Microsoft Brings Auto HDR To Over 1000 PC Games


Fresh off of testing ways to make Xbox downloads faster, Microsoft has begun to test HDR enhancements for PC games that previously didn't offer HDR functionality.

As with the Auto HDR on Xbox consoles, the update will target games previously offering standard dynamic range and will work with over one thousand PC games between DirectX 11 and 12, with more to come.

Read More: Xbox Game Pass March 2021 Update: All Confirmed Games

Microsoft Brings Auto HDR To Over 1000 PC Games

In a new blog post, Microsoft program manager Hannah Fisher explained that “HDR is a video/imaging technique where the lights and darks in a digitally reproduced scene can be shown with more detail than before."

“In video games, the increased range of color and luminance of HDR enables a more immersive, realistic experience."

“You’ll be able to see the details of haunting movement in dark shadows rather than just black. The bright sun will be a more radiant, warm yellow rather than a flat saturated white”.

In practice, here's what that looks like in something like Gears 5: Hivebusters:

click to enlarge

“Grayscale is used to represent all the areas of the scene which can be fully represented by traditional SDR displays while the rainbow colors show areas which are only displayable on HDR capable displays,” Fisher explains.

“Notice on the middle and right-side images that the highlights on the goggles and helmet show an increased amount of detail. HDR and Auto HDR are not just about boosting brightness but really about emphasizing the details in a scene leveraging the increased range: darkening shadows and illuminating highlights.”

In other Microsoft news, Xbox Game Pass will get over 30 games over the course of March, and kick off April with the day one launch of Outriders.

That's on top of Microsoft finally confirming that EA Play will come to PC as part of Game Pass Ultimate later today.

For more articles like this, take a look at our PC Gaming page.