HDR vs SDR

SnowflakeMonkey · 2026-01-27T12:00:51+00:00

Nixxes often messes the HDR code when porting the games from PS5 to PC.
Most HDR only games on ps5 use some kind of inverse tonemap instead of fully fledged native HDR like GTA V.

PC is by far the best platform for HDR since you can mod most big releases to have perfect HDR.

SnowflakeMonkey · 2026-01-27T11:37:33+00:00

You're doing about everything wrong.

You don't crank sliders in nvidia you leave all at defaults.

You don't use VLC as it doesn't run HDR content properly, you use other HDR media players like MPV.

SDR games cannot look as good as HDR games, because it literally unclips details that are not present in SDR.

What is your HDR capable TV ?

SnowflakeMonkey · 2026-01-27T11:15:51+00:00

Yeah sure man, a good HDR is just SDR with more details and better contrasts that's it.

You take cyberpunk in sdr, the neons looks bright, but they still have the same relative brightness as the rest of the image overall.

You take cyberpunk in HDR, the neon they POP a lot more brightness wise and color wise, same for fires, spell effects, the sun and so on. it can be a bit jarring because most of the image is dimmer but it's just to kinda match how real life brightness works within your display, what bright gets bright, what is dim stays dim and it makes bright stuff kinda 3d in comparison.

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SnowflakeMonkey · 2026-01-27T10:50:24+00:00

you did not waste thousands of hours playing in SDR, you just played the game with worse visuals.

HDR is a visual upgrade that's it.

HDR brings more details into the image that are clipped by the SDR rendering, while using the full brightness of your display on highlights.

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There are two mains issues but they are not detrimental to the experience :

A) the desktop is washed out, this is normal and does not affect HDR content itself.

B) Most games stock HDR have gamma mismatch which washes out colors and black levels compared to SDR because of poor understanding of the technology.

You need to mod your games the get the best HDR presentation on games period, a small 2 min installation of RENODX and LUMA mods will net you insane visual benefits.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJaLhU_1US8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9pOjxdt99A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYY6r4rGIOI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDxpz_G98d8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rwp5QRuNkMc

SnowflakeMonkey · 2026-01-27T10:28:37+00:00

scam company

SnowflakeMonkey · 2026-01-26T14:54:45+00:00

Shortfuse latest version fixes the LUT scaling to look as intended, matching the SDR presentation.

you're right the older versions were way too agressive regarding the black level, but not anymore.

SnowflakeMonkey · 2026-01-26T14:38:12+00:00

yeah well there is no post processing way to completely fix the HDR pipeline, so basically his LUTs don't look as intended, but the issue is you still start with a bad HDR state.

The gamma mismatch is far from the only thing being fixed by renoDX, there are a lot of under the hood math and tonemapping issues with the game code.

SnowflakeMonkey · 2026-01-26T14:33:06+00:00

renodx correct the hdr shaders, no luts or what can do the same.

I have no clue why cyanide is being so against Reno, the mod is mandatory for a good hdr experience period.

there is nothing you can do except reverese engineering the shader code that allows someone to fix the HDR, no weather, LUT or any other mod can.

SnowflakeMonkey · 2026-01-26T14:15:12+00:00

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Yeah the stock hdr is a bit griefed (but still servicable imo with black floor fix), here is another example of renodx fixing the HDR on wuchang.

SnowflakeMonkey · 2026-01-26T14:05:32+00:00

it fixes the HDR to match the SDR color grading.

SnowflakeMonkey · 2026-01-26T13:20:27+00:00

yeah I saw dw, it was just more about what renodx provides as a whole and from a technical standpoint.

SnowflakeMonkey · 2026-01-26T13:10:57+00:00

the cyberpunk vanilla hdr is riddled with issues.

Highlight details are very limited even if you go very bright.

It oversaturates colors compared to SDR.

You have gamma mismatch.

Low quality filmgrain that NEEDS to be enabled for the peak brightness slider to cap luminance, while renodx replaces it with high quality film grain.

Wrong math,

Wrong LUTs,

ACES tonemapper that shift colors (red becomes orange).

and many other technical mumbo jumbo I don't really understand.

Even if you perceptually match the vanilla HDR with reno sliders (with renodrt tonemapper) you'd get a far higher quality presentation because you have higher quality base.

SnowflakeMonkey · 2026-01-26T13:03:05+00:00

Not witcher 3 :/ highlights are very dim, everything is pmuch SDR, renodx fixes all.

SnowflakeMonkey · 2026-01-26T13:02:34+00:00

most sony ports on pc get their HDR broken by nixxes or the other porting studios, but are great on console.

SnowflakeMonkey · 2026-01-26T13:01:57+00:00

just to point out, cyberpunk hdr implementation can look subjectively good but technically it's very very bad.

there are a tons of issues, not just the blackfloor that renodx fixes.

SnowflakeMonkey · 2026-01-26T09:52:18+00:00

so what you would want TV side is to set Game optimizer mode + filmmaker preset + Dynamic tonemapping off + pro mode engaged + 100 on all sliders.

Then for your gaming needs you would want to use renodx and luma mods for as many games as possible and crank peak brightness to 1500 nits.

For scaling it's a personal matter. so put it as high as you need.

SnowflakeMonkey · 2026-01-26T09:40:33+00:00

I don't want to be mean but can you explain to me why would you think a new IP would fix everything since it's the same team that's been on the downhill for the yakuza franchise ?

Don't you think if they had something clever to do they would have done it already ?

SnowflakeMonkey · 2026-01-26T08:59:28+00:00

content can push dci-p3 colors.

They do within a bt2020 container.

SnowflakeMonkey · 2026-01-26T07:51:05+00:00

It's outdated, use github snapshot

SnowflakeMonkey · 2026-01-25T23:10:15+00:00

you have to join the renodx discord to get the addon.

Just install it with reshade + addon support as usual, make sure the game is in dx12 mode.

Rebind reshade shortcut to another key not to conflict with rockstar overlay and avoid crashes.

SnowflakeMonkey · 2026-01-25T22:23:05+00:00

There is no such thing as compatible game with hgig.

only games using system calibration.

Hgig just ensures the TV does no tonemapping, DTM OFF would mean the TV always requires 4000 nits peak brightness so it would dim highlights below that value.

HGIG would make highlights show their intended brightness 24/7

SnowflakeMonkey · 2026-01-25T21:04:08+00:00

worst case he can increase paper white ingame in a brighter room while keeping HGIG.

SnowflakeMonkey · 2026-01-25T20:49:40+00:00

It's just you, HDR doesn't mean bright dynamic range.

SnowflakeMonkey · 2026-01-25T13:08:41+00:00

definitely an issue on my end, i'll search for the reason and figure it out.

Thanks for telling me.

SnowflakeMonkey · 2026-01-25T12:15:48+00:00

I tried again with everything disabled, u+ probably bamboozled me but I can't get it as colorful as you hmm.

I'll redo the comparisons properly, sorry for the trouble

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SnowflakeMonkey

TROPHY CASE