Who doesn’t like watching their favorite movies and shows with the best possible quality? HDR in Windows is there to make your wish possible. In this post, we will see how to check if HDR is supported on your Windows 11 computer, how to enable it, and check if it is working.
What is HDR in Windows?
HDR or High Dynamic Range is a video style that incorporates a wide range of colors. Since the human eye has a very high dynamic range, it is good to have a monitor that matches that.
When you enable HDR on your system, your monitor will start rendering more accurate images with higher details, contrast, and brightness. Comparing HDR with the standard SDR is not difficult without doing a lot of pixel-peeping; you can see the difference easily.
But not all computers are capable of rendering HDR images; hence, we should check whether your computer is one of them and see how to enable this feature.
Check if HDR is supported on Windows 11 PC and enable it
To check if HDR is supported on Windows 11 PC and enable it, follow the given steps.
- Open Settings from the Start Menu or by Win + I.
- Click System.
- Now, go to Display.
- Look for HDR and click on it.
- Now, expand Display Capabilities to see if your system supports HDR.
- If it does, enable all the HDR-related toggle and enjoy high dynamic range.
If you have multiple displays, then you may want to use the drop-down menu from “Select a display to view or change its settings” to choose the display on which you want to check the HDR support.
How to check if HDR is working in Windows 11?
To check if HDR is working, open an HDR-compatible video (e.g., YouTube HDR content) or game and check if you notice richer contrast, deeper blacks, and brighter highlights. Additionally, Windows may prompt you to calibrate HDR brightness.
You can also run the following in PowerShell:
Get-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\VideoSettings" | Select-Object EnableHDR
- If EnableHDR is 1, it means HDR is enabled
- If EnableHDR is 0, it means HDR is disabled
You can also open the DirectX Diagnostic Tool and go to the Display tab. You should see the HDR Support: Yes entry there.
Should I use HDR?
Now that you know what HDR is and if your computer supports it or not, it is better to know if there are any consequences of using HDR. The only disadvantage of HDR is battery drainage, but the enhancement in quality is unmatchable. And it is also recommended to play games while keeping your system plugged, so, there is nothing to lose.
System Requirements to use HDR on Windows 11
If you are planning to buy an external monitor to watch HDR content on, then make sure that it meets the following specifications.
- HDR10 supported Display.
- DisplayPort 1.4 or HDMI 2.0 or higher
- GPU with PlayReady 3.0.
- Display Resolution 1080p.
If the computer meets the given requirement, you are good to go.
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