If you’ve recently upgraded to a new monitor and noticed that the image is disappointingly dull, you’re not alone. Your display is likely set to HDR by default, which can cause issues with regular content. Here’s why and how to fix it.

SDR Content Looks Washed Out in HDR Mode

To better understand why regular SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) content doesn’t look good when viewed with HDR (High Dynamic Range) enabled, it helps to first understand what HDR entails. An HDR signal carries significantly more information about brightness, color, and contrast, allowing it to display a wider luminance range and more vivid, accurate colors.

When you view non-HDR content in HDR mode, the image often appears washed out. This happens because the monitor applies HDR’s wider dynamic range to the SDR content, but SDR doesn’t contain the expanded range of data that HDR can handle.

The result is lower color saturation and a less vibrant image, as the SDR image is limited to sRGB color values, which don’t take full advantage of the wider color and brightness range that the HDR monitor can display. It’s like driving a 500-horsepower sports car in eco-mode—you’re limited to a fraction of the car’s performance until you switch off the restrictions.

When you disable HDR, the SDR content can finally take advantage of your display’s full-color gamut, resulting in a more vivid image. Not only that, but you also get more accurate color reproduction, too, as the display has likely been calibrated to work specifically in SDR mode with SDR content and HDR mode with HDR content.

SDR Content Faces Brightness Problems in HDR Mode

Another major issue with SDR content in HDR is brightness. HDR displays are calibrated to run at maximum backlight brightness to allow for higher peak brightness levels and to fully utilize the capabilities of HDR. When you view SDR content in HDR mode, the image can appear overly bright or dim.

When I first bought my new HDR monitor, I thought that something was wrong with it because the brightness levels were worse than my old unit; I could barely use the monitor for work during the daytime. Using Windows 11’s built-in SDR brightness slider didn’t help either, as it merely adjusts brightness digitally. Backlight brightness remains the same, so the end result is an even more washed-out image caused by a poor contrast ratio.

Another reason for a low contrast ratio with SDR content in HDR mode is that SDR is usually designed using a gamma curve of about 2.2, while HDR uses a different transfer function, such as PQ. This mismatch results in washed-out highlights and crushed blacks because the display isn’t processing the image as intended.

HDR Mode Causes Unnecessary Wear and Tear

Running your monitor continuously in HDR mode when it’s not needed often means that brightness also stays at 100%. You’re likely doing this to either keep the monitor always ready for HDR content or to compensate for the lower brightness of SDR content.

However, even though the image isn’t as bright as you need it, the monitor’s backlight still operates at full power. This results in increased energy consumption, which will be reflected in your electricity bill—and that’s just the beginning of your problems.

The bigger problem is that your monitor will also generate more heat and put additional strain on its components, leading to accelerated wear and a reduced lifespan. Even if the monitor doesn’t outright stop working, it will get dimmer over time, resulting in poorer image quality.

While this trade-off is acceptable when viewing HDR content, using HDR for SDR content only speeds up wear and is also detrimental to image quality. You can avoid these issues entirely by simply disabling HDR when viewing SDR content and adjusting the brightness to a comfortable level as desired.

HDR Is Still Great in the Right Circumstances

Remember, all the drawbacks I’ve discussed here only apply to viewing regular SDR content in HDR mode. HDR is still worthwhile for content that supports it, as it delivers a dynamic, vibrant image with significantly better contrast that looks more realistic.

However, it’s important to note that not all HDR displays are equal. A monitor with a DisplayHDR 400 rating falls far short of one with a DisplayHDR 1000 rating in terms of HDR performance. Lower-rated monitors lack high peak brightness levels and advanced features like local dimming, which are essential for delivering a true HDR experience.

If your monitor only supports DisplayHDR 400, you realistically won’t lose much by dismissing HDR completely and always keeping it off. In contrast, if you have a nice monitor built for HDR, you’re robbing yourself of the best experience that your monitor can provide, so it’s worth the extra effort required to enable and disable it depending on the content.

For gamers, you should know that Auto HDR is a Windows 11 feature that can automatically adjust SDR content for HDR displays in supported games using machine learning (see list of supported games on PCGamingWiki). If you have an NVIDIA graphics card, you can take advantage of a similar feature called RTX HDR.

Surprisingly, Auto HDR works quite well and can create an HDR-like image, even if the game doesn’t natively support HDR. So, if you play a supported game, be sure to turn on both Auto HDR and HDR for the best experience.

You Can Control HDR on Windows With a Simple Hotkey

By now, you’re probably wondering who has the extra time to dive into Windows display settings every time they want to toggle HDR. I’m right there with you—most of us prefer to set things once and forget about them. Unfortunately, since Windows can’t automatically switch HDR on or off based on the content, it’s up to you to do it manually.

The good news is that you can instantly enable or disable HDR in Windows 11 by pressing Win+Alt+B. Your screen will briefly turn black, and HDR will be on or off. Just remember to enable HDR before launching a supported game, as some games might not switch properly if you enable it mid-session.

While TVs and PlayStations can automatically adjust HDR settings or display SDR content correctly in HDR mode, the same can’t be said for PCs. Until Microsoft improves the HDR implementation in Windows, users will need to manually switch between SDR and HDR. Fortunately, it only takes a few seconds, and remembering a simple hotkey can make toggling between them easy.