Microsoft quietly launched its HDR calibration software for Windows 11 users. It optimizes color accuracy and consistency and offers an immersive HDR display experience. HDR stands for High Dynamic Range; it boosts content and makes it more immersive. The Windows HDR calibration app comes with three different patterns to test the darkest and brightest. To use this application, your device should run Windows 11 and have an HDR-capable monitor. As for GPUs, you require them.
- AMD Ryzen Processor with Radeon Graphics
- AMD RX400 Series or later
- Intel 11th Gen CPU or later with integrated graphics
- Intel DG1 or later
- NVIDIA GTX 10X or later
While your display should be running WDDDM 2.7 or later, keep Windows to its latest version to ensure your PC has the latest drivers installed. The app is officially available to download and install from the Microsoft Store.
Windows HDR Calibration helps you to improve color accuracy and consistency, and this is quite similar to the Auto HDR feature that comes with the Xbox Series X|S. It gives you control to adjust the vividness of color, which will appear on HDR and SDR content.
How to use Windows HDR calibration
- First, download and install an app on your Windows machine.
- Open it from your Start menu or the Microsoft Store directly.
- Next, click on Get and enable HDR in your Windows Settings.
- Open Windows Settings, head over to the display and toggle to enable HDR functionality.
- After that, open the Windows HDR Calibration app and follow the on-screen instructions to finish. While testing, ensure you are running the app in full-screen.
From there, it will do a simple test to understand if you can use a slider to customize the display look. You can later calibrate your display accordingly. If you use multiple monitors, then you need to calibrate the display for each of them.