{"id":979,"date":"2021-02-02T10:56:40","date_gmt":"2021-02-02T10:56:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gameranswers.com\/?p=979"},"modified":"2021-07-30T09:26:13","modified_gmt":"2021-07-30T09:26:13","slug":"is-hdr-worth-it-for-gaming-in-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gameranswers.com\/is-hdr-worth-it-for-gaming-in-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Is HDR Worth it for Gaming in 2021? Here&#8217;s Everything You Need to Know about HDR!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Display technology has been growing at a tremendous pace.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It started with the black and white display, then color, and now we have something called a high dynamic range or HDR display.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The technology has been around for a few years now.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many people have been praising HDR displays, especially in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But you\u2019re probably wondering:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Is HDR worth it for gaming?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, today we will talk just about that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In our opinion,&nbsp;<strong>HDR is worth it for gaming.<\/strong>&nbsp;HDR displays will offer a&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/eu.aoc.com\/en\/gaming\/news\/the-advantages-of-hdr-in-gaming\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">more immersive gaming and realistic gaming experience.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this post, we will talk about the HDR display technology more in-depth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We will talk about:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Is HDR Mode Good for Gaming?<\/li><li>Does HDR Slows Gaming?<\/li><li>Is HDR10 Better than HDR400?<\/li><li>HDR Gaming vs. Non-HDR gaming.<\/li><li>And more<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep on reading if you want to know more about&nbsp;<strong>HDR displays for gaming.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_17 counter-hierarchy counter-decimal ez-toc-grey\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" style=\"display: none;\"><i class=\"ez-toc-glyphicon ez-toc-icon-toggle\"><\/i><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class=\"ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1\"><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/gameranswers.com\/is-hdr-worth-it-for-gaming-in-2021\/#Is_HDR_Mode_Good_for_Gaming\" title=\"Is HDR Mode Good for Gaming?\">Is HDR Mode Good for Gaming?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/gameranswers.com\/is-hdr-worth-it-for-gaming-in-2021\/#Does_HDR_Slows_Gaming\" title=\"Does HDR Slows Gaming?\">Does HDR Slows Gaming?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/gameranswers.com\/is-hdr-worth-it-for-gaming-in-2021\/#Is_HDR10_better_than_HDR400\" title=\"Is HDR10 better than HDR400?\">Is HDR10 better than HDR400?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/gameranswers.com\/is-hdr-worth-it-for-gaming-in-2021\/#Is_HDR_Worth_it_for_PS4\" title=\"Is HDR Worth it for PS4?\">Is HDR Worth it for PS4?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/gameranswers.com\/is-hdr-worth-it-for-gaming-in-2021\/#Conclusion\" title=\"Conclusion\">Conclusion<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Is_HDR_Mode_Good_for_Gaming\"><\/span>Is HDR Mode Good for Gaming?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/gameranswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Is-HDR-Good-for-Gaming_-1024x427.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-982\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gameranswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Is-HDR-Good-for-Gaming_-1024x427.png 1024w, https:\/\/gameranswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Is-HDR-Good-for-Gaming_-300x125.png 300w, https:\/\/gameranswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Is-HDR-Good-for-Gaming_-768x320.png 768w, https:\/\/gameranswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Is-HDR-Good-for-Gaming_.png 1440w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>More and more display monitor and TV now has this HDR feature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can get a 4K HDR gaming monitor for cheap in 2021.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many graphic cards manufacturers also now have HDR support as their standard feature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can find HDR in games quite easily now too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Game developers have been releasing games with HDR mode in the last couple of years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even the latest generation of gaming console also supports HDR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>HDR or High Dynamic Range<\/strong>&nbsp;is a display technology to reproduce a greater and broader range of brightness and color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The human eye can only see a certain range of colors and brightness. This is known as the&nbsp;<strong>dynamic range.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most displays cannot cover this entire range, which can be annoying if you have a display that cannot show the entire color range.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>HDR technology tries to solve this problem by increasing the brightness and color range to cover the entire dynamic range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So if a display monitor can support HDR, it means the display can produce a more vivid and realistic color that human eyes can see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Question is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Is HDR mode good for gaming?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With more vibrant and realistic colors, the gaming experience should be great, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If this is not the case, we are sure developers won\u2019twon\u2019t bring HDR features into their games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In many ways,&nbsp;<strong>HDR is good for gaming.<\/strong>&nbsp;The increased color and brightness allow for a more realistic gaming experience that is pleasing to our eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition, HDR technology allows for better lighting and shadows that result in more immersive gameplay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Take a look at this video of HDR gaming vs. Non-HDR gaming below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Assassin&#039;s Creed Origins - Graphics Comparison HDR OFF VS HDR ON \/ RTX 2060 SUPER \/ 2k\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7PoRPjWEEjI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>You can see from that video, with HDR mode on, the color, shadows, and lighting looks more solid and natural to the eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The only downside to HDR for gaming is that to display HDR content, you will need hardware that supports HDR as well. This can lead you to more expensive parts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Does_HDR_Slows_Gaming\"><\/span>Does HDR Slows Gaming?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To answer this question, we have to look at the comparison between Non-HDR mode or&nbsp;<strong>SDR<\/strong>&nbsp;<strong>(Standard Dynamic Range)<\/strong>&nbsp;and HDR mode activated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s look at this video that compares FPS or <a href=\"https:\/\/gameranswers.com\/how-many-fps-is-good-for-gaming\/\" class=\"rank-math-link\">Frame Per Second<\/a> between Non-HDR and HDR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"SDR vs HDR Gaming | Is There Any Performance Difference ?\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HXbY7zAHZjk?start=131&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>After watching the video, we can see that there are differences in FPS between SDR and HDR in games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Take Battlefield 1, for example.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It has&nbsp;<strong>95 average FPS<\/strong>&nbsp;on a 4k SDR monitor.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While with 4K HDR monitors, it only gains<strong>&nbsp;87 average FPS.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is about<strong>&nbsp;a 10% average FPS<\/strong>&nbsp;difference between HDR and SDR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>So does HDR slows gaming?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From the test above,&nbsp;<strong>we can see that HDR does slow gaming for a bit.&nbsp;<\/strong>Playing on HDR mode will require more processing power that will put more load on your graphics card, resulting in a lower frame per second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, this is not a big issue for most gamers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are playing competitive gaming, where do you need all the FPS you can get from your gaming computer? Then yes, you should avoid HDR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The small FPS drop in HDR mode might be substantial in competitive gaming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But if you play just for fun or a single-player game, you have to turn on the HDR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It will grant you an incredibly realistic and immersive view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Especially paired with a high-end graphics card, the FPS drop is minimum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Is_HDR10_better_than_HDR400\"><\/span>Is HDR10 better than HDR400?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This is not a simple question because HDR10 and HDR400 indicate two entirely different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>10 in the HDR10 indicates that the monitor supports 10-bit colors, which means the monitor can now display a wider range of colors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, 400 in HDR400 refers to the&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/vesa.org\/about-displayhdr\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">VESA certification<\/a>&nbsp;given to a monitor based on how bright the monitor can be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>HDR400 means the monitor capable of displaying 400 nits luminance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Essentially, all HDR400 monitors will have 10-bit color support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So back to the question,&nbsp;<strong>is HDR10 better than HDR400?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In most cases,&nbsp;<strong>we would say that having an HDR400 monitor is better compared to a standard HDR10 monitor.&nbsp;<\/strong>With an HDR400 gaming monitor, you can now have the monitor brightness up to 400 nits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The brighter your monitor can get, the more details you can see from the picture displayed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s the deal, with a brighter monitor, the bright part and dark part of your picture can be separated very well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This will result in a more realistic and vivid, and immersive gaming experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you want to take HDR to the maximum for gaming, you can look at HDR1000 gaming monitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These monitors are capable of reaching a brightness of 1,000 nits, resulting in a very contrasty picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, please note that HDR400 and HDR1000 are more expensive compared to an ordinary HDR monitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is because most of the monitors in the market today can only reach to 300 &#8211; 350 nits of brightness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So if you want to get one of these monitors, prepare some budget beforehand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also read: <a href=\"https:\/\/gameranswers.com\/are-curved-monitors-good-for-gaming\/\" class=\"rank-math-link\">Are Curved Monitors Good for Gaming?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Is_HDR_Worth_it_for_PS4\"><\/span>Is HDR Worth it for PS4?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/gameranswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Is-HDR-Worth-it-for-PS4_-1024x427.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-981\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gameranswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Is-HDR-Worth-it-for-PS4_-1024x427.png 1024w, https:\/\/gameranswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Is-HDR-Worth-it-for-PS4_-300x125.png 300w, https:\/\/gameranswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Is-HDR-Worth-it-for-PS4_-768x320.png 768w, https:\/\/gameranswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Is-HDR-Worth-it-for-PS4_.png 1440w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Well,&nbsp;<strong>HDR is very much for it if you are playing on a PlayStation 4.<\/strong>&nbsp;The PS4 games you play will have better pictures with more vivid colors, giving you a more immersive experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unlike a typical gaming PC, people will play their PS4 on their TV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>TV monitors tend to have better HDR capability than a gaming monitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because of this, playing on your big screen TV with HDR on your PS4 will result in a fantastic gaming experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Visually stunning games like&nbsp;<strong>Red Dead Redemption 2<\/strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>Assassin Creeds<\/strong>&nbsp;series will transport you right in the midst of the game with HDR mode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Conclusion\"><\/span>Conclusion<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>So, in conclusion, Is HDR worth it for gaming?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes,&nbsp;<strong>HDR is worth it for your gaming enjoyment.<\/strong>&nbsp;We recommend you to turn on HDR mode to get more vivid colors and stunning pictures. You can immerse yourself and enjoy the visual of the game more with HDR mode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, there are exceptional cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In competitive gaming, HDR might drop your FPS a little bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You might need powerful hardware to run HDR, so your FPS can drop a bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So if you are using a potato PC, we suggest turning off HDR because this might put more load into your CPU and GPU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other than this, we highly suggest you at least try for once playing in HDR mode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After that, let us know what do you think about it using the comment box below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Display technology has been growing at a tremendous pace.&nbsp; It started with the black and white display, then color, and now we have something called a high dynamic range or HDR display.&nbsp; The technology has been around for a few years now.&nbsp; Many people have been praising HDR displays, especially in 2021. But you\u2019re probably &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"Is HDR Worth it for Gaming in 2021? Here&#8217;s Everything You Need to Know about HDR!\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/gameranswers.com\/is-hdr-worth-it-for-gaming-in-2021\/#more-979\" aria-label=\"More on Is HDR Worth it for Gaming in 2021? Here&#8217;s Everything You Need to Know about HDR!\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":980,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_generate-full-width-content":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[139,138],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gameranswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/979"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gameranswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gameranswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gameranswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gameranswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gameranswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/979\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gameranswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gameranswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gameranswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gameranswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}