Just bought your CORSAIR XENEON monitor with HDR support and want to enjoy its fantastic HDR function? Then it's time to look at some Windows settings to get everything working as expected.
High Dynamic Range, often referred to as HDR, allows for more impressive color reproduction and greater detail in both shadows and highlights compared to Standard Dynamic Range, or SDR.
To fully support HDR, content such as games must have an option in the settings, or you can choose to use Auto-HDR, which is supported by Windows 11. Auto HDR allows even SDR games to look more vivid compared to running them in SDR. Depending on your personal preference, you can always turn it off if you dislike the results.
For a gaming PC, use your monitor's DisplayPort 1.4 input for the highest refresh rate, full native resolution, and HDR capability. If you chose a monitor that supports HDMI 2.1 inputs, and your video card supports HDMI 2.1 outputs, you can also use HDMI 2.1 with the included cable.
We have put together the article WHICH DISPLAY INPUT SHOULD YOU USE WITH YOUR CORSAIR XENEON MONITOR? It explains more about connecting to XENEON monitors.
First, in Windows 11, you need to open the Display Settings in the Settings app. There are several ways to open it, but here is how we like to do it:
Some other ways to get to Display settings are:
In the display settings, you will see a switch to enable HDR. This is called "Use HDR". When you flip the switch, your screen will go blank for a second and the monitor's HDR profile will be activated. You may notice that the screen looks washed out and off. Calibrating the monitor's color profile will help in this case, but it is still recommended to use it even if everything looks fine to you once HDR is enabled.
Caution: It is recommended that you calibrate the monitor after it has been turned on and operating for at least 15 minutes.
In addition to checking the "Use HDR" box, you can also click on the bar itself (see the bar marked with an arrow in the screenshot above). This will take you to the HDR Settings submenu, where you can further tweak the HDR settings in Windows 11.
The most important thing here is the setting called "HDR Display Calibration". Clicking on this will take you to the Microsoft Store to download an additional application called "Windows HDR Calibration".
Click on the Get button to install it, then open it.
Use the application by clicking "Get Started" to perform the HDR calibration process. Be sure to follow each step as described. When you complete the process, the application will create a new profile for your monitor using your calibrated settings for HDR. If you decide to turn HDR off, Windows and your monitor will revert to their default color profile.
If HDR is enabled and you open a supported game that only uses SDR, Windows will ask if you want to enable Auto HDR. This setting is also located in the HDR Settings submenu. You can leave it on or turn it off, depending on whether you like the way Auto HDR makes your SDR games look. In our experience, it is worth leaving it on. Most games look better.
There we have it, folks. With a few clicks, you can enable HDR mode for your XENEON OLED monitor and enjoy HDR content on it. Once you experience HDR, we are sure you will like it as much as we do.
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