HDR That Matters: Make HDR Usable, Not Washed Out
HDR should improve highlight detail and depth. When it looks washed out or crushed, calibration and tone mapping are fighting each other.
Common HDR Failures
- Washed out image (wrong range/tone mapping).
- Crushed blacks (over-aggressive contrast).
- Dim highlights (limited peak output or wrong settings).
- Unreadable UI (bad paper-white balance).
Fix Order (Minimal)
- Confirm HDR is enabled end-to-end (system + display + game).
- Set sane brightness and paper-white; prioritize UI readability.
- Adjust tone mapping once, then stop changing multiple layers.
- Validate with one bright scene and one dark scene.
HDR that matters is stable, readable, and consistent — not a demo mode.
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