HDR10 + Gaming is the latest technology to expand the scope of the HDR10 + standard. It is debuting on Samsung TVs and gaming monitors. But how does it improve your gaming experience and what do you need to enjoy HDR10 + gaming?
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Bring HDR10 + into games
HDR, or High Dynamic Range, is one of the most exciting features to find its way onto 4K and 8K TVs. It enables televisions and monitors to display more lifelike and accurate colors. But there are several competing standards for HDR. While HDR10 is the base HDR and is present on any display that claims to support high dynamic range, HDR10 + and Dolby Vision are advanced HDR formats that come with dynamic metadata to tell displays like the brightness levels rolled into one Can be adjusted picture by picture or scene-by-scene basis.
But even these advanced HDR standards aren’t enough to do justice to gaming content. This is where Dolby Vision for Games and the new HDR10 + gaming extensions come into play. With HDR10 + Gaming, HDR10 + Technologies, the company behind the HDR10 + standard, aims to bring the benefits of its HDR format to games.
But HDR10 + gaming not only offers the advantages of HDR10 +, such as extended dynamic range and greater color depth. It also focuses on three key aspects – variable refresh rate (VRR), automatic HDR calibration, and low latency source sound mapping – to ensure that the gaming experience remains top-notch.
Unlike regular video content like TV shows or movies, which always have a fixed frame rate, video games can have variable frame rates. In order to do justice to the variable frame rate of the games, the displays have a function called Variable Refresh Rate or VRR. And the HDR10 + Gaming supports it at up to 120 Hz to ensure smooth gameplay.
The new high dynamic range gaming extension also addresses a nuisance gamers have to deal with in the form of manually calibrating their displays for HDR gaming. An HDR10 + gaming compatible display will seamlessly pass its panel properties to the game’s HDR10 + processing block. And the game will automatically optimize its video output for that particular display. Since the game itself optimizes its video content, it can keep the creative intent.
Finally, HDR10 + Gaming ensures that the tone mapping process doesn’t add latency. Based on the HDR metadata, tone mapping adapts the digital signals to suitable light levels. So if this process takes time, it can add latency and affect your gaming experience.
All in all, HDR10 + Gaming ensures that compatible titles display rich, lifelike colors as intended by the developers, without sacrificing additional latency or critical features like VRR.
HDR10 + Gaming vs. Dolby Vision for gaming
Dolby Vision for Games is an extension developed by Dolby to take advantage of the Dolby Vision HDR format for games. First launched in May 2021, it is similar in many ways to HDR10 + Gaming, with support for automatic HDR calibration and VRR. But it has at least one additional trick up its sleeve.
One of the key differences between Dolby Vision for Games and HDR10 + Gaming is the ability to enhance regular HDR titles. Of course, the best Dolby Vision for Games experience is only available with titles that have been optimized for it. Even so, even older titles published in HDR or Auto-HDR can get an enhanced visual experience with Dolby Vision for Games technology. It is not exactly clear how much improvement you will get, but something is better than nothing.
As of late 2021, Dolby Vision for Games will only be available on Xbox Series X and Series S consoles, but will offer wider game title support compared to HDR10 + Gaming.
HDR10 + Gaming vs. HDR10 +
HDR10 + Gaming is just an extension of the HDR10 + and not a full-fledged HDR standard. It’s designed to bring HDR10 + advantage to games. So it includes everything that HDR10 + has to offer, such as dynamic metadata for frame-by-frame brightness adjustments and lifelike colors. It will also be available to game studios and hardware manufacturers for free, as will HDR10 +.
What you need to enjoy HDR10 + gaming
HDR10 + Gaming will be first available on select 2022 Samsung Neo QLED 4K and 8K TVs as well as gaming monitors. Other television manufacturers that have adopted the HDR10 + standard are likely to include the expansion in their upcoming products as well, Panasonic in particular. The Japanese technology company is a founding member of HDR10 + Technologies. So it’s a prime candidate to back it up.
It is unclear whether Samsung or other manufacturers will bring the HDR10 + gaming add-on to their existing televisions via software updates.
In addition, NVIDIA has announced support for HDR10 + gaming. The company’s RTX 16, 20, and 30-series GPUs will receive driver updates in 2022 to enable the feature. However, none of the console manufacturers said anything about adding HDR10 + gaming support to their devices.
Basically, PC gaming is the only way to enjoy HDR10 + gaming for now, and all you need is a TV that supports HDR10 + gaming, a PC with a compatible NVIDIA GPU, and a compatible game.
Speaking of compatible games, several game developers, including Saber Interactive and Game Mechanic Studios, are adopting the new technology in their games. Redout 2, Pinball fx, and Happy Trails and the kidnapped princess will be among the first HDR10 + gaming titles you can play.
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