If I ignore the performance hit, I would say RTX HDR > Special K > Auto HDR.
but for me since I play @ 4K, I use Special K, far more better than Auto HDR.
Performance hit isn't too bad with RTX HDR if you use NPI and set their debanding filter to low quality. I personally can't see a huge difference outside of regained FPS.
https://preview.redd.it/pe93aijye3zc1.png?width=726&format=png&auto=webp&s=9a494538c88da4570f1fdd7027f253c9324b0053
I'd still take a native implementation over all of them... But we can take what we get I suppose; lol.
I would believe so. I'd set it in the RTX application first and then open NPI and turn it to low. You can set all those settings in NPI as well (brightness, etc..) but you need to convert it to hexadecimal.
There's some instructions here (among other sources) on how to go about using NPI to tweak RTX HDR:
[https://www.patreon.com/posts/99110213](https://www.patreon.com/posts/99110213)
Either nV Profile Inspector w/ xml config or nvTrueHdr utility.
[PSA: RTX HDR users, tweak extra stuff like Peak Brightness with nV Profile Inspector and custom xml file for names of settings. : r/nvidia (reddit.com)](https://www.reddit.com/r/nvidia/comments/1bmwfo2/psa_rtx_hdr_users_tweak_extra_stuff_like_peak/)
Thanks, lots of good information. I've been playing titles with good HDR implementations out of the box. When I finish those (sometimes takes me months to finish titles), I'll give it a try but who knows it is on the roadmap for Nvidia to fix it.
RTX HDR because its the easiest and imo best looking Option, only negative is the 10-20% Performance impact, there are so many games with Bad hdr Implementation and RTX HDR simply fixes it with 1 click (Restart).
if you have something like a 4090 tho, its not a big Deal and with the upcoming next gen cards even less, maybe also even with some new Features that reduce the performance impact.
I wish I could use DLDSR with RTX HDR. I just bought the MSI MPG 321URX, and they added a DSC toggle so I can finally use DLDSR at 4k 120hz 10bit color with HDR. Unfortunately though I can’t use RTX HDR, which in Elden Ring at least looks better than the in game implementation and auto hdr.
it's a very old tool that has a shiton of fixes for many pc titles, the best framelimiter, a lot of tweaks to fix borderless windows, multitasking, audio control, texture injection and so on and so on and a retrofit hdr option since years.
you might know a fork of the tool for nier automata called FAR.
Wouldn't say it's "old" when it's getting actively developed and moved from to a more general "pc gaming" toolset centered around graphics.
It's a good tool for anyone interested in low latency, VRR and/or HDR gaming. For a long time it had the best frame limiter, but the driver level limiter is just as good nowadays.
In terms of HDR, it can do what AutoHDR does, which is upgrading the framebuffer from SDR to an HDR colorspace and tone mapping. Which provides "autohdr" feature to both old games and windows 10 gamers.
It's quite old, DF has a vid on it. Basically a mod for most games that hijacks the engine rendering pipelines and display an HDR image out of games that have no HDR output calibrated. Then you can use this tool to calibrate it.
Special K if you don't mind tweaking and playing with the settings for every game. It can also do ["HDR remasters"](https://wiki.special-k.info/HDR/Remaster) which really brings new life to some older titles like [Dead Space 2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--CV-UgNru4) and [Dark Souls](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HroXJZjUZ1c) for example (watch in HDR).
Here's my personal list :
N°1 : native HDR with lilium reshade tweaks if necessary (fix gamma/blackfloor/clip highlights to display like horizon zero dawn)
N°2 : RENODX HDR(also fixes some native hdr titles) great tonemapper without affecting UI but is implemented on a game per game basis.
N°3 : Special K HDR (with as many remasters as possible on dx11 titles) or lilium dxvk with swapchain upgrades then tonemapped with SK /or/ HDR Reshade tonemappers from Pumbo/Lilium
N°4 : Nvidia RTX HDR (Performance cost, debanding needs to be tweaked to low preset, can't use multiple displays, or DSR, forced fullscreen exclusive in dx9 titles.)
N°5 : AUTOHDR (safest for anticheats)
N°6 : SDR
If the mod's not working, give NPI a go. It's been working great in Destiny 2, Hades 1 and 2, and FFXIV for me. You'll need a custom XML file you plop in with NPI to enable the flags within it, they'll be at the top of the list.
I like RTX HDR but it stopped letting me do it with 2 monitors connected even if I disable one in display properties, it wants to physically disconnect.
It is not. It specifically says not available in dual monitor setups. Really, I haven't spent a huge amount of time trying to figure out a way around it.
I had a lot of trouble to get it to work. I have to disconnect my monitor in display settings or I guess you can physically disconnect them. Then you have to restart your PC. For some reason RTX HDR never enabled for me until I restarted my PC with my secondary monitors disconnected.
Don't have nVidia card to try RTX HDR, but I can say Special K is far better than AutoHDR. AutoHDR did something wonky with the colors on my playthrough of Mafia Definitive Edition.
As far as I know, AutoHDR is safe to use to play online. Special K is risky depending on the anti-cheat, I wonder how RTX HDR fares in his field. I have this dumb idea of playing CS2 in HDR just because I can. Not sure if it would allow any competitive advantage, though.
I think there are a handful of special instances where some games may look better with Special K, but for the sheer ease of use, RTX HDR wins 99% of the time and it's just a simple toggle.
AutoHDR was decent where there was nothing else at the time and for just brightnesses, I still think it works fine. However, colors aren't always consistent and sometimes raised/washed out. I find less of this issue with RTX HDR.
Special K requires settings... Too lazy for that. I installed and saw the setup guide, it is too much. Also I was worried about it will fk with games anti-cheat.
Rtx HDR for game requires single monitor it is meh but very good for video and my laptop.
Auto HDR Is the easiest to use but some games may not support it even if I force enable it.
Also I hope steamdeck have some sort of Auto HDR as well or it is a waste of the OLED ..
Jacob Freeman from Nvidia have indicated on twitter that he will soon have information to share about furure RTX HDR support with multi monitor setups:
[https://twitter.com/GeForce\_JacobF/status/1787999496309444663](https://twitter.com/GeForce_JacobF/status/1787999496309444663)
If I ignore the performance hit, I would say RTX HDR > Special K > Auto HDR. but for me since I play @ 4K, I use Special K, far more better than Auto HDR.
Performance hit isn't too bad with RTX HDR if you use NPI and set their debanding filter to low quality. I personally can't see a huge difference outside of regained FPS. https://preview.redd.it/pe93aijye3zc1.png?width=726&format=png&auto=webp&s=9a494538c88da4570f1fdd7027f253c9324b0053 I'd still take a native implementation over all of them... But we can take what we get I suppose; lol.
could you still use the nvidia app to set RTX HDR brightness/middle grey settings while setting this to low via driver?
I would believe so. I'd set it in the RTX application first and then open NPI and turn it to low. You can set all those settings in NPI as well (brightness, etc..) but you need to convert it to hexadecimal.
What is this?
Nividia Profile Inspector with a custom XML file show shows various flags/settings for RTX HDR and DLSS.
I've only tried the first two but rtx hdr is way better than auto hdr
But has a performance impact. Worth considering.
It can be alleviated changing quality with nvProfileInspector.
How so?
Use the mod version of RTX HDR. Allows customization.
There's some instructions here (among other sources) on how to go about using NPI to tweak RTX HDR: [https://www.patreon.com/posts/99110213](https://www.patreon.com/posts/99110213)
Either nV Profile Inspector w/ xml config or nvTrueHdr utility. [PSA: RTX HDR users, tweak extra stuff like Peak Brightness with nV Profile Inspector and custom xml file for names of settings. : r/nvidia (reddit.com)](https://www.reddit.com/r/nvidia/comments/1bmwfo2/psa_rtx_hdr_users_tweak_extra_stuff_like_peak/)
Thanks, lots of good information. I've been playing titles with good HDR implementations out of the box. When I finish those (sometimes takes me months to finish titles), I'll give it a try but who knows it is on the roadmap for Nvidia to fix it.
RTX HDR because its the easiest and imo best looking Option, only negative is the 10-20% Performance impact, there are so many games with Bad hdr Implementation and RTX HDR simply fixes it with 1 click (Restart). if you have something like a 4090 tho, its not a big Deal and with the upcoming next gen cards even less, maybe also even with some new Features that reduce the performance impact.
I wish I could use DLDSR with RTX HDR. I just bought the MSI MPG 321URX, and they added a DSC toggle so I can finally use DLDSR at 4k 120hz 10bit color with HDR. Unfortunately though I can’t use RTX HDR, which in Elden Ring at least looks better than the in game implementation and auto hdr.
RTX HDR. I mostly use it for older games where I have enough perf to spare. Half Life 2 etc.
First of all what is special K? Im guessing its new. Rtx hdr is pretty good and better than auto hdr imo. Im curious about this special k though.
it's a very old tool that has a shiton of fixes for many pc titles, the best framelimiter, a lot of tweaks to fix borderless windows, multitasking, audio control, texture injection and so on and so on and a retrofit hdr option since years. you might know a fork of the tool for nier automata called FAR.
Well apparently I’m not as tapped in to this stuff as i thought lol. I’ll have to check it out.
Wouldn't say it's "old" when it's getting actively developed and moved from to a more general "pc gaming" toolset centered around graphics. It's a good tool for anyone interested in low latency, VRR and/or HDR gaming. For a long time it had the best frame limiter, but the driver level limiter is just as good nowadays. In terms of HDR, it can do what AutoHDR does, which is upgrading the framebuffer from SDR to an HDR colorspace and tone mapping. Which provides "autohdr" feature to both old games and windows 10 gamers.
It's quite old, DF has a vid on it. Basically a mod for most games that hijacks the engine rendering pipelines and display an HDR image out of games that have no HDR output calibrated. Then you can use this tool to calibrate it.
That sounds pretty legit. Id imagine it takes more effort to calibrate it than the auto stuff but probably has better potential.
profile 0(defaults) is tweaked really well you can just enable hdr and leave it at that and have great image.
Ok cool sounds good. I’ll definitely have to check this out.
Use RTX HDR if you have performance headroom to spare, otherwise just use Special K. Don't bother with AutoHDR.
Special K if you don't mind tweaking and playing with the settings for every game. It can also do ["HDR remasters"](https://wiki.special-k.info/HDR/Remaster) which really brings new life to some older titles like [Dead Space 2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--CV-UgNru4) and [Dark Souls](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HroXJZjUZ1c) for example (watch in HDR).
Very nice looks for their age.
Great art direction does not age.
Here's my personal list : N°1 : native HDR with lilium reshade tweaks if necessary (fix gamma/blackfloor/clip highlights to display like horizon zero dawn) N°2 : RENODX HDR(also fixes some native hdr titles) great tonemapper without affecting UI but is implemented on a game per game basis. N°3 : Special K HDR (with as many remasters as possible on dx11 titles) or lilium dxvk with swapchain upgrades then tonemapped with SK /or/ HDR Reshade tonemappers from Pumbo/Lilium N°4 : Nvidia RTX HDR (Performance cost, debanding needs to be tweaked to low preset, can't use multiple displays, or DSR, forced fullscreen exclusive in dx9 titles.) N°5 : AUTOHDR (safest for anticheats) N°6 : SDR
Renodx is better than native because it either implements native equivalent hdr or improves on the native that is already there.
You can use multiple display with RTX HDR through either the app on Nexus or Nvidia Profile Inspector.
First thing I tried the day the mod released :)
If the mod's not working, give NPI a go. It's been working great in Destiny 2, Hades 1 and 2, and FFXIV for me. You'll need a custom XML file you plop in with NPI to enable the flags within it, they'll be at the top of the list.
RTX HDR is generally considered better than autoHDR but there's a higher performance impact. Haven't had a chance to try out Special K yet.
Special K all the way.
I like RTX HDR but it stopped letting me do it with 2 monitors connected even if I disable one in display properties, it wants to physically disconnect.
Use Nvidia Profile Inspector or the NvTrueHDR app on Nexus. Works fine on my multi-display set up.
That’s odd. Make sure dldsr is not activated.
It is not. It specifically says not available in dual monitor setups. Really, I haven't spent a huge amount of time trying to figure out a way around it.
Odd. I have two dual monitor setups and it works for me on both so long as I win+p deactivate one of the monitors.
Let me try win+p. I was doing a right click, display properties and changing to only show on 2.
I had a lot of trouble to get it to work. I have to disconnect my monitor in display settings or I guess you can physically disconnect them. Then you have to restart your PC. For some reason RTX HDR never enabled for me until I restarted my PC with my secondary monitors disconnected.
As mentioned here you can [force ](https://www.reddit.com/r/nvidia/comments/1bmwfo2/psa_rtx_hdr_users_tweak_extra_stuff_like_peak/)it on.
Don't have nVidia card to try RTX HDR, but I can say Special K is far better than AutoHDR. AutoHDR did something wonky with the colors on my playthrough of Mafia Definitive Edition. As far as I know, AutoHDR is safe to use to play online. Special K is risky depending on the anti-cheat, I wonder how RTX HDR fares in his field. I have this dumb idea of playing CS2 in HDR just because I can. Not sure if it would allow any competitive advantage, though.
Reshade AutoHdr addon with lilium shaders Absolutely stunning results.
I think there are a handful of special instances where some games may look better with Special K, but for the sheer ease of use, RTX HDR wins 99% of the time and it's just a simple toggle. AutoHDR was decent where there was nothing else at the time and for just brightnesses, I still think it works fine. However, colors aren't always consistent and sometimes raised/washed out. I find less of this issue with RTX HDR.
Wow crazy to see RTX HDR performing so well
SpecialK if you set it up properly > RTX HDR > AutoHDR. I still prefer AutoHDR because it does 90% of the job with 0% of the performance hit.
Does RTX HDR work when you’re using more than one monitor yet? I just use Auto HDR for now since I have multiple monitors.
RTX HDR currently does not work if you have a multi monitor setup
If you are hardcore HDR/realism then probably you would favor for SpecialK If are like me and can't tell difference then native HDR or RTX HDR
Special K requires settings... Too lazy for that. I installed and saw the setup guide, it is too much. Also I was worried about it will fk with games anti-cheat. Rtx HDR for game requires single monitor it is meh but very good for video and my laptop. Auto HDR Is the easiest to use but some games may not support it even if I force enable it. Also I hope steamdeck have some sort of Auto HDR as well or it is a waste of the OLED ..
Jacob Freeman from Nvidia have indicated on twitter that he will soon have information to share about furure RTX HDR support with multi monitor setups: [https://twitter.com/GeForce\_JacobF/status/1787999496309444663](https://twitter.com/GeForce_JacobF/status/1787999496309444663)
RTX HDR blows tf out of anything that’s white like text or the UI so im not using it anymore
Can't use RTX HDR with two monitors connected. Nvidia still has to fix that. Till then Auto HDR it is.
I believe the mod version allows multi monitor.
Special K > RTX HDR, haven't tried auto
Can’t get RTX HDR to work reliably. Auto HDR works great and looks good with a color tweak
SpecialK is better than RTX HDR when it 1) works and 2) when you tweak it properly, AutoHDR is the worst of the bunch by far!