HDR Calibration Tips? (In General)

[Null]

I'm aware RDR2's implementation is lackluster, but... I'm hoping if I get this game looking right, I'll learn how to finetune for accuracy in my other PC games.

I have a TCL 55R646 as my display, which has been reviewed to be mostly accurate out of the box with some small tweaks (I've followed the more reputable guides,)

My personal problem is... inexperience, I was raised by a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" generation who, for example, didn't understand why I wanted both ears to work on my stereo headphones, and never upgraded from their Tube TV's until 2019. They always had an opinion with how I spent my earned money, so I didn't truly get to buy what I wanted until they died last year.

So while I do have an eye for seeing when something is calibrated wrong, I'm at a loss for how to describe it, and the more I try to fix it on my own, the further from the goal I get.

Is there a base metric number for Peak Brightness and Paper White for my TV I should follow? And how do I know exactly when what I see on screen would be close to looking through an actual window?

[CorporateHammer]

If you have win 11 I'd try the HDR calibration tool for windows. I'm assuming your TV has presets? not too adjustable? Pick a preset and use the tool in windows.

[Damien]

I can never get the darks to be as black as they should be according to the games direction, so I basically just tweak it based on the image to my own liking. Same with Cyberpunk, the starting point will never give me full black so I just calibrate it to my eye. Don't take HDR so seriously, if you don't have 3000$ super amoled ♥♥♥♥ you won't be missing anything that special...

[Null]

To clear up confusion about my TV... The TCL R646 is a Mini-LED flagship with HDMI 2.1 2160P 120hz, VRR support, with a peak brightness of 1100 to 1500 nits, depending on the panel lottery. This thing to me is more impressive than the LG CX it used to have, and it does allow you to calibrate it with the TV's GUI, just not as extensively as the LG.

The problem I'm running into is a per-game problem. The TV is as pitch accurate as I could make it. Windows 11 does make things a little easier via Auto-HDR, but in game, the settings are difficult to get correct. There's a bug where, for example, if I set the peak luminescence in Marvel's Spider-Man to 1093, the screen brightens up perfectly, and the contrast is spot on, but if I go to 1094 or 1092, it gets super dim and doesn't seem to change until a few tens of spaces in either direction. That might just be a TV bug, but it doesn't make it any easier.

HDR Movies and videos don't need any adjustments. They're fine from the get go.

[Damien]

Yes. With RDR 2 I haven't gotten to a lvl where the black would be black, logo always shows underneath as gray. With MK11 it's same thing, it's kinda black but no. With none HDR games I see that thing happening where the gray will suddenly switch to black according to one tick. I don't have ♥♥♥♥♥♥ TV either, but couple years old Samsung. The conclusion is that sometimes its proper and working with calibration images, other times either the standards fail or the producers can't make it work. Still in it's babysteps I feel so calibrate with a color calibration meter if you wan't to go anal about it or just please your self with your own settings, YOU CANNOT RELY IN GAME HDR CALIBRATION - has been my point all along.

[Null]

Originally posted by Damien:

Yes. With RDR 2 I haven't gotten to a lvl where the black would be black, logo always shows underneath as gray. With MK11 it's same thing, it's kinda black but no. With none HDR games I see that thing happening where the gray will suddenly switch to black according to one tick. I don't have ♥♥♥♥♥♥ TV either, but couple years old Samsung. The conclusion is that sometimes its proper and working with calibration images, other times either the standards fail or the producers can't make it work. Still in it's babysteps I feel so calibrate with a color calibration meter if you wan't to go anal about it or just please your self with your own settings, YOU CANNOT RELY IN GAME HDR CALIBRATION - has been my point all along.

Glad to hear it's not me then. They really got to fix this stuff.