N00b question regarding HDR.

[isamu]

Hey guys what's going on. Hope you guys are doing well :)


I'm about two months into ownership of my LG C1 OLED TV, and loving it so far! Gonna finally watch my first 4K Blu-ray anime, Akira. I plan on watching it on PC via MPC-HC which is my go to media player.


With that out of the way, I have a few questions regarding HDR that's been bothering me.


We all know that Windows 10 has a switch that lets you turn on HDR. People throw around the term HDR all the time, and I know it's supposed to enhance the contrast and brightness of the picture which it does upon activation. So my questions are...


A)Is the HDR that windows has built in *TRUE* HDR? In other words, does this mean that when it's activated everything shown on my desktop is being viewed in true HDR ? So for example any movie or game I'm playing or watching , as long as it's running in windowed mode and not full screen exclusive, it's being displayed in true HDR? Please let me know , because I've always wondered this since getting my C1.


B)How does Windows 10's HDR differ from the HDR options in media player apps such as MadVr, VLC, pot player, MPC-HC, etc? And is it different from say, the Playstation 5's way of doing HDR?


C)Do you guys recommend having the Windows 10 HDR activated when watching HDR content? Or should I turn it off and use MADVR's HDR option instead?


Please let me know guys, because this whole HDR thing is something I'm still trying to wrap my head around.

[lvqcl]

I know it's supposed to enhance the contrast and brightness of the picture which it does upon activation.

It's not actually...

[JaylumX]

A)Is the HDR that windows has built in *TRUE* HDR? In other words, does this mean that when it's activated everything shown on my desktop is being viewed in true HDR ? So for example any movie or game I'm playing or watching , as long as it's running in windowed mode and not full screen exclusive, it's being displayed in true HDR? Please let me know , because I've always wondered this since getting my C1.

B)How does Windows 10's HDR differ from the HDR options in media player apps such as MadVr, VLC, pot player, MPC-HC, etc? And is it different from say, the Playstation 5's way of doing HDR?

C)Do you guys recommend having the Windows 10 HDR activated when watching HDR content? Or should I turn it off and use MADVR's HDR option instead?

(Using an Nvidia RTX graphics card as reference) In windows, there is either OS HDR or NVHDR. Most HDR games use OS HDR in that you have to manually switch to HDR before hand in order to experience HDR in supported games otherwise the HDR options will not show up in the game.

When you manually switch to HDR from the desktop, SDR games/applications will still be in SDR in an HDR container (does not look good) unless you enable AutoHDR which uses AI to jiggery pokery SDR content into HDR in supported games.

I do not recommend you enable HDR in the desktop for games/applications that do not natively support HDR. Leave desktop in SDR and manually switch to HDR (WIN+B) when you want to play games that support OS HDR. There is even an app that will allow you to create profiles letting you switch automatically to HDR ON OS HDR games but it takes a bit of fiddling.

Games that use NV HDR on the other hand will automatically switch to HDR even if your desktop is in SDR. Games like RE2 and RE3 Remake, Elden Ring, Sekiro, Devil May Cry 5, Doom Eternal etc use NVHDR so will automatically switch to HDR.

MadVR and MPCVR are video renderers while VLC, MPC-HC and Pot player are video players, the latter two can use MadVR and MPCVR.

MadVR supports NVHDR which is why your SDR desktop can switch to HDR before playing a HDR video. If you manual switch to HDR, it will use OS HDR when you play a HDR video.

MPCVR uses OS HDR even though it automatically switches to HDR mode when you play HDR content.

VLC player uses OS HDR and Pot player can use OS HDR if you use its internal video renderer or MPCVR, and NV HDR if you use MadVR.