Poor HDR Quality

Bug Reporting Hub Install, Performance & Graphics
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After many months trying to get HDR to work in MSFS, I may have found the right settings.

  1. Enable HDR on your monitor.
  2. Windows > Settings > System > Display - Windows HD Color - Switch “Use HDR” ON. If this cannot be switched ON, there may be a problem with GPU monitor settings.
  3. Next select “Windows HD Color settings” right above the Use HDR switch.
  4. On the “Windows HD Color settings” screen make sure the “Use HDR” and “Stream HDR video” switches are both on… The “Display capabilities” should all be “Yes”.
  5. Scroll to the bottom to HDR/SDR brightness balance. There is an adjustment slider. Move the slider all the way to the RIGHT. This slider tells Windows match as best as possible SDR and HDR. That is SDR and HDR should look almost the same in Windows. This is the step I missed earlier.
  6. Close Settings.
  7. Enable HDR in the GPU. My GPU is NVIDIA so I open the NVIDIA Control Panel.
  8. Go to Display > Change resolution. For #2 select the monitor’s native resolution and highest Refresh rate.
  9. #3 Apply the following settings.
    Select NVIDIA color settings.
  • Desktop color depth: Highest (32 bit),
  • Output color depth: 8 bpc,
  • Output color format: RGB,
  • Output dynamic range: Full.
    I used to think these settings were wrong but according to NVIDIA these settings are correct for HDR.
  1. Go to Video > Adjust video color settings. For #2 I selected “With the video player settings”.
  2. Close NVIDIA Control Panel.
  3. Reboot the PC to insure the new video settings are being used.
  4. I tested HDR content using YouTube, searching for “4k HDR tests”. Select one or two videos to view HDR content. If the colors do not look good, go back to the NVIDIA Control Panel > Video > Adjust color settings screen. For #2, select “With the NVIDIA settings”. Adjust the colors to your liking.
  5. Do not proceed until both SDR and HDR content are displayed correctly.
  6. Start MSFS.
  7. Go to OPTIONS > GENERAL OPTIONS > GRAPHICS. HDR10 should NOT be grayed out. Turn HDR10 to ON. The screen colors may become very pale and strange looking.
  8. Before doing anything else in MSFS “Apply and Save Settings”, Now “Go Back”, “Go Back”, and “Quit to Desktop”. This is a very important step!
  9. Restart MSFS.
  10. Welcome to MSFS in brilliant HDR colors!

If the colors still need adjustment, exit MSFS and return to the NVIDIA Control Panel. Instead of tweaking colors in NVIDIA Control Panel, I use the GeoForce Experience Game Filters. I know people have removed Geoforce Experience but this app has been very helpful with its many features.

These steps worked for me, Windows 10 and NVIDIA latest drivers.

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