Knight77 said:

It’s difficult to get the point across unless they are side by side

That's another problem, if you can only see the difference in side by side then it really doesn't "pop" does it

 

I actually did want to test HDR on and off side by side on my monitor but unfortunately no legitimate test exists. All videos online are effectively an incredibly washed out image followed by an image with colors in it 

[Knight77]

8 minutes ago, fasauceome said:

That's another problem, if you can only see the difference in side by side then it really doesn't "pop" does it

 

I actually did want to test HDR on and off side by side on my monitor but unfortunately no legitimate test exists. All videos online are effectively an incredibly washed out image followed by an image with colors in it 

You misunderstand. 
 

I can easily tell when watching HDR content. 
 

But, to convey my message and understanding to others who can’t quite grasp what I may be talking about, you have to have the sets side by side to really show the difference - and the difference is night and and day and undeniably clear when this is the case. 
 

Also, your monitor isn’t a good source to test HDR. 

 

It has no where near the brightness for effective HDR, has very low contrast and isn’t a 10-bit panel. 
 

You’re much better off going to a store with high end sets running good quality HDR footage. 
 

Alternatively, the footage I mentioned on YouTube is excellent as far as HDR footage online goes. 
 

 

[Fasauceome]

2 minutes ago, Knight77 said:

isn’t a 10-bit panel. 

actually it is

[Knight77]

3 minutes ago, fasauceome said:

actually it is

It’s not. 

[Fasauceome]

Just now, Knight77 said:

It’s not. 

AD27QD?

they should change how it's labelled then

[Knight77]

4 minutes ago, fasauceome said:

AD27QD?

they should change how it's labelled then

Meh, they get away with it because they will argue it’s still good enough, like HDR 400/600/800

 

But spot the difference: