Is HDR for PC Gaming Broken?

[rmgdnz]

So I have the Samsung Odyssey G7 which supports HDR 600 (I know it's not real HDR, but I would expect some kind of improvement). Generally, I see HDR advertising mentions colors will "pop" and be way more vibrant, and that shadows/highlights will be more accurately represented. However, I have tried messing with my settings for months and whatever I do, in every single game, HDR always looks worse than SDR. 

 

I have 10bit color enabled, RGB full, and in each game I changed the brightness settings, but colors are always extremely washed out in all games. Is this the intended look of HDR? Maybe it could be considered more "natural" but to me it just looks like someone decreased the saturation. 

 

I played around with numerous combinations of enabling HDR in windows/in game only, etc and it always ends up like this. Any ideas/thoughts would be appreciated!

[Entropy.]

10 minutes ago, rmgdnz said:

So I have the Samsung Odyssey G7 which supports HDR 600 (I know it's not real HDR, but I would expect some kind of improvement). Generally, I see HDR advertising mentions colors will "pop" and be way more vibrant, and that shadows/highlights will be more accurately represented. However, I have tried messing with my settings for months and whatever I do, in every single game, HDR always looks worse than SDR. 

 

I have 10bit color enabled, RGB full, and in each game I changed the brightness settings, but colors are always extremely washed out in all games. Is this the intended look of HDR? Maybe it could be considered more "natural" but to me it just looks like someone decreased the saturation. 

 

I played around with numerous combinations of enabling HDR in windows/in game only, etc and it always ends up like this. Any ideas/thoughts would be appreciated!

Hmm, I've had the same affect with an acer ultrawide. Might be interesting to see what other people make of it, I don't really have an answer for you, though. 

[jones177]

I have an HDR 10(38" LG) monitor and a LG OLED TV that I play games on and my HDR games only look slightly better on the OLED.  

With some games the difference between having it on or off is not worth the effort. So it stays off. 

 

Here is a test I did with CP2077 in the desert. 

HDR off.

HDR on.

With this game it is a toss up. Some scenes look better but other don't. 

 

 

[Doobeedoo]

It can depend from game to game implementation, also many different monitors with various HDR spec, so naturally they'll all look different in the end. Creators master HDR content on high end pro monitors. Also, current monitors are still LCD and not per pixel lit as well as not enough brightness range too.

Sadly it will take some time before it becomes mainstream with good quality across the board and no issues.

[rmgdnz]

14 hours ago, jones177 said:

I have an HDR 10(38" LG) monitor and a LG OLED TV that I play games on and my HDR games only look slightly better on the OLED.  

With some games the difference between having it on or off is not worth the effort. So it stays off. 

 

Here is a test I did with CP2077 in the desert. 

HDR off.

HDR on.

With this game it is a toss up. Some scenes look better but other don't. 

 

 

Thanks for the comparison!

 

What display/color settings do you have in the NVCP and Windows settings? I know we have very different panels but I'm curious if there's something I'm setting up wrong. 

 

I don't own Cyberpunk but I do have Forza Horizon 4/Forza Motorsport 7, all of the Assassin's Creed Games, Star Wars Battlefront 2, and most probably a few other games with HDR, can't remember off the top of my head. If you happen to have any of these games, what are your experiences with them/do you have any comparisons? 

[jones177]

5 hours ago, rmgdnz said:

Thanks for the comparison!

 

What display/color settings do you have in the NVCP and Windows settings? I know we have very different panels but I'm curious if there's something I'm setting up wrong. 

I use the default settings in NVCF. 

Desktop Color Depth (Highest 32 Bit Color Depth)

Output Color Depth (8 bpc)

Output Color Format (RGB)

Output Dynamic Range (Full)

 

In Window I have HDR off and switch it on before I play a HDR game if the game does not do it itself.

5 hours ago, rmgdnz said:

I don't own Cyberpunk but I do have Forza Horizon 4/Forza Motorsport 7, all of the Assassin's Creed Games, Star Wars Battlefront 2, and most probably a few other games with HDR, can't remember off the top of my head. If you happen to have any of these games, what are your experiences with them/do you have any comparisons? 

I have some Assassin's Creed Games but only really liked Origins in HDR.

My most resent favorite HDR game is Horizon Zero Dawn. 

 

Most games I don't test HDR since if it is a feature I have it on. With CP2007 I only test with it since I still consider the game unplayable.  

[rmgdnz]

On 2/24/2021 at 4:31 AM, jones177 said:

I use the default settings in NVCF. 

Desktop Color Depth (Highest 32 Bit Color Depth)

Output Color Depth (8 bpc)

Output Color Format (RGB)

Output Dynamic Range (Full)

 

In Window I have HDR off and switch it on before I play a HDR game if the game does not do it itself.

I have some Assassin's Creed Games but only really liked Origins in HDR.

My most resent favorite HDR game is Horizon Zero Dawn. 

 

Most games I don't test HDR since if it is a feature I have it on. With CP2007 I only test with it since I still consider the game unplayable.  

Hmm my settings are the same, I guess my panel just isn't quite good enough for real HDR. Assassin's Creed Origins looked quite washed out on my monitor. Thanks for all the help!