hdr HDR turns itself off immediately after being toggled on | win10

[Tanki_X]

Hello everyone!
For some background context, I've been troubleshooting and trying to get HDR working for 2 months now... I had bought a new TV, two new PCs, new GPU, new cables. I'm slowly ready to rip my hair out by frustration.... ...

Latest status: ordered brand new HDMI 2.1 cables to be 100% that the cables aren't at fault.
After noticing nothing happened on ubuntu I switched back to windows for the third time but for the first time on this new TV. Windows 10 automatically installed GPU drivers and after a short screen refresh i automatically finally had HDR10!
notif. From windows said it had automatically detected the display thus turned it on... radiating with happiness I went to get my HDD with HDR content to finally test it.
As I came back 15 minutes later, HDR was off, and I could not toggle it on in the settings no more. It is supported but as soon as I toggle it the screen flashes dark and HDR turns itself off after less than a second.

I had suspected the Windows updates had caused this, so I reinstalled win. Again, but this time the first thing I did was disable and block ALL Windows updates. HDR worked again... as I went into settings and changed the res. From FHD to 4k > HDR immediately turned itself off again. It couldn't be turned back on again, same as before.

What is causing this!?
Could someone please help find the source of this problem?
I've been working on my home cinema project for over a year now, and I find it ridiculous i have to troubleshoot a base feature of a high-end TV for 2 months… I would really like to finally finish this project.

TECHNICAL DETAILS /specifications:

 

• PC:

current gpu: AMD RX6400 4GB HDMI 2.1 ITX (previous: gtx 1050TI ITX)
cpu: Intel I5 6500
mobo: Asus B150I PRO gaming aura
ram: 16GB DDR4 2133Mhz
psu: bequiet! poer 9 500W
SSD: 500GB crucial MX300 sata 2.5"
HDD: WD mybook 8TB (WD RED)
Windows 10 Pro

 

• AV/R:

Onkyo TX-SR393 5.2
HDR / HDR10 / Dolby Vision / HLG
ARC

 

• current TV:

Hisense E7KQ 75" QLED
2023
HDMI eARC
HDR / HDR10 / HDR10+ / Dolby Vision / HLG

 

• previous TV:

Samsung UE58NU7179 LCD
2018
HDMI ARC
HDR / HDR10 / HDR10+ / HLG


in TV settings HDMI mode: "enhanced"
firmware: up to date
(otherwise apparently the TV cant achieve HDR)

I heard HDR auto-detection could be causing this
some more proprietary settings and formats from the TV manufacturer because "why not" :)...
And maybe also some Windows drivers that are being installed automatically?

All help appreciated and thank you in advance!

[GuiltySpark_]

HDR on Windows 10 is a disaster. If 11 improved anything it was in HDR performance. 

 

Unfortunately or fortunately it would take creating your bootable USB with RUFUS to get around the installation limitation of installing 11 on that older i5. 

[Tanki_X]

Just now, GuiltySpark_ said:

HDR on Windows 10 is a disaster. If 11 improved anything it was in HDR performance. 

 

Unfortunately or fortunately it would take creating your bootable USB with RUFUS to get around the installation limitation of installing 11 on that older i5. 

thanks for the tip, will try!

[Tetras]

13 minutes ago, GuiltySpark_ said:

Unfortunately or fortunately it would take creating your bootable USB with RUFUS to get around the installation limitation of installing 11 on that older i5. 

I believe if the OP installs a TPM into the header and enables secure boot, then it can be installed from the normal installation media. I had to click a button confirming my CPU was unsupported, but it allowed an upgrade or a fresh install.

[Tanki_X]

On 3/26/2024 at 3:21 PM, GuiltySpark_ said:

HDR on Windows 10 is a disaster. If 11 improved anything it was in HDR performance. 

 

Unfortunately or fortunately it would take creating your bootable USB with RUFUS to get around the installation limitation of installing 11 on that older i5. 

UPDATE:
the exact same symptoms appear on windows 11:
HDR10 works perfectly until i switch from FHD to 4K:
then HDR turns itself off and cant be toggled back on even though supported. the screen flashes and it immediately goes back to disabled...

this leads me to believe theres maybe some kind of a bandwith limit??

BTW fun fact: played several videos with the windows media player while HDR was working and all FHD videos had audio but none of the 4K had audio.... no matter if it was HDR or SDR... which further leads me to believe this...
*>>> the audio not being available is just windows media player being a piece of # and not being able to work with .mkv files...

[Andrewtst]

How long is your HDMI cable? If it is too long, you should go for Fiber optic HDMI.

 

Also did it work if you direct connect your PC to TV without eARC to your AV/R.

[circeseye]

44 minutes ago, Andrewtst said:

How long is your HDMI cable? If it is too long, you should go for Fiber optic HDMI.

 

Also did it work if you direct connect your PC to TV without eARC to your AV/R.

agree. 4k 120 444 10bit max copper hdmi 2.1 is 3m (even then its about cable quality) once you go beyond its a crap shoot if it works or not
and going to avr then to tv also takes a toll.

 

[Tanki_X]

3 hours ago, Andrewtst said:

How long is your HDMI cable? If it is too long, you should go for Fiber optic HDMI.

 

Also did it work if you direct connect your PC to TV without eARC to your AV/R.

Hey! the PC > AVR is 10m
and the AVR to TV is 2m
Yes hooking the PC up to the TV directly worked flawlessly with 4k and HDR10.
So its the receivers fault... I at first was mad and confused because wcery specification sheet of the AVR boast about 4K/60hz HDR support but in my case theres only either 1080p+HDR or 4k+ NO HDR....

I got an answer on a different forum though that probably explains it all...

"There's your problem. The AVR only supports HDMI 2.0, and you are running into bandwidth limitations.

Yes, HDMI 2.0 *can* do 4k60 HDR...at 4:2:0 chroma:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI#Refresh_frequency_limits_for_HDR10_video

So you change your resolution to 4k at 4:4:4/RGB, and the NVIDIA driver/Windows detect you don't have the bandwidth for HDR, and turns it off automatically. What you can then do is set your chroma to 4:2:0 within the NVIDIA control panel, then Windows will let you re-enable HDR again (as you are now within HDMI 2.0 bandwidth limitations).

That's why connecting directly to the TV works; you have HDMI 2.1 through the entire chain, and have zero issues running 4k60 HDR @ 4:4:4/RGB."

CREDIT: gamerk316 on tomshardware

[Andrewtst]

13 hours ago, Tanki_X said:

Hey! the PC > AVR is 10m
and the AVR to TV is 2m
Yes hooking the PC up to the TV directly worked flawlessly with 4k and HDR10.
So its the receivers fault... I at first was mad and confused because wcery specification sheet of the AVR boast about 4K/60hz HDR support but in my case theres only either 1080p+HDR or 4k+ NO HDR....

I got an answer on a different forum though that probably explains it all...

"There's your problem. The AVR only supports HDMI 2.0, and you are running into bandwidth limitations.

Yes, HDMI 2.0 *can* do 4k60 HDR...at 4:2:0 chroma:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI#Refresh_frequency_limits_for_HDR10_video

So you change your resolution to 4k at 4:4:4/RGB, and the NVIDIA driver/Windows detect you don't have the bandwidth for HDR, and turns it off automatically. What you can then do is set your chroma to 4:2:0 within the NVIDIA control panel, then Windows will let you re-enable HDR again (as you are now within HDMI 2.0 bandwidth limitations).

That's why connecting directly to the TV works; you have HDMI 2.1 through the entire chain, and have zero issues running 4k60 HDR @ 4:4:4/RGB."

CREDIT: gamerk316 on tomshardware

Congratulate, now you know the reason.  I think it is time to source new AVR if you want full experience.