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HDR support is coming to over 1,000 games in new Windows update

Finally, PC is getting the HDR support it deserves

HDR gaming on consoles is currently steps ahead of PC gaming, and has been for some years. Although many more new games launch with native HDR support than ever before, there are still many PC games that don’t support HDR despite their console counterparts having it.

An announcement from the DirectX developers confirms that Auto HDR is coming to a Windows 10 update in the near future, meaning over 1,000 more DirectX 11 and 12 games will be able to take advantage of the deeper colours and shadows you get with HDR. Oh, and it’s available in the latest Windows insider program now, if you don’t want to wait.

A complete list of the games that are set to gain support isn’t available, but you’ll know if a game’s playing ball as Windows will give you a notification confirming Auto HDR is working. Redditors have already started a thread reporting which games they’ve had success in – Hitman 3 and Valheim, are some of the titles working.

Microsoft notes that high-dynamic-range can be taxing on even the best graphics card, so if you’re looking to boost fps in games give it a miss – HDR comes with a hefty performance price tag.

Heat map comparing luminence in Gears 5 without HDR, with Auto HDR and with Native HDR.

As you can see from this heat map comparison in Gears 5, which highlights areas of the screen benefitting from high dynamic range, native support still comes out on top for the best graphical fidelity. Even so, auto HDR is a pretty impressive compromise and beats having nothing at all.

We’d prefer if more upcoming PC games came with native HDR – but as more people switch to the latest HDR-compatible monitors, it’s hopefully something we’ll see more of. In the meantime, auto HDR looks like a great alternative to improve colour contrasts in games that lack proper support.