After Enabling HDR in Windows, the Colors Are Washed Out

Enabling High Dynamic Range (HDR) in Windows* 10 or Windows* 11 can reduce the color saturation, and sometimes the brightness, of the image on some displays including: laptops, monitors, and TVs. The display reports that it is operating is HDR mode, but the image is less color-saturated (washed out) and potentially dimmer than it previously was in SDR mode.

How to Resolve:

1. Right-click the Desktop and select Display Settings.
2. Select the HDR-capable display under Rearrange your displays.  Move the Settings window to the HDR display that you’re adjusting.
3. On the Display settings screen, select Windows HD Color settings.
4. Under HDR/SDR brightness balance, drag the slider to get the right balance for brightness between HDR and SDR content.

Quick Summary - Why am I seeing this?

The transition from SDR->HDR mode often leaves the user wondering why HDR is less saturated, often this is because SDR is incorrectly over saturated, stretching the Windows SDR color to the display’s maximum color range. HDR, by contrast utilizes the full color range, but for the majority of SDR applications which are designed to only use the sRGB color gamut, these images will become constrained to sRGB rather than the display’s full range, and thus look de-saturated versus their appearance in SDR mode. The default brightness of SDR applications, in HDR Mode, may not match user preference; often they appear too dark, occasionally too bright, but this can easily be adjusted to the desired brightness level by the end user by using a simple brightness slider control in the Display Settings panel in Windows.

Detailed explanation

In SDR mode the Windows operating system does not read the color profile data from the display, simply assuming that the display is exactly 100% sRGB (Rec.709) color gamut. In HDR mode the operating system reads the color profile data from the display and correctly maps application colors to the range of color supported by the display. However, unless the color mode of the display is manually adjusted by the end user when switching between SDR and HDR mode (via the OSD menu options), the net result will usually be that while in HDR mode colors are accurate, in SDR mode the colors are stretched from sRGB to the native color gamut of the panel. Colors thus become “super-saturated” in SDR mode. When the end user switches between SDR and HDR the HDR mode appears de-saturated in comparison to SDR, albeit that this comparison reflects that the colors are accurate in HDR, and over-saturated in SDR. If achieving color consistency between SDR and HDR mode is necessary for the end user, this can be achieved on displays that provide manual control over the color gamut. In this case, manually setting sRGB (Rec.709) mode on the display when in SDR, and using Native, WCG, DCI-P3, BT.2020, or HDR color mode on the display when in HDR, this will achieve the greatest consistency in both operating system modes, rendering the most accurate colors.

Luminance differences between SDR and HDR can be eliminated by adjusting the “HDR Content Brightness” slider. When in HDR mode, the end user can set their preferred “paper white” brightness level for their SDR applications, this will adjust the white level for applications such as: email, office applications, photos, paint etc. In HDR mode the SDR application white level can be adjusted to the same brightness as the user finds comfortable in SDR mode, thus removing any difference in SDR vs HDR brightness level for SDR white. When in HDR mode, this control can be found in the settings: System->Display->HDR, or just by searching for “HDR settings” in the Settings search box.