What are Display Requirements for HDR Video in Windows 10?

In this article, we’ll discuss what are the display requirements for HDR video in Windows 10 and if your system hardware supports HDR videos, then how to enable support for HDR videos in Windows 10.

Yesterday an AskVG reader asked me this question. He was unable to play and watch HDR videos in his Windows 10 device. He was sure that his PC configuration was compatible with HDR videos playback but still HDR videos were not playing in his device.

First of all let’s tell you what are HDR videos exactly?

HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. HDR videos show more vivid colors, more contrast, brighter highlights and details in scenes. You’ll notice huge difference between lights and shadows while watching an HDR video and a traditional SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) video. Also better details are shown in HDR videos specially in darkest and brightest parts of videos.

Following image shows difference between HDR video and SDR video scenes: (thanks to Microsoft)

You can notice a clear difference between both video stills. HDR video scene looks better and more realistic.

Windows 10 supports HDR videos using Windows HD Color feature:

Microsoft’s latest operating system Windows 10 supports HDR videos. It comes with a built-in feature called “Windows HD Color” which allows users to play HDR and WCG (Wide Color Gamut) videos in their Windows 10 device. WCG helps in displaying increased, more precised and brighter colors in videos.

You can turn on/off support for HDR and WCG videos in Windows 10 using following steps:

1. Open Settings app from Start Menu or by pressing WIN+I keys together.

2. Now go to “System -> Display” section.

PS: Alternatively, You can directly launch this page using “ms-settings:display” command in RUN dialog box as mentioned here.

3. In right-side pane, click on “Windows HD Color settings” option present under Windows HD Color section.

Now you can select desired display (if you have multiple displays connected to your device) and enable/disable HDR videos support by turning ON/OFF the given toggle buttons.

NOTE: If your Windows 10 device doesn’t support HDR videos, you’ll not find the option to enable/disable HDR videos feature on Settings page. Windows 10 will show that the current display doesn’t support steaming HDR video, play HDR games and apps and use WCG apps.

What are display requirements for HDR video in Windows 10?

Following are the minimum system requirements to play streaming HDR videos in Windows 10:

Display requirements for HDR videos for built-in displays:

• Resolution of 1920×1080 pixels (1080p) or more
• Recommended max brightness of 300 nits or more
• Integrated graphics card that supports PlayReady hardware digital rights management (for protected HDR content)
• Graphics card must have the required codecs installed for 10-bit video decoding. For your information, devices with 7th Generation Intel Core processor (codenamed Kaby Lake) support this.

Display requirements for HDR videos for external displays:

• The external display or TV must support HDR10
• DisplayPort 1.4 or HDMI 2.0 or higher
• It is recommended that your display is DisplayHDR certified
• Graphics card that supports PlayReady 3.0 hardware digital rights management (for protected HDR content). Some examples are: NVIDIA GeForce 1000 series or higher, AMD Radeon RX 400 series or higher, or Intel UHD Graphics 600 series or higher.
• It is recommended that graphics card supports hardware-accelerated 10-bit video decoding for HDR video codecs.
• Your Windows 10 PC must have required codecs installed for 10-bit video decoding (for example, HEVC or VP9 codecs).
• Your Windows 10 PC must have the latest WDDM 2.4 drivers installed. You can download and install the latest drivers using Windows Update or from your PC manufacturer’s website.

Also Check:

Windows 10 System Requirements