How to use Microsoft’s Windows HDR Calibration app on your monitor
More and more high-resolution displays are including HDR capabilities as an added feature – and now Windows 11 is helping to ensure they’re being used to their best advantage with the new Windows HDR Calibration app.
The Windows HDR Calibration app, available for free from Microsoft through the Microsoft Store, was a small app that Microsoft introduced alongside the Windows 11 2022 update (22H2). It doesn’t seem to depend specifically on Windows 11 22H2, although Windows 11 is required.
The app comes with some fairly stringent hardware requirements: you need an AMD Ryzen with integrated Radeon graphics or an 11th Gen Intel Core chip (Ice Lake) or higher. Alternatively, the app works with pretty much any processor with a separate GPU (AMD RX400 or Nvidia GeForce GTX 1000 or higher). Of course, you also need an HDR-capable display.
Looking for a worthy HDR display? Check out our guide to the best monitors.
What is HDR again?
As our introduction to HDR on PC explains, high dynamic range content more closely mimics the range of light as it transitions from the deepest blacks to the brightest highlights. If you’ve ever watched a dark scene and noticed a faint glow around even pitch black scenes, then so be it Not HDR. HDR essentially tells the display to make those pitch-black scenes as dark as possible, but crank up the brightness when needed. When configured correctly, HDR allows for a nice improvement in image quality.
What our explanatory article describes in more detail can be summarized briefly: HDR works best when the display can handle both high contrast ratios (for the darkest darknesses) and high light output (for the brightest brightnesses). This can be achieved in a number of physical ways. One important note, however, is your display’s HDR rating: an HDR10 or HDR400 display may not emit enough light to make HDR really effective, but an HDR1000 display does.
There is another important point: in the Settings menu of Windows 11 (System > Display > HDR) Windows should tell you if your display is up certified for HDR. This is important as this tells the Windows 11 operating system that HDR is enabled. “HDR-certified displays usually work great without additional calibration,” says Microsoft’s Windows HDR Calibration app page. “But you should still consider using the Windows HDR Calibration app on your HDR display.”
In other words, if your display is certified, it’s probably already working well – although the app can further optimize it. If windows Not If you’re reporting your display as certified (even if it says so on the box!), the Windows HDR configuration app is what you need.
All in all, configuring your HDR display is a simple process, only takes a few minutes, and there’s even a quick fix if you think you’ve messed everything up.
How to use the Windows HDR Calibration app
As luck would have it, a vendor recently tasked me with evaluating an Innocn display for some related testing of USB-C dongles and Thunderbolt docks. Innocn, a Chinese brand I had never heard of, sent me the Innocn 27M2U, a 27-inch 4K HDR1000 display. Although it was configured from the factory, with an HDR1000 label on the box, Windows did Not Report it as a certified HDR display – perfect for configuring with this new app.
(One note: for best effect, make sure the display is connected directly to your notebook or desktop and not through a USB-C dongle or Thunderbolt hub. While I’ve found that a direct Thunderbolt -to-USB-C cable between my laptop’s and the display enabled HDR, routing through a USB-C DisplayLink dock didn’t – good for productivity, but not for HDR movies or gaming.)
- Time to complete: 5 minutes
- Tools needed: none
- Materials needed: A Windows 11 PC, an HDR capable monitor, display cables
- Cost: $0
Make sure your display is HDR capable and HDR enabled
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Enabling HDR capabilities on your display varies from display to display, so it’s best to follow your manual for instructions. This almost certainly means using your monitor’s on-screen display and navigating through some menus.
Your monitor may have more than one HDR option, e.g. For example, “HDR Theme” or “HDR Gaming”. Choose what works for you.
Some of our older HDR400 test monitors developed an ugly blue cast when HDR was enabled. You can certainly go through the configuration process to see if that goes away, although they might not work as well with HDR enabled.
If your display also has post-processing effects enabled by default, you may or may not want to disable them! Defining the right HDR “look” for your display is largely subjective – choose what works for you.
Make sure HDR is enabled for your display in Windows 11
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Make sure HDR is enabled in Windows 11 by going to settings menu, then System > Display > HDR. Make sure you choose the right display!
Make sure HDR is enabled by activating the appropriate toggle switches. Some choices are up to you – if you’re configuring a laptop display, you might want to turn off HDR to save power when running on battery.
Launch the Windows HDR Calibration app on the correct display
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Launch the Windows HDR Calibration app and drag it onto the display you want to configure. The app will not work (and notify you) if opened on a display that is not HDR capable.
Start stepping through the Windows HDR configuration app by setting the minimum luminance
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First, the Windows HDR configuration app will ask you to set the minimum brightness. Adjust the slider at the bottom of the screen until the windowpane icon disappears into the darkness, as indicated by the rightmost icons.
Set the maximum luminance in the Windows HDR configuration app
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Repeat this step by simply setting the maximum luminance. Adjust the slider again until the windowpane disappears. The emphasis here is on displaying the brightest detail your HDR monitor can display.
Adjust full screen luminance using the Windows HDR configuration app
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By now you should be moving through the HDR configuration app fairly quickly. The only difference is that you adjust the luminance for the entire display.
On some displays it really doesn’t matter. However, the Innocn 27M2U uses local dimming – it uses a bank of independent LED backlights that can be turned on or off. (This helps with contrast.) In this case, you can (hopefully) ensure that the display produces the same amount of light across the entire screen.
Adjust color saturation using the Windows HDR configuration app
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This is where you can theoretically adjust how colors appear on your HDR monitor when HDR is on or off. That is extremely Depending on your monitor and the three test displays we used, we could tell absolutely no difference when adjusting the slider.
Review the changes made in the Windows HDR Configuration app
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Here you can see what changes, if any, have been made to your HDR display output using the Windows HDR Configuration app. (The only reason you don’t see a difference here is that we previously configured the display and the changes, if any, were too subtle to see.)
click Finished saves the color profile you created via the HDR configuration app.
Are you afraid you’ve messed something up? How to delete this color profile
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The new HDR color profile you just saved can be managed in the Windows Control Panel. Choose beginning button, tap color managementand then select the profile in the list of results.
You will notice that there is an “ICC (Enhanced Color) Profile(s)” for each display. You can set this profile as default, or remove it completely if you did not like the result. Note that you can create as many color profiles as you like for the displays supported by the app. You might want different profiles for gaming, watching movies, or whatever. Or not! Feel free to experiment as you please.