Anyone using HDR?

[oshunluvr]

I have two 4K HDR capable monitors so I enabled HDR today. Immediately, I didn't like what I saw. The colors all sort of washed out somewhat and/or contrast decreased.

Just wondering if it's my hardware or some setting I'm unaware of.

[oshunluvr]

So I went into my monitor's menu and set HDR from "gaming" to "cinema" mode and it looks better. Still seems like the colors are off a bit - like red is rather orange and blue is kinda periwinkle

[Snowhog]

Did you check under Plasma (X11), just to see if Wayland and X11 deal with your HDR differently?

[oshunluvr]

X11 does not support HDR. Plasma 6 introduced supporting it experimentally only in a Wayland session.

I did some reading and searching on it and it seems most people report the same experience I'm having, called "desaturation." Apparently has to do with color graphs or something like that and is still in early development stages. There are a few Steam games that support it but generally, most applications do not.

[oshunluvr]

Here's a list of Games that support HDR. Note very few have a Linux option. From what I've read, Windows isn't doing much better than Linux at supporting HDR - at least not yet.

[claydoh]

Hey there!

Yeah, I feel you on that HDR disappointment. It's a common issue, and you're not alone in this struggle.

First off, make sure your Windows HDR settings are properly configured. Sometimes Windows can mess things up. Go to Settings > System > Display > HDR and play around with the sliders.

Also, check your monitor settings. Some monitors have specific HDR modes or settings that need to be tweaked for the best results.That said, Windows HDR can be hit or miss. It often looks washed out on desktop and in non-HDR content. It usually shines in HDR games and videos, but even then, it's not always perfect.If you're mainly using your PC for regular desktop stuff and non-HDR content, you might be better off keeping HDR disabled. I personally only turn it on for specific HDR games or movies.What monitors are you using? Some cheaper "HDR" monitors don't really have the brightness or color range to do true HDR justice.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you need more info or if you figure out a solution. HDR can be awesome when it works right!

Regards, David :-)

Yup, an AI bot response, for sure. Even without the stupid, out-of-place Windows references.

[Rock Bollinger]

The following command fixed the washed-out HDR colours for me in Kubuntu 24.10.

kscreen-doctor output.1.wcg.disable

Now colours look like they do in Win11's HDR mode.

You can change this to

enable

to reverse the change.

Credit to Dmitrii Chermnykh for this solution