PC has an HDR support problem - and Nvidia wants to fix it
At the forefront of gaming technology pretty much since the year dot, the PC format has fallen behind in one key area: support for high dynamic range - the future of display technology. HDR screens for PC users are thin on the ground and often poorly specced, while the list of supported games stands at less than 50 per cent of the number found on consoles. Something has to change, and it starts by getting excellent PC desktop monitors out there. This week, Nvidia showed press its highly impressive 120Hz 4K HDR G-Sync technology. The specs of two upcoming HDR screens from Acer and Asus exceed what living room displays are capable of by quite a margin in some respects, and may help in beginning to address the lacklustre HDR take-up we've seen for PC users so far.
PC's lack of traction in HDR is something of a vicious circle. Consider Sea of Thieves by Rare - it features one of the most striking HDR implementations we've ever seen, enhancing the game's distinctive visuals considerably. However, it's only an option for Xbox users - there's no HDR support whatsoever on the PC side. On checking in with the developer about this, we were told that the lack of compatible displays meant that implementing it wasn't a priority. It's an excuse that frustrates us because, of course, PC is just as compatible with living room HDR displays as the consoles, but the divide between the living room and the den/office - each with their own type of display - is still, clearly, a thing... for now, at least.
And it has to be said that what we've seen so far in terms of PC HDR support really has been lacking. Specs simply haven't been good enough, with issues in panel bit-depth, peak brightness, compatible display inputs, or in how HDR highlighting is implemented. Some progress has been made, and the 1440p, 144Hz, FreeSync 2-enabled Samsung CHG70 display has had its plaudits. Nvidia's 4K HDR initiative goes much further, though. There's 99 per cent coverage of the Adobe sRGB colour gamut (broadly comparable the DCI-P3 gamut UHD Blu-ray is mastered at), peak brightness of 1000 nits and an out-of-the-box display refresh of 120Hz, overclockable to 144Hz. HDR highlights are handled via 384 back light zones and there's 4K HDR support for both DisplayPort and HDMI inputs. Display latency is in the region of 10ms, about 10-12ms faster than the most responsive 4K TV. And on top of that, of course, there's G-Sync - eliminating screen-tear and reducing v-sync judder. It's the complete package.
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