Directive 8020 (PC) HDR Analysis

[KoKlusz]

Technical Info:

• Unreal Engine 5.5
• HDR available in the windowed mode
• Ignores peak brightness from EDID/OS calibration
• Possible sRGB/G2.2 EOTF mismatch in HDR

HDR Settings:

HDR Brightness - seems to be an exposure, values range from 0 to 100, defaults to 33

HDR Max Luminance - peak brightness, values range from 400 nits to 2000 nits, defaults to 1000 nits

HDR Mid Luminance - tone mapper parameter for midtones/midgray, values range from 1 to 100, defaults to 15

HDR Min Luminance - tone mapper parameter for the black point, values range from -20 to 0, defaults to -4

HDR UI Luminance - values range from 100 nits to 2000 nits, defaults to 300 nits

Review:

Usual UE jank, devs just exposed tone mapping parameters to the user for the choose-your-own-adventure HDR presentation. Seems to undertrack peak brightness, but maybe it's just the opening area, didn't have time to go in further.

Comparisons

Warning

In order to view them correctly on Windows, you must use a Chromium browser with Windows HDR enabled and the brightness slider set to the value of 31

SDR Defaults (200 nits, sRGB)
HDR Defaults
SDR Defaults (200 nits, Gamma 2.2)