Does HDR on PS5 represent a revolution in gaming or a purely extravagant gimmick? The ever-crazy arguments would have you believe otherwise. Some of the countless replies went as far as accusing the official account of turning HDR into a hype for the “higher contrast and brightness range.”
Some swear by it, others question its relevance, and many simply want Dolby Vision. Let’s sort out this mess.
First and foremost, HDR refers to high dynamic range, which creates an extended differentiation between white and black for colors to pop and shadows to sink. The tweet then provided a link to turn on HDR; however, the visuals? Yeah, that was a roast. “@callam__xo” chimed in, “There literally looks to be no difference whatsoever,” while “@SauRoN_ZA” went with, “The most useless example I ever saw.” Ouch!
Here came the Dolby Vision supporters. Among the replies, those of “@WeeZYI87” and “@steven_duf36712” demanded Sony enables it.
For the unaware, Dolby Vision is a more premium form of HDR that uses dynamic metadata (i.e., scene-adjusted for improved appearance). The snag here was that “@layerzlayer” also commented: “That’s for Xbox and PC only.” An exclusivity deal was quickly signed by Microsoft, so poor PlayStation will have to make do with an HDR that is quite static: HDR10.
Does HDR even work on PS5? That’s a little bit up for debate. “@caps_fan74” gave it a go on a 4K OLED TV and proclaimed, “It’s looking too dark now; it looks worse than simply switching off HDR.” Then again, “@Fendera_1337” piped up: “If done right, HDR is stunning.” Settings? Quality of the television? Or a combo of both? “@”stargaming1990” weighed in, saying: “If ur broke, well u cant see a difference at all.” Ouch!
And the graphics versus performance topic really took an unexpected turn. “@trailmixjesus” throwing down: “HDR and raytracing is trash. Put more emphasis on fps.” “@fattigmann1” jumps in with the meme: “You want some game that runs 120fps but looks like a potato… understood.” And for “@fattigmann1”, HDR is not even worth trying because “streaming adds some crazy input lag.”
Amid all this technical gibberish comes chaos: mid-suspension, @blueballld screeches, while @GiorgioCon4475 demands Sony to “Fix the VRR” (Variable Refresh Rate – another tech for displays). To add, “layerzlayer” throws in HGIG for good measure, not that you needed to know (external HDR Calibration).
So, what will it be? Largely, it will depend on the setup, one’s sight, or how much one cares about graphics in contrast to super-smooth framerates. Or that is what @ShaneEdwards185 has to say: “These two images look exactly the same to me. Why can’t I tell the difference?”
Or just keep trying; maybe you’ll discover the key to this enigma there!
