Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut (PC) HDR Analysis

[KoKlusz]

Technical Info:

• Custom Engine
• HDR available in the windowed mode
• Defaults to the peak brightness provided by EDID/OS calibration, but can be overridden in game
• No apparent sRGB/G2.2 EOTF mismatch in HDR

HDR Settings:

Brightness - screen brightness, values range from 0 to 100, the default is 50

Seems to be an exposure adjustment based on the fact it's shared with the SDR presentation. The game's exposure in HDR seems to be roughly equivalent to 300 nits with the default settings.

Contrast - two options, Default and Dramatic, guess which one is the default :P

HDR Max Luminance - peak brightness, values range from 200 nits to 1500 nits

The default value is chosen based on the EDID/OS calibration value.

UI Brightness (HDR) - values range from 10 nits to 1000 nits, the default is 200 nits

Review:

According to this blog post regarding Infamous Second Son, it would appear that the intent is to decode the game with the BT.1886 transfer function (or Gamma 2.4), and the HDR presentation seems to respect that, even if it results in crushed near-black detail. Alas, creator's intent.

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 (300 nits, Gamma 2.4 EOTF)
HDR Defaults