HDR washed out?

[BananaGlass 🍌]

So before I start I just want to say that I’ve played multiple games on my PC in HDR with no problem. (Yes, even ones that you have to manually turn on HDR in Windows.)

I have my PC hooked up to my x930e 4K HDR TV and no matter what I try it always looks washed out. Especially the environments. I could tell something was off when the screen goes white before and after meditation in game. With HDR on the White seems gray-ish. In SDR it’s much whiter. Same thing goes for dark areas.

It almost looks like viewing Windows SDR content while in HDR. The only thing that seems to help is to turn my HDMI Color from Full to Limited. But even then things aren’t displayed right.

Is there any fix for this?

[Dionysus 🐭]

Originally posted by AussiePatriot:

So, Just curious, how do I actually enable HDR? I'm using a gsync compatible monitor via Display Port.

I think you have to have Windows HDR enabled, as well as the game in fullscreen. Then you can enable HDR in the video settings.

[AussiePatriot]

Originally posted by aaronth07:

Originally posted by AussiePatriot:

So, Just curious, how do I actually enable HDR? I'm using a gsync compatible monitor via Display Port.

I think you have to have Windows HDR enabled, as well as the game in fullscreen. Then you can enable HDR in the video settings.

Sorry I didnt ask the right question. I should have asked how do I get HDR to function correctly? Cause yes I have done both, enable HDR in W10 settings and the game. And when I do that the colour is washed out.

[Dionysus 🐭]

Originally posted by AussiePatriot:

Originally posted by aaronth07:

I think you have to have Windows HDR enabled, as well as the game in fullscreen. Then you can enable HDR in the video settings.

Sorry I didnt ask the right question. I should have asked how do I get HDR to function correctly? Cause yes I have done both, enable HDR in W10 settings and the game. And when I do that the colour is washed out.

Oh I see. There is not proper fix, and I don't believe there will ever be one.

You can attempt to use Special K to redo the HDR. You can download Special K here: https://discourse.differentk.fyi/

Those are the forums, so you should be able to find basic tutorials.

[Kaldaien]

Yeah, I tried the game's official HDR... it 1) requires fullscreen exclusive and 2) is not very good.

I don't run my games in fullscreen exclusive, and am not making an exception for this game. So that leaves only my own solution for HDR :P

[AussiePatriot]

Originally posted by Kaldaien:

Yeah, I tried the game's official HDR... it 1) requires fullscreen exclusive and 2) is not very good.

I don't run my games in fullscreen exclusive, and am not making an exception for this game. So that leaves only my own solution for HDR :P

Hi Kaldaien, What's your reasoning for not running fullscreen?

[Kaldaien]

Originally posted by AussiePatriot:

Originally posted by Kaldaien:

Yeah, I tried the game's official HDR... it 1) requires fullscreen exclusive and 2) is not very good.

I don't run my games in fullscreen exclusive, and am not making an exception for this game. So that leaves only my own solution for HDR :P

Hi Kaldaien, What's your reasoning for not running fullscreen?

Lower latency in windowed mode, plus application switching is faster.

Since my desktop refresh rate is the same as I play my games at, there's no reason to play in fullscreen mode.

---
I should point out, that normally latency is _not_ lower in windowed mode. It requires a few advanced features that Special K uses in its framerate limiter.

[AussiePatriot]

Originally posted by Kaldaien:

Originally posted by AussiePatriot:

Hi Kaldaien, What's your reasoning for not running fullscreen?

Lower latency in windowed mode, plus application switching is faster.

Since my desktop refresh rate is the same as I play my games at, there's no reason to play in fullscreen mode.

---
I should point out, that normally latency is _not_ lower in windowed mode. It requires a few advanced features that Special K uses in its framerate limiter.

You don't experience any irregular frame pacing issues in windowed mode? Almost every game I have ever tried to run in windowed mode has never been as good as fullscreen mode.

That aside though, could you kindly walk me through getting HDR to work in this game?

[Kaldaien]

Nope, can't say that I have. Though... I'm kind of well-known for optimizing game frame pacing ;)

Example:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2239417736
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2239417956
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2239418096

All done in windowed mode.


Anyway, my forums should explain the process of enabling HDR.

You can probably just follow the guide I wrote for Control:

https://discourse.differentk.fyi/t/control-steamapi-fixes-hdr-and-frame-pacing/687

[AussiePatriot]

Sorry I should also have mentioned I have the Origin version, will that make a difference? I can't seem to get SpecialK to hook in atm.

[Kaldaien]

You just need to add it to the whitelist. I don't know the directory for the Origin version off hand.

[AussiePatriot]

Sorry but this program is just making the game either hard crash, expands the game window so its 4x bigger then my monitor or just makes the screen flicker. I might try again later

[Kaldaien]

Yeah, Unreal Engine's a mess :(

It's got a ton of DPI scaling bugs.

[Dionysus 🐭]

Originally posted by AussiePatriot:

Sorry but this program is just making the game either hard crash, expands the game window so its 4x bigger then my monitor or just makes the screen flicker. I might try again later

Try windowed mode. Sometimes it fixed those bugs.

[Kaldaien]

You have to set all Unreal Engine games to borderless window mode before turning on HDR with Special K because they aren't DPI scaling compliant.

[CSM1O1]

HDR works fine in this game with full screen. I just installed it and tried out. do not increase the HDR brightness too much cos obviously it will create a bad rendering.