HDR on Gaming Monitor

[not_MrFrost]

Hi everyone! I have a curved gaming monitor (MSI G27CQ4 E2), with supposedly HDR capabilities. I was wondering, is it worth it to turn it on, and use it? Is it good only for when I watch movies, or is it good for gaming as well? Because I heard that it isn't a "real HDR" monitor, so that's why I'm asking here.

Thanks in advance!

[Agall]

3 minutes ago, not_MrFrost said:

Hi everyone! I have a curved gaming monitor (MSI G27CQ4 E2), with supposedly HDR capabilities. I was wondering, is it worth it to turn it on, and use it? Is it good only for when I watch movies, or is it good for gaming as well? Because I heard that it isn't a "real HDR" monitor, so that's why I'm asking here.

Thanks in advance!

HDR in windows is still really buggy. I haven't had good luck but haven't really tested it in a couple of months. Usually bugging out when alt tabbing if HDR isn't supported in a specific background application and such.

[Andrewtst]

3 minutes ago, not_MrFrost said:

MSI G27CQ4 E2

This monitor does't support HDR.

 

The HDR Ready is mimic the HDR and it normally look worst and doesn't able to represent the actual HDR look.

 

MSI G27CQ4 E2– Redefine eSports rules | eSports Gaming Monitor | MSI

[not_MrFrost]

27 minutes ago, Agall said:

HDR in windows is still really buggy. I haven't had good luck but haven't really tested it in a couple of months. Usually bugging out when alt tabbing if HDR isn't supported in a specific background application and such.

26 minutes ago, Andrewtst said:

This monitor does't support HDR.

 

The HDR Ready is mimic the HDR and it normally look worst and doesn't able to represent the actual HDR look.

 

MSI G27CQ4 E2– Redefine eSports rules | eSports Gaming Monitor | MSI

Ok then, so in short: I'll disable HDR 

Thanks!

[Agall]

2 minutes ago, not_MrFrost said:

Ok then, so in short: I'll disable HDR 

Thanks!

Could always give it a test to see how well it works, you'll have to make sure its enabled in your monitor and in Windows, then enabled in the application as well. I've just had it be so buggy only a few months ago when I last tested it that I wrote it off.

 

HDR on the Steam Deck OLED however looks amazing, arguably better excluding pixel density. Comparably though, for 1/10th the cost of my desktop setup, its a hilariously better value. The Deck not running Windows obviously, so Valve can enable it globally without much issue compared to Windows, where even having Discord in the background might break it.

[GuiltySpark_]

41 minutes ago, not_MrFrost said:

I was wondering, is it worth it to turn it on, and use it?

On a monitor capable of displaying HDR, yes. On that monitor, no, not really.

[Andrewtst]

1 hour ago, Agall said:

buggy only

I never experienced any buggy issue on Windows, not sure what bugs you face in your Windows HDR.

[Agall]

5 minutes ago, Andrewtst said:

I never experienced any buggy issue on Windows, not sure what bugs you face in your Windows HDR.

Having to manually adjust settings each time hopping into the game, being the brightness/contrast/etc, since HDR was either too dark or too blown out. Tabbing in and out of games had both HDR capable monitors I've tried swapping between HDR and SDR modes. This was while ensuring Windows, the monitor, and the game had HDR enabled.

 

Its very possible my bad experiences were poor implementations on both displays I tried HDR with and the applications that supported it. It's quite possible its fixed now, just haven't cared enough to try again.

 

Samsung Neo G8 and an LG 34" 1440p curved UW 144Hz display, both HDR capable. Games were a mix, but ones I remember specifically being Division 2 and Warframe, but there were more I tried.

[Andrewtst]

6 hours ago, Agall said:

Having to manually adjust settings each time hopping into the game, being the brightness/contrast/etc

I never facing this issue. It remember.

 

May I know you using what windows? So far it not happen to me in Windows 11 except in one game only where settings not revert back after exit the game. If happened this case, just logout the windows and re-login, and everything will back to normal, no need re-adjust the monitor settings.

 

6 hours ago, Agall said:

Samsung Neo G8

I had this monitor before and the settings of HDR and SDR profile was saved separately. Actually all display I have was save separately.

[Agall]

22 hours ago, Andrewtst said:

I never facing this issue. It remember.

 

May I know you using what windows? So far it not happen to me in Windows 11 except in one game only where settings not revert back after exit the game. If happened this case, just logout the windows and re-login, and everything will back to normal, no need re-adjust the monitor settings.

 

I had this monitor before and the settings of HDR and SDR profile was saved separately. Actually all display I have was save separately.

I'm trying it out again, like I said, its been a few months. So far with Warframe, it seems to be working well.

 

I don't seem to be getting the issues I had before, it was likely poor Windows implementation since I was a relatively early adopter with my first HDR monitor then getting the Neo G8 on release.

[not_MrFrost]

On 1/12/2024 at 6:21 PM, Agall said:

Could always give it a test to see how well it works, you'll have to make sure its enabled in your monitor and in Windows, then enabled in the application as well. I've just had it be so buggy only a few months ago when I last tested it that I wrote it off.

 

HDR on the Steam Deck OLED however looks amazing, arguably better excluding pixel density. Comparably though, for 1/10th the cost of my desktop setup, its a hilariously better value. The Deck not running Windows obviously, so Valve can enable it globally without much issue compared to Windows, where even having Discord in the background might break it.

I don't know, maybe it look a little bit better (after calibration), but the brightness is low, which is not always good for me.

[GuiltySpark_]

14 hours ago, Agall said:

I'm trying it out again, like I said, its been a few months. So far with Warframe, it seems to be working well.

 

I don't seem to be getting the issues I had before, it was likely poor Windows implementation since I was a relatively early adopter with my first HDR monitor then getting the Neo G8 on release.

Make sure to use the official HDR calibration app.

[Agall]

On 1/14/2024 at 7:15 AM, GuiltySpark_ said:

Make sure to use the official HDR calibration app.

Thought I'd give a couple week update on this:

 

Enabling HDR on my Neo G8 has killed any desire for me to get an OLED. I even went to Best Buy and checked out an OLED they had on display and I genuinely couldn't tell the difference. This monitor is HDR2000, so its on the high end of QLED VA panels, but I honestly couldn't tell the difference.

 

HDR on Windows 11 is entirely fixed, no issues, and its even better with Nvidia's new tensor HDR tech. Watching Invincible on Amazon Prime (since I subscribed to it recently to watch Reacher season 2) uses about 13% GPU utilization using RTX super resolution and HDR, but it also looks gorgeous in comparison to it being disabled.

 

I did use the app and enabled it in Windows, allowing it to force it onto games that don't support it. The games that properly support it look night and day better, the latter don't look much different. It does take some extra effort to tune the game, but its totally worth it. That's mostly Diablo 4 and Warframe which both support HDR.

[GuiltySpark_]

2 minutes ago, Agall said:

Neo G8

Near as good as is gets for LCD based monitors today, so this is no surprise. Getting HDR working with proper content is game changing. Prior to my C2 I had no real first hand experience with it and thought it was some side feature that would never really catch on.. now i'm hooked. 

 

Its a shame you need to spend $700+ to really see what its like. 

[Agall]

1 minute ago, GuiltySpark_ said:

Near as good as is gets for LCD based monitors today, so this is no surprise. Getting HDR working with proper content is game changing. Prior to my C2 I had no real first hand experience with it and thought it was some side feature that would never really catch on.. now i'm hooked. 

 

Its a shame you need to spend $700+ to really see what its like. 

My brother has my old 34" LG 1440p UW 165Hz display, that only having "HDR400", but he was interested in trying it out. I imagine it'll be no where as good, since the last time I tested it was over a year ago when HDR on Windows was a nightmare.

[GuiltySpark_]

10 minutes ago, Agall said:

My brother has my old 34" LG 1440p UW 165Hz display, that only having "HDR400", but he was interested in trying it out. I imagine it'll be no where as good, since the last time I tested it was over a year ago when HDR on Windows was a nightmare.

Not just windows, but that's an edge-let display with no local dimming to be heard of. Just not capable of physically doing it.

 

He's probably better off leaving it off.

[Agall]

6 minutes ago, GuiltySpark_ said:

Not just windows, but that's an edge-let display with no local dimming to be heard of. Just not capable of physically doing it.

 

He's probably better off leaving it off.

We shall find out, overall it appears that Samsung's Quantum LED displays and Quantum HDR are basically as good as OLEDs without the numerous longevity concerns. Neo G8 being $1k now, so its competitive in the 4K high refresh rate market with 240Hz. I use DSC with DP1.4 and haven't ever noticed problems. 

 

Regarding OP, yeah, I don't even see HDR400 support for their display which I wouldn't even consider proper HDR anyways.