HDR on or Off?

[dubplate]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jon Arbuckle

Dynamic Contrast does terrible things to SDR content but some TVs have seemingly been designed to need it to process HDR (some Samsungs and LGs for example). I notice very little crushing or blown out whites when it’s set to low but they can rear their head when it’s set to high (plus a tendency for colors to become over saturated). Adjustments can be made to other settings to reduce the processing problems introduced by high Dynamic Contrast and I’ve been fiddling with them since installing The Show 19 since it’s pretty much the only game I use my Game Mode HDR settings on.

Good to know. I’ll set it to low when playing games and watching UHD movies to see what kind of difference it makes for me.

[dukebeatsuncagainn]

4k and HDR increase input lag a lot. Looks amazing, but for timing based hitting, PCI aim and other competitive games...gotta turn both off

Sent from my cp3636a using Operation Sports mobile app

[Jon Arbuckle]

Quote: Originally Posted by dukebeatsuncagainn

4k and HDR increase input lag a lot. Looks amazing, but for timing based hitting, PCI aim and other competitive games...gotta turn both off Sent from my cp3636a using Operation Sports mobile app

HDR was still silky smooth for me with The Show 18 on my PS4 Pro with the game set to 'Faster' and my TV set set to Game Mode. Then again for all the various faults that my MU8000 has, input lag supposedly isn't one of them. Hasn't kept 19 from slowing down however.

[JayhawkerStL]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheWarmWind

HDR can be a mess due to an extreme oversight in the standardization of HDR ratings. Basically, in order to earn an HDR rating, you just need to demonstrate that the TV can hold a certain light differential between ANY two points on the screen for only 6 seconds. TV manufacturers are taking full advantage of this oversight and selling HDR TVs with way to few lighting zones. HDR needs at least 100 lighting zones to be effective in its implementation, but many manufacturers are selling TVs with as few as 16 zones (4x4 grid), all while earning the highest rating an HDR tv can earn. It's possible it's the Show itself that is the issue, the devs do have to input all the new numbers to enable HDR and that can be fudged up, but it's far more likely it's your TV. HDR has been completely ruined thanks to that standardization oversight.

The biggest problem with HDR is the utter lack of consumer education about what it is. It does not add more “pop” or make the image brighter. It allows devs to get more precise definition and accuracy in darker images.

But consumer misunderstanding encourages devs to do the opposite. HZD looks amazing, but HDR is kind of a joke. It’s not it more realistic looking, instead making the image pop more.

The lack of consumer understanding, which also affects most game journalists, allows TV manufacturers to get away with shipping crappy HDR modes, because consumers can’t even agree on what it should look like.

One reason to ship a crappy HDR mode is to achieve better input lag ratings. Rtings.com rates TVs for HDR gaming primarily based on input lag. To find out if it is actually good, you need to look at color gamut and dimming zones. I don’t think 100 is required, but the more the better.

I think most gamers would be better off shutting HDR off. That’s what they actually want their games to look like.

HDR for movies and TV is designed primarily for dark rooms. Again, it allows them to keep the brightness down, which is blistering in a dark room, while still being able to show more detailed images.

At this point, HDR is still too complicated for mass appeal, but TV manufacturers, and the like, know that it’s a great bullet point to help sell products.

[Jon Arbuckle]

Quote: Originally Posted by JayhawkerStL

The biggest problem with HDR is the utter lack of consumer education about what it is. It does not add more “pop” or make the image brighter. It allows devs to get more precise definition and accuracy in darker images. But consumer misunderstanding encourages devs to do the opposite. HZD looks amazing, but HDR is kind of a joke. It’s not it more realistic looking, instead making the image pop more. The lack of consumer understanding, which also affects most game journalists, allows TV manufacturers to get away with shipping crappy HDR modes, because consumers can’t even agree on what it should look like.

I'm far from a tech expert but HDR can definitely make an image brighter in my experience. All you have to do is put a film on with white text on black at the beginning and you should immediately notice a difference if your TV's peak brightness is high enough. I actually think some hearing impaired people complained about the brightness of HDR subtitles being too painfully bright to read throughout whole movies.

But you're right that proper implementation is key. I think they faked HDR entirely with RDR2 for example and I turned it off immediately since it looked so bad. And there are some films that don't play nice with TV's with lower peak brightness (my gaming TV has this issue) and thus look incredibly dim without cranking up brightness processors on your TV to max. Goodfellas is one example of that issue. Supposedly a Dolby Vision setup can fix that issue.

Overall though I absolutely love HDR. The depth added to older grainy films is incredible (Sony releases especially excel in this regard; Ghostbusters '84 is a perfect example). Increased resolution and better lighting are the biggest selling points for new films IMO (IT '17 and Darkest Hour are two newer films I'd never want to watch in SDR again).

[britttastic]

what are the settings you currently recommend?

[britttastic]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jon Arbuckle

Dynamic Contrast does terrible things to SDR content but some TVs have seemingly been designed to need it to process HDR (some Samsungs and LGs for example). I notice very little crushing or blown out whites when it’s set to low but they can rear their head when it’s set to high (plus a tendency for colors to become over saturated). Adjustments can be made to other settings to reduce the processing problems introduced by high Dynamic Contrast and I’ve been fiddling with them since installing The Show 19 since it’s pretty much the only game I use my Game Mode HDR settings on.

What are the settings you recommend or are currently using?

[Jon Arbuckle]

Quote: Originally Posted by britttastic

What are the settings you recommend or are currently using?

It's notoriously difficult to use one set of HDR settings on different televisions. Besides most manufacturers implementing HDR differently, HDR also looks radically different depending on the quality (ie, price) of the set and even the brightness of the room.

Your best bet is to first make sure your room is as dark as possible, set your TV to a 'Game Mode' if possible and turn Sharpness down to 0. Then you want to turn all processing of the image off (settings that mention 'motion' and 'boost' are generally bad news if you want to see something unadulterated). At this point if the image is too dim, you can turn up your backlight setting and look for a setting that mentions contrast (not the standard contrast setting which you shouldn't need to touch). If your TV needs a contrast enhancer to process HDR properly, it will be the setting that makes or breaks your enjoyment of HDR; start with the low setting and only try high if the screen is still too dim. You can also look at color settings if they don't look natural to you (grass is a good test in The Show). Color warmth will allow you to make the image as cool or warm as you'd like (cool is brighter with whiter whites and a blueish tint whereas warm introduces more of a yellowish tint and is a bit darker; warm is recommend when watching films but I use a cooler setting with games). You can also adjust between Native and Automatic color settings on some sets; go with the one that looks more natural to your eyes.

Can't help you much beyond that. Google will provide more detailed recommended settings for most TVs but again, what works for one TV won't necessarily work as well for another. Calibration is necessary if you want the absolute best possible picture but that requires either paying a professional or having the equipment and technical understanding to do it yourself.