Your gaming monitor probably can’t handle real HDR (even if it says it can)
The advent of HDR has been a game changer when it comes to picture quality on televisions. Console gamers, in particular, have enjoyed incredibly vibrant and high-contrast images, which more than make up for the lack of overall GPU power. With the right TV, games (and movies) can look amazing on a TV.
When it comes to HDR on the desktop using a PC monitor, things have been… less great. There are many reasons for this, which I’ll cover below, but the good news is that getting good HDR using a PC and computer monitor (or TV) is possible if you put a little work into it.
The promise versus reality of PC HDR
I’m not going to spend a lot of time on what HDR is, you can read my HDR explainer for that. The most important thing to know is that HDR content expands the range of contrast, color and brightness compared to SDR. The standard used since the appearance of CRT televisions.
Sumptuous blacks, striking highlights on elements like flames, sunrises and laser blasts are the hallmarks of HDR. The problem is that most PC monitors, even gaming-specific models, don’t have the brightness or contrast needed to do HDR justice. While they may have an HDR sticker and go beyond SDR to some extent, the actual result is disappointing. With some monitors, SDR mode is simply better, and that’s not a good thing at all.
If a monitor doesn’t have directly backlit dimming zones for LCDs, a peak brightness of at least 400 nits, and support 8-bit color with dithering, then its ability to accept an HDR signal doesn’t mean much. To be clear, these are bare minimum requirements and far from ideal. But many “HDR” monitors do not meet these standards.
Windows doesn’t help, but it’s not the only culprit
Windows gets a lot of flak for poor HDR – and it deserves it! Desktop HDR mode still looks terrible thanks to the way it attempts HDR tone mapping. This makes it difficult to keep switching modes when you want to watch HDR content or play an HDR game. Microsoft made things a little easier by introducing an HDR keyboard shortcut for Windows 11. However, this only hides the fact that HDR auto-switching is unreliable and if a game doesn’t do it correctly, you have to close the game, enable HDR manually, and then try again.
However, we can’t put all the blame on Windows. The fact is that many monitors do not properly follow the HDR electro-optical transfer function (EOTF). This describes how a display should convert a digital signal into real light, and if a monitor is bad at this, it doesn’t matter whether your software is doing its job correctly. So two displays with the same HDR badge and claimed specs can yield very different results, one of which just looks wrong.
If the screen fails to meet its luminance targets or follow the proper luminance curve, Windows can’t magically fix it.
Not all “HDR” labels are equal
A huge source of confusion comes from VESA’s DisplayHDR levels. These labels have allowed monitors to carry the “HDR” logo that have nothing to do with it. It’s a bit complicated, but here are the most important things to know:
- DisplayHDR 400: It is not real HDR. This label does not require local dimming and with this lack of contrast, 400 nits is simply too low.
- DisplayHDR True Black 400: This is where HDR starts on desktop monitors. You need an OLED to achieve this badge’s standard contrast ratio, in which case 400 nits is enough to reproduce the HDR range. You just won’t get much peak brightness. If you are playing in a dark room, this problem is not very serious.
- DisplayHDR 600/1000: For many people (myself included), this is where HDR really begins, and 1000 is the level at which most HDR content is currently mastered.
So if you want true HDR, you need DisplayHDR True Black 400 or DisplayHDR 600 at a minimum.
Your GPU and Cable Matter More Than You Think
So you have a suitable HDR monitor, but if you’re using older HDMI 1.4 or DisplayPort cables, there may not be enough bandwidth to do it properly, forcing various workarounds that can degrade color and clarity.
HDMI 2.1 or DisplayPort 1.4 is where you should be at a minimum if you want to give your monitor what it needs to do its job properly. Of course, your GPU must also support these standards. This is mainly a problem when using your PC with a TV. There are plenty of perfectly capable graphics cards that don’t have HDMI 2.1, and the vast majority of TVs don’t support DisplayPort. Which means the older HDMI standard on these cards can hinder HDR quality.
Games make things even more complicated
One of the main reasons HDR works so well on consoles is that these machines use fixed hardware and software. It seems like many developers are having trouble understanding HDR on a PC. Essentially, you’re going to spend time tweaking each game individually to get HDR that looks great. In some games, the HDR calibration is so bad that you might be better off using Windows’ Auto-HDR feature (created on the Xbox) to map the SDR version of the game to HDR. Because it can actually be better in some of the worst scenarios.
How to Actually Fix HDR on Your PC
That’s a lot of explaining the problems, but how can we solve them? First, accept that you won’t get great HDR in every game, but assuming you’re willing to try the old-fashioned way, here’s what to do:
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Start with a good HDR monitor with a DisplayHDR 600+ or True Black 400 badge or better.
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Update your GPU drivers, then set its output to 10-bit color. Even if your monitor doesn’t have a 10-bit panel, it will dither.
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Enable HDR, then calibrate HDR in Windows 11.
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Make sure you are using at least an HDMI 2.0b/2.1 or DP 1.4 cable and that your card’s outputs meet this standard.
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Calibrate each game individually using its internal tool.
If you really want to go all out, you can have your monitor professionally calibrated, but this is optional and most people will be happy with out-of-the-box monitor calibration. Especially if it is a good quality model.
8/10
- Resolution
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3840 x 2160 (4K)
- Screen size
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27 inches
- Brand
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Alienware (Dell)
- Max. Refresh rate
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240Hz
