hdr HDR looks terrible and washed out on QD-OLED (Dell Alienware AW3423DWF)

[Rolf Ratzer]

Hi
I bought the Dell Alienware AW3423DWF and it is my first real HDR monitor. Before my main monitor was an IPS LCD (Asus VG27AQL1A) with HDAren't (which I obviously didn’t use). So I don’t have much experience with HDR anything.
But I saw all the LTT videos praising the new QD-OLED panels and after some research and thinking, I ended up buying the AW3423DWF because that seemed like the best choice (at least for me) and when I got it, it was great. First off the ultravide format was REALLY nice, it took a little getting used to, but it was great and the same with the perfect blacks. 
But then there was the HDR, I was very confused because when I turned HDR on, it looked terrible, washed out, yellowish with the most bland colors on everything I have ever seen. My old generic IPS LCD monitor looked so much better in comparison, that i just couldn't understand, what was going on, so I searched and looked for wrong settings or anything that I might have done wrong, but I couldn't find anything. I did everything correctly, but it was not in any way like they say in any of the videos. They are always so impressed with how good it looks, how color accurate it is and how bright it gets, and that, the brightness, is a least a little bit noticeable with HDR on, lamps and shiny things does look brighter. 
So I am now asking here to get some help. I have some examples of the difference in color between HDR and SDR that I have taken with my Samsung Galaxy S21 FE. I tested it in Hitman 3 (Hitman World of Assassination), Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered (PC) and Far Cry 6 and it can be seen below. I also have other games with HDR support that I could test in if needed. The difference is very noticeable, the top and washed out one is with HDR on, and the bottom and vibrant one is with HDR off. The photos might be a little off, but in real life the one with HDR on is very bland, dead and washed out, whereas the one with HDR off has nice and more vibrant colors though nothing crazy (like how the photo might seem).

 

Hitman World of Assassination - Chongqing, game graphics settings are all max

 

Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered (PC) - Rooftop in Chinatown, game graphics settings are all max

Far Cry 6 - Montero Farm, game graphics settings are almost max

 

 

Another thing is that all internet browsing is just terrible with HDR, so I have to turn it on and off, whenever I go in and out of a game, but that’s fine, I mapped a key to turn windows HDR on/off. However even when viewing video in the browser it is still bad both LTT videos on Youtube and Marvel on Disney+. I also have some examples of that again taken with my phone.

 

Disney+ - Avengers Infinity War

Youtube - "Elon Musk vs. MrBeast - WAN Show January 5, 2024", max quality

My monitor and Windows settings are: “HDR Peak 1000” HDR mode on the monitor, HDR, Auto HDR and HDR Video Streaming is on in windows and I have no color profile. My setup is: RTX 3070 and Ryzen 7 5800X. If more details are needed then just ask and I will provide them.

[Shimejii]

If you want to use HDR you have to use windows 11, its a lot better then windows 10 but it still also has its own set of issues.

[Rolf Ratzer]

1 minute ago, Shimejii said:

If you want to use HDR you have to use windows 11, its a lot better then windows 10 but it still also has its own set of issues.

I am on Windows 11

[Andrew297]

Does your monitor have any HDR or color setting in the osd menu?

[HumdrumPenguin]

19 minutes ago, Rolf Ratzer said:

I am on Windows 11

Is HDR enabled on Windows Display Settings? What about Nvidia control panel (assuming you have an Nvidia card), is everything setup properly on the color settings? (10-12bit, high refresh rate, native resolution, full rgb specrum)

[Andrew297]

Even if its not enabled, it shouldn’t look so washed out. I don’t have an HDR monitor and it doesn’t look that bad

[BillBill]

1 hour ago, Rolf Ratzer said:

Hi
I bought the Dell Alienware AW3423DWF and it is my first real HDR monitor. Before my main monitor was an IPS LCD (Asus VG27AQL1A) with HDAren't (which I obviously didn’t use). So I don’t have much experience with HDR anything.
But I saw all the LTT videos praising the new QD-OLED panels and after some research and thinking, I ended up buying the AW3423DWF because that seemed like the best choice (at least for me) and when I got it, it was great. First off the ultravide format was REALLY nice, it took a little getting used to, but it was great and the same with the perfect blacks. 
But then there was the HDR, I was very confused because when I turned HDR on, it looked terrible, washed out, yellowish with the most bland colors on everything I have ever seen. My old generic IPS LCD monitor looked so much better in comparison, that i just couldn't understand, what was going on, so I searched and looked for wrong settings or anything that I might have done wrong, but I couldn't find anything. I did everything correctly, but it was not in any way like they say in any of the videos. They are always so impressed with how good it looks, how color accurate it is and how bright it gets, and that, the brightness, is a least a little bit noticeable with HDR on, lamps and shiny things does look brighter. 
So I am now asking here to get some help. I have some examples of the difference in color between HDR and SDR that I have taken with my Samsung Galaxy S21 FE. I tested it in Hitman 3 (Hitman World of Assassination), Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered (PC) and Far Cry 6 and it can be seen below. I also have other games with HDR support that I could test in if needed. The difference is very noticeable, the top and washed out one is with HDR on, and the bottom and vibrant one is with HDR off. The photos might be a little off, but in real life the one with HDR on is very bland, dead and washed out, whereas the one with HDR off has nice and more vibrant colors though nothing crazy (like how the photo might seem).

 

Hitman World of Assassination - Chongqing, game graphics settings are all max

 

Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered (PC) - Rooftop in Chinatown, game graphics settings are all max

Far Cry 6 - Montero Farm, game graphics settings are almost max

 

 

Another thing is that all internet browsing is just terrible with HDR, so I have to turn it on and off, whenever I go in and out of a game, but that’s fine, I mapped a key to turn windows HDR on/off. However even when viewing video in the browser it is still bad both LTT videos on Youtube and Marvel on Disney+. I also have some examples of that again taken with my phone.

 

Disney+ - Avengers Infinity War

Youtube - "Elon Musk vs. MrBeast - WAN Show January 5, 2024", max quality

 

Windows has a calibration tool named "Windows HDR Calibration" 

[Rolf Ratzer]

1 hour ago, Andrew297 said:

Does your monitor have any HDR or color setting in the osd menu?

It does have some HDR modes but "HDR Peak 1000" seems to be considered the best one.

[Rolf Ratzer]

1 hour ago, HumdrumPenguin said:

Is HDR enabled on Windows Display Settings? What about Nvidia control panel (assuming you have an Nvidia card), is everything setup properly on the color settings? (10-12bit, high refresh rate, native resolution, full rgb specrum)

I just noticed that i forgot to add the last bit of my text in the post, but it is there now. So yes HDR is enabled in Windows and I do have a Nividia card as I also say in the text i forgot but I don't know if I have it setup properly

[TheGreatestGazoo]

Go into the display's OSD and go to Display and then select Smart HDR. What setting is it currently at on the monitor? I have the same monitor and somebody on another thread mentioned to use "DisplayHDR True Black" setting instead of the "HDR Peak 1000" setting. That made a HUGE difference for me for the washed out look.

[Rolf Ratzer]

11 hours ago, TheGreatestGazoo said:

Go into the display's OSD and go to Display and then select Smart HDR. What setting is it currently at on the monitor? I have the same monitor and somebody on another thread mentioned to use "DisplayHDR True Black" setting instead of the "HDR Peak 1000" setting. That made a HUGE difference for me for the washed out look.

I use "HDR Peak 1000" and I just tried switching into "DisplayHDR True Black" but it mostly made every brighter, it still looks washed out. But I was wondering since you have the monitor too can you check you windows display settings and go under advanced because for me it says 8-bit not 10-bit as the monitor is. Here is a picture (the text is in Danish):

 

 

[RejZoR]

HDR is terrible even in Windows 11. Either games that support it look good and then everything else looks like shit. And if you use SDR, then everything else looks good and games look kinda meh. I also didn't like HDR in Overwatch 2 because it underexposed parts of the game, particularly HUD elements and made explosions and and effects distractingly bright and flashy to a point I just don't use HDR at all anymore.

 

Instead I prefer to just use ReShade (not in Overwatch 2 tho since it's online game) and use FakeHDR shader. I know it's not real HDR, but this thing eradicates washed out games and gives scenes such depth even in SDR mode that I can't even play anything without this anymore. And it looks even better on OLED than it did on IPS LCD.

[Rolf Ratzer]

1 hour ago, RejZoR said:

HDR is terrible even in Windows 11. Either games that support it look good and then everything else looks like shit. And if you use SDR, then everything else looks good and games look kinda meh. I also didn't like HDR in Overwatch 2 because it underexposed parts of the game, particularly HUD elements and made explosions and and effects distractingly bright and flashy to a point I just don't use HDR at all anymore.

 

Instead I prefer to just use ReShade (not in Overwatch 2 tho since it's online game) and use FakeHDR shader. I know it's not real HDR, but this thing eradicates washed out games and gives scenes such depth even in SDR mode that I can't even play anything without this anymore. And it looks even better on OLED than it did on IPS LCD.

Yeah well it might just look bad in Windows but it also looks bad when I'm in a game

[xg32]

10 hours ago, Rolf Ratzer said:

I use "HDR Peak 1000" and I just tried switching into "DisplayHDR True Black" but it mostly made every brighter, it still looks washed out. But I was wondering since you have the monitor too can you check you windows display settings and go under advanced because for me it says 8-bit not 10-bit as the monitor is. Here is a picture (the text is in Danish):

 

 

 

 

 

I'm almost certain it's a settings/ sdr clamp issue, it says the monitor is in sdr mode, being in sdr mode while trying to display hdr will make it look terrible.

 

 

you can change the settings under windows hd color settings 

 

 

 

 

if it still looks wrong adjust this 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rolf Ratzer]

2 hours ago, xg32 said:

I'm almost certain it's a settings/ sdr clamp issue, it says the monitor is in sdr mode, being in sdr mode while trying to display hdr will make it look terrible.

 

 

you can change the settings under windows hd color settings 

 

 

 

 

if it still looks wrong adjust this 

 

 

 

 

 

I think I have the same settings as in your screenshots but I am on Windows 11 so it looks a little bit different, here is a screenshot (the text is in Danish):

[starsmine]

16 hours ago, Rolf Ratzer said:

I use "HDR Peak 1000" and I just tried switching into "DisplayHDR True Black" but it mostly made every brighter, it still looks washed out. But I was wondering since you have the monitor too can you check you windows display settings and go under advanced because for me it says 8-bit not 10-bit as the monitor is. Here is a picture (the text is in Danish):

 

 

immedatly know something is wrong because its in 8bit (and sdr) mode from that screenshot. There is something locking you out of the proper signal you want to send

 

[TheGreatestGazoo]

17 hours ago, Rolf Ratzer said:

I use "HDR Peak 1000" and I just tried switching into "DisplayHDR True Black" but it mostly made every brighter, it still looks washed out. But I was wondering since you have the monitor too can you check you windows display settings and go under advanced because for me it says 8-bit not 10-bit as the monitor is. Here is a picture (the text is in Danish):

 

 

Here are my settings - I am connected via Display port cable.

 

It doesn't look like you have HDR enabled.

 

[Andrewtst]

23 hours ago, Rolf Ratzer said:

I use "HDR Peak 1000" and I just tried switching into "DisplayHDR True Black" but it mostly made every brighter, it still looks washed out. But I was wondering since you have the monitor too can you check you windows display settings and go under advanced because for me it says 8-bit not 10-bit as the monitor is. Here is a picture (the text is in Danish):

 

 

Here showing you didn’t enable HDR in your windows as it show SDR and 8-bit.

 

Go to your Nvidia Control Panel and choose 10-bit RGB and then make sure HDR is slide to on in your settings - display.

[Rolf Ratzer]

12 hours ago, starsmine said:

immedatly know something is wrong because its in 8bit (and sdr) mode from that screenshot. There is something locking you out of the proper signal you want to send

 

 

11 hours ago, TheGreatestGazoo said:

Here are my settings - I am connected via Display port cable.

 

It doesn't look like you have HDR enabled.

 

 

4 hours ago, Andrewtst said:

Here showing you didn’t enable HDR in your windows as it show SDR and 8-bit.

 

Go to your Nvidia Control Panel and choose 10-bit RGB and then make sure HDR is slide to on in your settings - display.

That picture is with HDR off, it was only meant for showing that it was in 8-bit. Here it is with HDR on:

[Rolf Ratzer]

4 hours ago, Andrewtst said:

Here showing you didn’t enable HDR in your windows as it show SDR and 8-bit.

 

Go to your Nvidia Control Panel and choose 10-bit RGB and then make sure HDR is slide to on in your settings - display.

I found the bit depth setting, but there is no other options that 8-bit. Here is a screenshot:

[Andrewtst]

1 hour ago, Rolf Ratzer said:

I found the bit depth setting, but there is no other options that 8-bit. Here is a screenshot:

Here is the instruction I found on how to get 10-bit, but I think the most important thing is you need to ensure HDR is enabled in windows itself.

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/ultrawidemasterrace/s/zh2RiVsJPn

[Rolf Ratzer]

2 hours ago, Andrewtst said:

Here is the instruction I found on how to get 10-bit, but I think the most important thing is you need to ensure HDR is enabled in windows itself.

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/ultrawidemasterrace/s/zh2RiVsJPn

Nice! I know have it on 10-bit. Don't worry about HDR not being on, I do turn it on in Windows when I what HDR

[Stahlmann]

On 1/13/2024 at 12:41 PM, RejZoR said:

HDR is terrible even in Windows 11. Either games that support it look good and then everything else looks like shit. And if you use SDR, then everything else looks good and games look kinda meh.

That's just wrong. If HDR looks worse than SDR, it's because the monitor doesn't display it correctly. I have yet to see a game or movie that looks worse with HDR. (I haven't played OW2, so i can't say anything about that game) The common misconception that HDR is terrible on Windows is also wrong. Windows does everything right when it comes to HDR, they just don't account for fuckups on the monitor side of things.

 

The problem is that many monitors that claim to support HDR actually don't. And even the ones that theoretically do, often have firmware issues that destroy color accuracity, saturation and brightness values in practice.

 

The main reason why HDR is considered better on Mac for example is that Apple closely controls that ecosystem, which allows them to control the impementations on both relevant ends.

 

Sadly most gaming monitor brands fuck up their HDR implementations somehow and it doesn't surprise me that you have a bad HDR experience with an Asus monitor, even if it is OLED. LG is in my experience the only brand that reliably get's HDR right, even on lower end monitors that only have HDR400 or HDR600.

 

My point is: If HDR is implemented correctly on the monitor side of things, there should be no ill-effects to leaving it enabled 24/7 in Windows. And it also shouldn't matter to SDR content.

 

On 1/13/2024 at 12:41 PM, RejZoR said:

I also didn't like HDR in Overwatch 2 because it underexposed parts of the game, particularly HUD elements and made explosions and and effects distractingly bright and flashy to a point I just don't use HDR at all anymore.

 

Instead I prefer to just use ReShade (not in Overwatch 2 tho since it's online game) and use FakeHDR shader. I know it's not real HDR, but this thing eradicates washed out games and gives scenes such depth even in SDR mode that I can't even play anything without this anymore. And it looks even better on OLED than it did on IPS LCD.

ReShade does something completely different than HDR. And there is no software that can replace the effect HDR has. If you don't like bight objects standing out from the rest of the scene, then you're basically saying you don't like what HDR does to begin with. That's OK and your own decision, but that kinda explains your whole post. Fake-HDR typically dims the whole scene while brightening the object that is supposed to stand out, while real HDR leaves the scene overall as is but brightens the object that is supposed to be bright.

 

Not to mention that SDR tracks brightness in a relative manner, meaning your monitor settings dictate how bright the content is. HDR tracks brightness in an absolute manner, meaning the content is as bright as the creator intended. That can lead to HDR content being dimmer overall than SDR content you're used to, but that's mostly dependant on what levels of brightness you're personally used to.

 

What OP is dealing with isn't just a "i don't like how HDR looks" situation. It's a problem in the display chain because it's obviously not supposed to look this way. If it looks like that you can throw all the ReShades at it and it still won't fix the issue. That's just the wrong solution to the wrong problem.

[Stahlmann]

13 hours ago, Rolf Ratzer said:

Nice! I know have it on 10-bit. Don't worry about HDR not being on, I do turn it on in Windows when I what HDR

Did 10 bit color fix the problem?

[Rolf Ratzer]

8 hours ago, Stahlmann said:

Did 10 bit color fix the problem?

No it didn't really change anything. It still looks washed out