Edit: And in case somebody wants to get technical about color space, maybe the better phrasing would be enhanced dynamic range? The point is more data in the images could prove useful.

Yeah, something just looks off about those images. Like, maybe someone just hit me with Color Spray! ;)

Maybe trying to show off super HDR images to people with not-super-HDR-screens is kinda like trying to sell 3D TVs by showing ads to people who all own not-3D-TVs?

Kind of? Sammy and I are both bothered by her TV’s HDR settings, though. It just looks like somebody bumped Color and Contrast all the way up, while simultaneously decreasing Highlights and increasing Exposure...

It looks... Juicy.

Anyway, I don’t like it. Maybe I’m just old, but I find very little “GLAWRIOUS!” about these modern “upgrades” besides sharper images (I’d much rather have better framerates and features, and I say that as a screenshot guy...), which just make pop-in and stuff far more obvious... We’re not quite there yet tech-wise for this stuff to be a priority, though Beorn did a great job making his images look awesome and appealing.

You're right. It does look Juicy. There have been known issues with HDR in D2 on the PS4 Pro. I thought they fixed them, but I still can't adjust brightness in-game with HDR enabled. I also get a multicolor flash when D2 is launching and it switches to HDR.

Also, I get a warning every time I take a screenshot saying the colors might not be right because of HDR. It's a bummer.

So… the problem with Rtings is that they post calibration settings for SDR, but not HDR. There isn't really a good HDR reference system right now, and HDR10 is different than DolbyVision (if your display supports both, like mine does), so those would be two different calibrations. The whole thing is sort of a mess right now.

They can have useful HDR information (like "be sure to enable this one obscure feature that's named oddly," but for the most part, Rtings settings are SDR-only.

Just for the record, that guide I linked is really just general settings, mostly what things to turn on and off, it should be fine for HDR. It will be fine for Korny's TV. :)

Usually for calibrating a new TV I go to rtings.com since they have recommended calibration for specific TVs (Here is one for yours).

So… the problem with Rtings is that they post calibration settings for SDR, but not HDR. There isn't really a good HDR reference system right now, and HDR10 is different than DolbyVision (if your display supports both, like mine does), so those would be two different calibrations. The whole thing is sort of a mess right now.

They can have useful HDR information (like "be sure to enable this one obscure feature that's named oddly," but for the most part, Rtings settings are SDR-only.

A lot of TVs add a lot of post processing crap by default to the image too, and this could make your image look worse.

Yes. Disable ALL OF IT.

Beorn did a great job making his images look awesome and appealing.

Thanks! I'm still trying to figure out HDR->SDR conversion stuff, and I know I'm not getting it right, so the best I can hope for is close.

Please share your method when you finally do.

Kind of? Sammy and I are both bothered by her TV’s HDR settings, though. It just looks like somebody bumped Color and Contrast all the way up, while simultaneously decreasing Highlights and increasing Exposure...

It looks... Juicy.

I've gotta be honest, I see none of those issues on my system, but I did have to jump through hoops to get everything set up correctly. And it was all poorly-documented. I'd make a 'how-to,' but unless someone is using the exact same equipment I am, then it wouldn't matter because every manufacturer has their own ways of doing things.

The benefits of HDR are that the brights should be brighter, the colors at the edge of the spectrum should have more range and not clip, and gradients should be smoother everywhere. But "juicy" shouldn't be a thing. I suspect that there's a setting or two somewhere that should be toggled.

Beorn did a great job making his images look awesome and appealing.

Thanks! I'm still trying to figure out HDR->SDR conversion stuff, and I know I'm not getting it right, so the best I can hope for is close.

Cruel was telling me that my settings might need adjusting, but after playing with it for half an hour, I feel like I need a turian to calibrate the thing if it's ever going to look appealing. The HDR settings (Default, Truemotion, Game, Movie, Custom, etc.) all look bad.

That got an audible laugh from me.

Usually for calibrating a new TV I go to rtings.com since they have recommended calibration for specific TVs (Here is one for yours).

A lot of TVs add a lot of post processing crap by default to the image too, and this could make your image look worse. They look good on a show room because it looks bright and colorful, but with content you care about it usually just looks terrible. One of them I know of is "HDR Boost" which turns SDR content into HDR content and just ends up making it look like how you were describing. I think it's called "Live Color" on Sony TVs, but that rtings.com article will probably cover it.

Kind of? Sammy and I are both bothered by her TV’s HDR settings, though. It just looks like somebody bumped Color and Contrast all the way up, while simultaneously decreasing Highlights and increasing Exposure...

What TV is it? Unless a TV has really bright screen you aren't really getting HDR content as intended. 1000 nits is actually the standard for displaying ACTUAL HDR10 content, and if you have less than that typically it dims out the highlights or brightens up the dark patches to make the colors look brighter. So most people that buy an HDR TV are actually not getting a true HDR experience. It's pretty similar to back in the day when people were buying "HD" TVs that were really 720i.

It's a Sony Bravia XBR65X850E.

Cruel was telling me that my settings might need adjusting, but after playing with it for half an hour, I feel like I need a turian to calibrate the thing if it's ever going to look appealing. The HDR settings (Default, Truemotion, Game, Movie, Custom, etc.) all look bad.

It looks... Juicy.

I think it has a lot to do with the current fashion of image grading that plays to the strengths of the digital cameras in use nowadays. Everything is contrasty, punchy, with deep blacks and pegged saturation. And games mostly emulate films so…

It's at the point where someone's kid I know said this looked "old fashioned":

For Pete's sake the photography in that film is 100x more magical than this:

Chalk it up to trends in what people think looks good.

Kind of? Sammy and I are both bothered by her TV’s HDR settings, though. It just looks like somebody bumped Color and Contrast all the way up, while simultaneously decreasing Highlights and increasing Exposure...

What TV is it? Unless a TV has really bright screen you aren't really getting HDR content as intended. 1000 nits is actually the standard for displaying ACTUAL HDR10 content, and if you have less than that typically it dims out the highlights or brightens up the dark patches to make the colors look brighter. So most people that buy an HDR TV are actually not getting a true HDR experience. It's pretty similar to back in the day when people were buying "HD" TVs that were really 720i.

Yeah, something just looks off about those images. Like, maybe someone just hit me with Color Spray! ;)

Maybe trying to show off super HDR images to people with not-super-HDR-screens is kinda like trying to sell 3D TVs by showing ads to people who all own not-3D-TVs?

Kind of? Sammy and I are both bothered by her TV’s HDR settings, though. It just looks like somebody bumped Color and Contrast all the way up, while simultaneously decreasing Highlights and increasing Exposure...

It looks... Juicy.

Anyway, I don’t like it. Maybe I’m just old, but I find very little “GLAWRIOUS!” about these modern “upgrades” besides sharper images (I’d much rather have better framerates and features, and I say that as a screenshot guy...), which just make pop-in and stuff far more obvious... We’re not quite there yet tech-wise for this stuff to be a priority, though Beorn did a great job making his images look awesome and appealing.

Would it be possible to compare it to the non-HDR version to get an idea of what the difference is like?

Certainly doable, although it will take me a bit to do. But i'll post the native screenshot files for your comparison.

Maybe trying to show off super HDR images to people with not-super-HDR-screens is kinda like trying to sell 3D TVs by showing ads to people who all own not-3D-TVs?

I need to look into something like that. I took some 4k HDR screenshots of the PC version, which end up looking somewhat washed out. Maybe it's the image format or something. JPEG-XR you say?

Washed-out is a result of automated HDR->SDR conversion. What you're getting on your PC is probably just an 8-bit JPEG or PNG, so there's not much you can do with it. JPEG-XR, on the other hand, is a native 16-bit dump of the HDR image, so you can transform it as you please. But that's an Xbox One X system thing, not a Destiny 2 thing.

The X also has a cool feature where, when connected to an HDR display, taking a screenshot dumps both an SDR-converted PNG (usually a bit “flat”) as well as a full 16-bit HDR JPEG-XR. After finding a Photoshop plugin for JPEG-XR, I can edit the screenshots back to normal display gamut using the full HDR range!

I need to look into something like that. I took some 4k HDR screenshots of the PC version, which end up looking somewhat washed out. Maybe it's the image format or something. JPEG-XR you say?