Whatever you choose is your choice. This information explains how and why HDR is a scam compared to modern SDR imagery.

After watching a bunch of my 4K discs without HDR I have to say it’s a massive improvement, Godzilla 2014’s 4K disc without HDR is the definitive version of this movie in my experience

That's what I always thought, HDR most of the time makes my games look muted. I love colours to pop.

If you have a tv/monitor with actual hdr capabilities as in 1000 nits peak brightness and good amount of local dimming signs, minimum 500 and high rec 2020 coverage, over 70% rec2020 then hdr is vastly superior

My TV looks better on SDR then it does on HDR.

SDR is way better on my 4K TV than HDR and Dolby Vision!. Colours just pop!.

Been saying HDR is a scam since the beginning. I'm not a video professional, but I repaired older TVs and electronics and understand the basic fundamentals of colour range in digital video. As always... companies trying to push useless features with their TV's and sadly, its embedded into almost everything incorrectly now. I go out of my way to avoid HDR, despite having a new 4K ULED 144Hz Tv with beautiful colour. HDR is off. Good riddance.

I tried to explain this to friends years ago when HDR first appeared. Movies are color graded for SDR and even as HDR TVs become more popular, the HD technology is still not standardizes. The vast majority or videogames and movies are still not setup properly for HDR as it takes twice the work. You literally need to color grade everything twice. HDR as we are seeing it is mostly just contrast trickery that looks pretty on some displays. At least in the majority of cases.

You brought my C1 back to life with your newest SDR settings. Just wow 😮🎉

Yea, kind of agree with you after years of giving 4K HDR a go. If you have an apple TV 4K, I have a question. What happens if I want the 4K + BT2020/DCI-P3 colour space but without the 'brightness/luminosity' HDR? Will setting an Apple TV 4K on '4K SDR' give me better resolution and colours than 1080p REC709 without the annoyance of eye-searingly-bright/ or loss of detail in super dark scenes? I'm tired of playing around with the brightness/contrast/oled light settings on my LG CX when watching HDR content, so considering buying an apple TV 4K if it lets me force content to 4K SDR. I just want oldschool 1080p bluray quality but at 4K, without all this HDR nonsense!

I don't think your statement brings into account other forms of HDR such as when someone plays a video game. I remember buying the Xbox One x back in the day which was if I'm not mistaken the first console to support HDR and it even came with a little demo so that you could see the difference between HDR being on and off. It was literally game changing. How much better the image looked with HDR. To consider HDR a scam in entirety when you're only evaluating how it affects movies and television shows is an incomplete statement When in reality HDR covers a much larger perspective than just that. On the plus side, I find your demeanor extremely relaxing and thought this was an intensely informative video. Just thought I might bring up that in my opinion it was missing some pieces of information.

You have made some really good points. My question is this… how does the bandwidth of the service provider affect one’s ability to view hdr vs sdr? Because when I play any dvd whether 1080p up to and including 4K Uhd Colors are excellent with good saturation. My internet is rural so I get 30 mb thru put and 25 is considered the bare minimum for 4k viewing.

That voice in the end when you said "Oh you have no detail in your cloud" reminded me of someone. I have watched this three times soon because it's informative. Thanks!

Sdr looks beautiful somehow with more Vivid colors

Ayeee Q made a throwback video I ❤️the HDR vs SDR videos taught me so much about TV's mad respect to you man

Agreed. I always turn off HDR... in my PS5, laptop, OLED, Bluray, Smartphone.

So you put a picture to the video 5:37 and i live exactly here Budapest Hungary ... and you from America. No way, unbelievable...

Great and informative video . The best one I've seen of yours and the best I've seen period . Sharing your insight 🙏

I completely agree. HDR is just poorly implemented in gaming almost all my games on Series X and Ps5 look much better with HDR turned off.

I was just watching Gemini Man 4k dolby vision 60fps KZfaq video clip on my 10 year old Sharp Aquos Quattron 3d and it looks amazing downscaled to 1080p sdr. I was showing my wife how movies would look in 60fps. I think Hollywood is too self-conscious about their body image to push 4k or 8k at 60fps. Plus it would be difficult to insert cgi scenes that look realistic which they heavily rely on these days. Supposedly they're pushing to release more movies at 60 and 120fps. We'll see. I have always noticed if they use good camera equipment the image can look great on lower budget televisions. I would love to see the movie speed racer footage on a newer oled tv. Or 2001 - A Space Odyssey.

Your SDR settings I used on my G2 really pop. I used the C1 settings I would love to see if you made some for the G2!!

Everyone who can see all colors will notice that hdr looks just like washed out

I've got a LG C1. I may check out using SDR on my PS5 games. Obviously changing my picture settings to get the best possible picture. Hopefully I'll prefer it over HDR.

I noticed on my u8g that if I go into 2 point white balance in HDR and turn up the gain max, it gets rid of the washed out look. This seems to make hdr and sdr look very similar. Not sure exactly why but it does look close to SDR. Thankfully there’s a lot more content coming out in Dolby vision and that look beautiful on this tv.

When I turn HDR on for my MAC, I have to sit there and thumb through all the color options to tame the saturation and it is still a mess.

Very informative video ! Can’t pretend I understand it all but I get the gist of it. Now the question is how do I force my tv to play back in SDR? I have Sony OLED’s and use an Apple TV on one and built in apps on the other. Don’t see how I can force SDR on apps like Netflix or Disney+?

I definitely have been turning off HDR, especially with the latest settings that you just dialed in for us members on the C1. Everything else feels like a major step backwards now and your explanation makes perfect sense! The one thing that does confuse me, though, if you turn off HDR Does that mean you’re still getting a 4K picture quality? Because when I did it on Hulu the other day for how I Met Your Father, it seemed like it downgraded it to a 1080P picture, so how do you know if things that were shot in 4K are still in 4K on streaming or a Blu-ray without HDR turned on? Is the resolution the same either way?

When I watch a 4K movie with the HDR off the black levels clip tremendously....Even when compared to the same movie on standard Blu-ray. Has anyone noticed this? IE..The standard blu-ray and 4K(HDR ON) match closer, and the 4K (HDR off) looks the most different.

So if I understand correctly, SDR is the best setting to watch on tv? I have an Apple TV 4K and as you may know, there you can choose the format you want SDR 4K, hdr 4K and DOLBY VISION; plus you can choose the options to match the content. If I understand right, I should turn on the SDR 4K and leave the match content options OFF/? That way everything I see will be displayed in SDR? Thanks! 😊

Until this point I thought my eyes were broken lol. 😂 Everything looks yellow in HDR. 😂

Hello, can you please give the proper Xbox Series X video setting for HDMI 2.0 tvs beside turning off HDR setting.🙏

9 out of 10, yes, that explains everything I’ve experienced, rarely happened, while HDR turned on, the image getting actually better, most of the times it got worst or unnatural and I had to switch it of again. And scratching my head I was wandering myself wtf…Thanx for explaining.

SDR is better to me. I've compared multiple Blu-ray movies and the SDR's are brighter/pop more and that's what I'm looking for. I don't like darker video that HDR gives me.

I do agree with what you are saying, but I also do understand why the industry is trying to make a standard in video which not every company will follow that standard and not all consumers will calibrate their TV monitors which will lean in a big mess. I mean it's possible to create HDR for (16-235) range of color and I found a few article stating HDR is 8-bit which I don't know is true, but all I know is that I have to set my computer to 10-12 bit to get HDR working.

HDR is the worst when it takes away all your options, "you have to watch it as the director intended", if you take away my calibration rights i want to fight you

Interesting Take. I do watch movies, but mostly play Video Games on my LG OLED. I activated HGiG when calibrating my Xbox Picture Settings. Then switch between HGiG and Dynamic Tone Mapping, on a case by case basis. Near Black Crush is definitely an issue with my B9 so anything that brightens up the shadows is a good thing for me. Then there's also Dolby Vision on Disney+, which I assume, is another form of Dynamic Tone Mapping.

Hey Quantum: I think you nailed it. HDR may be more hype than substance. I have two 4K TVs, a Toshiba Fire TV hooked up to a Roku Box (I like the Roku platform better) and a Sony X85K. The Toshiba is a low budget model. The Roku box streams 4K HDR10 on the auto setting. I never liked it. I assumed it didn't look good because it's a bargain basement TV. But I tried your suggestion. I turned off the auto setting and manually set the picture to 4K SDR. Wow! What a difference. Brighter, more natural color with enhanced detail, contrast, deeper blacks and almost no flicker. Thank you. On the Sony X85K there are a number of HDR settings. I tried them all and didn't really like them. I decided to give another of your suggestions a try. I turned off HDR and changed the color space setting to DSI. The picture looked great! And afterwards, when I turned on HDR to see how it would look, the picture looked over processed; dull and unnatural with diminished color, detail and contrast...like I had thrown polish on something that already shined and didn't need any. HDR is no longer a big deal for me. Thanks again...

so is the best SDR television sets as good as the oled television sets? post calibration/adjusting settings optimally?

Great video. When learning, I can often look at pages and remember them visually. Now my memory has gone from SDR to HDR.

Quantum ,saving the world one tv at a time !!!🌎👍🤯

Quick question - colour space on TVs for watching film with a blu ray player or streaming and gaming with a Ps5 or Series X (I have the LG G3 TV) should they be Full or Limited?

Pioneer 5070HD 50 inch (plasma) vs Sony X85K 4K 50 inch? I have a circa 2010 Sansui 1080P LCD 46 inch currently

Great info, Q!!! I've learned a lot watching my guy. Still am dumb to a lot of it. For me long as a get a good picture with smooth motion like the 900e series I'll be happy. Going to buy this year for sure. Not sure which route. I'll take what you've taught and try to add it to get my next TV. Want OLED but the wife watches a lot of sitcoms with logo on the screen and I watch a game or 2 a week when I get time to myself. Static image scares me. But man a wanta QDOLED badly. I want a Qusntam TV to remind me of the #1 brand in honesty when I wattch!!! Thank you for the hard work my guy. It doesn't go unappreciated. You're great to this platform.

Quantum what do you think about the Sony A80K oled 77" worth $2500 as of today in your opinion or not bright enough? Thanks

Depends on the content, I’m mainly using it for gaming on pc laptop, it’s a pain to set though set your tv/ monitor, set your display settings, set your graphic card settings, and then adjust the graphics settings inside each video game as well, also noticed the laptop uses the integrated graphics if I leave it open to I gotta close it to use the rtx card. Anyways new games are utilizing and I think eventually standardized hdr, lot of trail and error to set though

Very informative! So is it better to shoot in HDR rather than SDR (FX9 camera) no matter what the viewer's monitor is capable of?

Hey Q - great content. Does the same marketing BS hold true for Dolby Vision? Should we keep everything in SDR even if we are watching something with Dolby Vision? (S95B) - Thanks!

I'm wondering what is the better gamma setting to use for SDR , 2.2 or BT.1886 ?

All this time I thought my eyes had problem and my eyes can't catch those colours lol😂

Hi! How to disable HDR of a bluray??

Yo Quantum how are you doing. does this also apply to ps5 games? is sdr better than hdr? or are games made hdr? What do you advise Greets,🙏🏻

What if the film that you are watching was converted from sdr to hdr then you would turn the hdr on right otherwise you would have the sdr on?

Very good explanation. Thanks

So I am confused. I have a LG Cx and I hate the LG web os. I use a 3rd gen fire tv cube and one of the things I don't like about it is it's dolby vision all the time regardless of what you are watching! I eliminates most of the picture presets native to the LG tv and I also prefer the picture preset ISF bright room when watching You Tube TV, but it's not available on the Fire TV. Does this mean the Fire TV is in HDR mode all the time?? If I am using the Fire TV I have to use vivid mode to get a vibrant picture on You Tube TV. This is kinda blown out, but I have adjusted it so it's watchable. I recently got a Sony A9S fore my bedroom and got a Fire TV stick for it and it really messed up the picture while also limiting the picture presets. I gave the stick to my son for his tv. I am getting a new LG G2 this week and am tempted to trash the cube and just use WebOS which appears to be much improved. I am also curious to know if there are any Android tv boxes that DON'T ef up the picture. Maybe the Nvidia Pro?? Your input will be appreciated, love your videos!

100 percent fact I’m enjoying playing sdr on my ps5 with my U8G better then hdr it’s just more colorful, and with better blacks

What about viewing HEIC or HEIF files on a n HDR monitor or TV?

I have seen some of the things you mentioned in HDR gaming. But watching 4K blu-rays in HDR is still a good experience I’d recommend.

5:30 how do you do that for example? OBS maybe? I want to play and record in HDR but put out SDR videos on youtube. Help 🙏

good on you for speaking the truth brother!

I thought it i was going crazy- I gave my uncle my sony x90 j and i bought a LG oled 48 inch . I was thinking that my oled wouldn’t have to be changed or tweeeked but having it on Hdr i still have to bounce around with the colors - once i put the tv on Sdr I was able to relax a bit! I am wondering should I just got another non oled tv and just have it set to Sdr and call it a day?

SDR. Software defined radio.

Agreed and appreciate the explanation.

Yes! I have been waiting for you to make this video. My friends and I argue about this all the time and they act like I'm crazy. I keep telling them to turn off HDR especially for gaming. My best buddy has a tv 3x the cost of mine yet my series x looks better because I know how to properly tweak my settings in sdr. I have that shit turned off on everything. Thanks for this video man!!

Do love the Honesty and the great explanations ,Keep up the good work.😁

I thought I was going crazy when my LG was turning on HDR and picture looks worst. Thanks for the video. HDR going to off.

Hi Quantum, newbie question: where do I turn off HDR on my G3 or Apple TV?

Issue problem is most of panels do not get up to 100% REC 2020 Gamut coverage that is needed for HDR. So, with most of them will be suffered with under saturated in most of scene in HDR mode. It's a downside. Only best one that can achieve that is QD-OLED from Samsung for HDR content because they achieve highest as 91% at best in REC 2020. Thats all I can find in review.

So just so I understand this correctly, I set on my Sony A7 III in the picture profile: HLG3 and BT.2020. This gives me the highly praised HDR image information, so to speak. Then I edit the video in Premiere and finally I do NOT have to export it as HDR video? I export it in a normal non-HDR format. But the image quality still benefits from all the HDR advantages? That would actually be good, because exporting an HDR video takes a lot longer...

Watching the Force awakens & Jurassic Park Fallen Kingdom in Dolby Vision on my 77 C2. In scenes with white colors or the sky or snow. Its very "grainy" . Why is this? I did follow your SDR settings video but I didn't apply it to all inputs. I am a subscriber & appreciate all your content 🙏 thnx in advance!

So I use qn90b and a ps5. You saying turn HDR off on the ps5?

exactly my thoughts. when we can get it in sdr why hdr ? it feels like fake manipulation to video

So it is not a lie but a perception lie. To believe a lie can cause obstacles in one's life. But to believe a perception lie is to make ones reality more rough.❤

I'm on the fence with HDR, personally I wouldn't go out and make a purchase for the sake of HDR. In my experience, it can make colours dull and muted. However, not all content that says HDR is genuinely trying hard and optimizing for it, not all HDR compatible displays are actually doing it properly. You need a display with 1000 Nits at least, and a generally good colour accuracy already, while also using proper HDR content, and if you do this then it's supposed to look a lot better, colours should look the same or better, with a much wider variance of dark and light being able to be shown at any given time, like a pitch black area right next to super bright lights while still seeing the detail, something you can't get with SDR or poor HDR

I swear i read an article or saw an interview with a director, years ago that even when movies were filmed on reals (before digital cameras) they had the capability of capturing the images so much better than what was produced in the theaters or on tv. That there were hundreds of films that if converted to digital now would far outpace current HDR in the clarity of the image. I wish I could remember where I came across that so I could share it.

Would you say the same thing about Dolby Vision? Personally, I don't understand the hype and actually prefer SDR's color schemes. At least on my TCL.

I agree with everything. But I was told that HDR has one more trick, that is a feature more than a gimmick. I was told that the information in HDR can boost the display panels backlight at certain display areas. So a streetlamp or the sun, viewed in a movie, would project more light, as the backpanel would boost that, for just those segments of areas. It would of cause require segmented backlight areas, most optimal on an OLED, as every pixel has its on light. This is also why older TV's with backlight frames is not displaying Dolby Vision correctly, as it has no way of boosting backlight on only certain areas. This should be something only possible with HDR on not SDR. I would really like to know if this is also af scam.

In the case of cyberpunk2077 HDR makes it look more colorful and bright

Alright, so 10bit SDR it is. Thanks!

What are your thoughts on Dolby Vision? I do notice that things in Dolby Vision look better than HDR10. I have tried to look up any of your videos on the topic, but haven't found any. Would like your input.

Just getting started collecting 4K Blurays with HDR. My TV supports HDR but is not that great and on the cheaper end - while the colors appear fine I notice that things are super dark like details in the shadows I can't see them like in a normal Bluray version. I can't adjust gamma in HDR so means I need to adjust brightness/backlight but it's a balancing act to get that to look good. I think i've gotten things to look pretty good for different movies but with SDR content like the standard bluray it just works perfectly out of the box LOL. So idk if it's worth the hassle

Seems that local dimming is more important than hdr

learned something today ! thnx

Here I was watching my Andor UHD and it's looking so good and sharp... until I finally realized, my HDR isn't even working... Idk what the issue is but I can't get HDR to work on any content on my LG C1, like it's broken... but after watching this video, it is kinda agreeable to my realization... I was enjoying SDR actually more than I was enjoying HDR without even knowing it...

I am not a fan of HDR - for example in netflix I need to constantly change the settings of Dolby HDR profile - as those HDR movies has regularly worse quality than SDR - I am on AG8 SONY Oled...

if hdr is on the screen also used almost double as much power..

Yup! Probably get about 10% more brightness on ps5 with HDR off

Don’t like HDR. Tried it on Horizon Forbidden West and it was just awful 😣 on my Sony a8g.

I have a laptop with a 15.6" HDR compatible 4K UHD AMOLED panel. Here are my observations. With HDR disabled, Blu-ray discs mastered in SDR and HDR look the same, but the quality is superior. With HDR enabled, Blu-rays mastered in SDR look washed out, while Blu-rays mastered in HDR look better. Could the washed-out picture people experience with HDR enabled be because their displays are set up to receive signals with a wider color gamut than they're inputting? I'm not trying to come across as negative. If anything, I'm only posing a suggestion which could explain your negative experience with HDR. I have never heard you mention Blu-rays in the videos of yours I've watched. Only gaming and streaming. If you haven't dabbled with Blu-ray, especially 4K UHD Blu-rays mastered in HDR10 and Dolby Vision, maybe you're not experiencing true HDR content in HDR mode, which might explain the washed-out experience.

You are right. When you watch a sdr vs hdr comparison on KZfaq you are watching it in SDR. The dynamic range has been graded differently but looks fine in SDR. This why I set my Roku to 4k 60hz instead of 4K Hdr 60hz.

This video looks great in HDR using nvidia RTX IA to convert SDR to HDR

Froza Horizon 5 looks amazing in HDR on the Alienware QD-OLED

this video actually looks far better with HRD off 😅

like people say HDR mode gives you brighter brights and blacker blacks. Like wtf? If I have a 2000nit OLED and I have an image that goes from black rgb(0,0,0) to white rgb(255,255,255) - or whatever number it is for 10 bit - it’s not going to go from 0 to 2000 nits unless I turn on HDR? That makes absolutely no sense. I don’t think almost anyone has any idea what those HDR standards even are

I usually see sdr that was then placed in a container or on vudu app no difference at all but they charge more for it and try get away with it. most time the video editor seam lazy with the end product even with surround sound sometimes and some news channel suggested bullying or being tough on them I think with marvel , when they do it right it is amazing like on Disney + they go all out and I see hdr with Dolby atmos and it confirmed it with me that the production crew on other movies where being lazy

How do we turn off hdr on lg c3

I'm glad you said it. I can't even tell the 6-bit interpolated nature of my TN display. With a good display, the ratio of brightness expresses everything it aught to. I've never understood why a realistic contrast ratio was even a target. People squint to adjust passing through a moderately lit environment to daylight. Why would you make a movie blindingly bright or invisibly dark. Real life is not a target for video. I think you could have elaborated on the measure of stops. I'm unfamiliar with the reasons and measures, but I like the info

HDR varies to much for my liking. And I’m literally using top of the line 2022 65 inch lg c2 oled nvm lesser TVs. I mainly play video games on my ps5 and series X and I promise you there’s only a select few titles that actually have decent HDR implementations. Here’s a few titles that actually are okay on HDR Horizon Forbidden West and Ratchet and Clank rift apart. That’s all I can think of right now that actually has decent HDR experience so for me engaging in technology without any standardization which requires constant adjustments and still can’t satisfy my expectations… I choose to use SDR and adjust and calibrate from there. I still get 10 times more accurate and stunning image than the most advanced HDR games there are…

Finally someone says it

Hey man, even my Gigabyte M32U that has, like some say, bad HDR can give me colors that are not washed out in HDR mode or whatever it should be. People on Reddit say OLED's are so incredible and my Pixel 7 also is OLED and doesn't give me washed out colors. I think HDR looks somewhat crazy on it like maybe "real HDR" and I can understand a little bit when people like it but I think I prefer SDR because to me it seems more natural and HDR is way too punchy in lighthing and colors. I like it in some real life world clips on KZfaq but it's not natural and there is a video from the Last of Us Remake in HDR where I think it loses atmosphere because the dark house at the beginning there the dark is way too bright in HDR. So, my point is I think SDR is more natural and HDR is unrealistically punchy in lighthing and colors and I don't understand why you mention or have problems with washed out colors so often when you have an OLED TV. I thought good HDR doensn't washes out the colors. Edit: Forget what wrote about the Gigabyte. 😅

Thank you