The extra sense of depth is particularly stunning. Start actually playing the game, and all the HDR effects I’ve just described not only remain but take on an even grander scale.
Colors also look more intense, deep and full of subtle shading differences, contributing to the HDR image’s striking sense of depth and solidity. It’s not just in the extra detail and enhanced use of light and shade that HDR makes its impact even on just this near-static Gears of War 4 screen, though. You feel much more aware, for instance, of the individual cracks apparent in the white part of the Gears Of War logo than you do in SDR mode. The HDR version also looks clearly more detailed than the SDR version. Having all this extra luminance range to play with means the graphics can employ much more subtle shading techniques, with the result that the image looks more three-dimensional, solid, and real. What’s really happened, though, as becomes clear if you study the frame for longer, is that the HDR mode has expanded the image’s entire brightness range, which means introducing more depth to the lighting ‘floor’ as well as boosting the reach of light peaks like the glint in the character’s eyes, reflections on armor, and the illuminated gun sight. First - perhaps contrary to what you might expect - it seems to darken the image slightly, with the dark sections of the character’s suit and gun becoming blacker and even the white of the Gears of War logo becoming slightly more muted. If you want an easy snapshot of what HDR can do, just leave Gears of War 4 on its ‘home screen’ (the one showing the Gears of War 4 logo next to a gorgeously rendered, gently animated shot of one of the characters from the game) and toggle HDR on and off in the Advanced Video Settings section of the Xbox system menus.Įven with this simple screen, activating HDR does a number of key things. But the addition of HDR to proceedings elevates what already looks brilliant into truly sublime territory. The game starts off from a seriously strong graphical foundation courtesy of the detailing and outstanding sense of depth and solidity it’s been able to coax out of the fourth generation of Epic’s Unreal Engine. And in the case of GOW4, that impact is substantial. I’m focusing purely on the impact HDR has on their graphics and the playing experience. Many hours of ‘dedicated research’ (also known as ‘having a blast’) later, here’s what I found.īefore going any further, please note that I am not reviewing the games featured in this article as games there are other writers on Forbes already doing an excellent job of that.
In the case of Deus Ex, I got both the Xbox One S and PS4 versions to see if there were any significant differences in HDR approach between the two consoles. To find out, I armed myself with both HDR-capable consoles, a Samsung KS9800 (KS9500 in Europe) HDR TV, and three of the first HDR titles: Gears Of War 4, Deus Ex and Forza Horizon 3. A fact which raises a pretty big question for HDR gaming to answer: does it deliver enough of a graphical boost to warrant upgrading your TV? While it’s good to see game makers already coming on board with HDR, though, most gamers still use standard dynamic range (SDR) TVs.