HDR in games is coming soon to Windows 10. Enjoying HDR in games is not something particularly new. Moreover, it is not that the current generation of consoles supports this technology, no, it is that the previous (PS4 and Xbox One) already were, and we are talking about devices that went on sale in 2013, eight years ago. And if we talk about Auto HDR, Xbox Series has this feature. However, as surprising as it may seem, support for Auto HDR in games has not yet come to Windows 10.
HDR feature in games coming soon to Windows 10
With the launch of the current generation of Microsoft consoles, it was expected that Auto HDR would come to Windows 10 and that, in this way, we could enjoy HDR in games even though these only have SDR mode. This was not the case, and during these months console users have enjoyed a feature that was not available on PC, although their hardware may be far superior to that of the console.
However, and according to what we can read on the Direct X blog, this could be about to change and, what’s more, insiders can already check it out if they install Build 21337 on their systems, already released on their channel, and which finally has Auto HDR, a key element to make it possible to play on Windows 10 using this technology.
This implementation of Auto HDR is broadly the same as we can find Xbox Series, and as in the same, what it does is allow you to enjoy HDR in games even if they have not been developed with this technology, as long as they are based on Direct X 11 or Direct X 12.
“While some game studios develop for HDR gaming PCs, Auto HDR for PC will take DirectX 11 or DirectX 12 SDR-only games and intelligently extend the color/brightness range up to HDR,” says Hannah Fisher, who signs off on the blog post. “It’s a seamless platform feature that will give you an amazing new gaming experience that takes full advantage of your HDR monitor’s capabilities.”
At the moment the feature is in testing, and as stated in the blog the complexity of bringing Auto HDR to all games is proving to be higher than expected. However, that the first implementation of it is already reaching the insiders, coupled with support for more than 1,000 games, means that it is already advanced enough that we can expect its arrival in a few months, perhaps in Sunny Valley? Enjoying HDR in games on Windows 10, even if they are SDR by design, could be a reality before the end of the year. And, given the good performance of Auto HDR on Xbox Series, this is excellent news for gamers.
