I’m so done with win11, and currently 12 of my 15 machines are linux anyway, but AFAIK HDR (on nvidia gpu) is still impossible? Are you guys all on AMD or just not using hdr for gaming/media? So instead of relying on outdated info, just asking the pros :)
I’m running 4k HDR 120Hz on NVidia 5070 in KDE Plasma on CachyOS.
To enable in Proton games it requires an extra environment variable.
The AMD part is actually the opposite, since AMD drivers on Linux can’t do HDMI 2.1, but NVidia can.
The AMD part is actually the opposite, since AMD drivers on Linux can’t do HDMI 2.1, but NVidia can.
Thats not quite true, you can do HDR with 4k @ 120hz and HDMI 2.0 but you will be limited to 8bits per channel of which will exhibit pronounced chroma banding, specially noticible in skies gradients. If you lower either resoltution or frequency you can get 10bit back too.
HDMI 2.0 can also support 4k 120hz but it will be limited to 4:2:2 chroma subsampling. It’s fine for the typical TV viewing distance and 2x hidpi scaling but sucks for desktop usage, specially at no hidpi scaling.
You can also get a DP 1.4 to HDMI 2.1 adapter and get full HDR 10bit color and 4:4:4 chroma 4k@120hz at the same time, no problem. The trouble is usually VRR, which tends to be very finicky or not work at al… :(
Would’ve prefered a debian-based, but that surely is a point for cachy. Plus it’s german/eu. Does it do multiple monitors stress-free too? Thanks!
Debian Trixie ships a new enough version of plasma to contain HDR
Does it do multiple monitors stress-free too? Thanks!
I’m not the same guy you were talking to, but if you use Wayland, multi-monitor should work without any issues.
I’m on a Sony OLED with a 3090. I game some, and color grade photos/videos in HDR.
…And I can’t get HDR to look right in KDE, even with the display running off my AMD IGP. It has basically zero options for me to tweak.
So I use Windows for that.
Honestly, it’s hard enough on Windows. It’s a coin flip as to whether apps works or not, and the TV needs adjustments for some, lest they crush black or blow out highlights/colors. Many games, specifically, need configurable mods to look right.
One of my saddest video workflows is transcoding on Linux, and downloading the result to my iPhone to see if it looks right.
Damn. Nah, as long as i’d still need windows, I see totally no benefit in dual-booting. I could live with a VM for the banking stuff or so, but dualbooting. Meh :( And yes, it’s already sucky enough on win. Though win11 made it better.
Thanks for your reply!
My screen only does HDR600, but it does work.
It looks a little nicer than with it off, so I do keep it on. SDR content does not suffer.
I’m on KDE wayland with an AMD GPU.
Sounds great, besides the AMD part. So it might work, but not with my nvidia :( Thanks!
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/HDR
Arch wiki says NVIDIA should now work, too.
As of Mesa 25 it should just work. Even if you’re on a distro that doesn’t have it working yet, seems HDR on NVIDIA is not far off, and can be made to work right now if you know how with arch.
For my setup, I literally just enable the setting in the KDE display settings.
We’re definitely not all on AMD but most of us are.
Personally I don’t understand what all the hubbub is about HDR anyway. It always makes the picture look all washed out and desaturated so I keep it off. I’m obviously missing something.
It always makes the picture look all washed out and desaturated
This is a typical symptom when part of the HDR pipeline is working but not all of it. The HDR image is getting (poorly) converted to SDR before it’s being displayed.
Actual HDR is richer colors than SDR. Note that you basically need an OLED monitor to display it properly. On most LCD monitors that advertise “HDR” support, it won’t look very different.
I have an OLED.
Then you definitely have some settings wrong.
Make sure the monitor is set to HDR mode (in the monitor’s built-in settings), and the OS is set to treat the monitor as HDR. Depending on the OS there may be other things to play with. E.g. I was getting the issue with things looking washed out after the latest bazzite update until I manually installed VK_HDR_LAYER
Here is a site I usually use to test that HDR is working correctly: https://www.wide-gamut.com/test (you may need a chrome based browser, Firefox doesn’t always render it correctly)
Yes, you seem to be missing actual HDR :-) It looks washed out and desaturated if you’d view SDR content while HDR is enabled. Or the monitor can’t. Or whatever else. I even have problems with jellyfin on windows to get it right. That things needs a separate app to actually work. So HDR’s the only good thing about win11, as it mostly works.
I really wanna finally ditch that horrorshow, but going back to SDR feels like going back from 4K to 480p.
I suggest you strip Windows to the bone (including Defender), dual boot Linux, and delegate Windows as a “HDR media OS”
This is what I do, and it works well. Sufficiently neutered, Windows if really quick and out of the way.
It’s already neutered, but dual-booting really isn’t an option. As long as win remains a bootable option, why even add another one, i see no benefit in running both and wasting time switching regularly. Soon i wouldn’t even switch and ditch HDR :)
Washed out and desaturated is the opposite of what it should do. Sounds like you may be looking at SDR (non HDR) content with HDR enabled?
Is Linux not able to switch HDR on and off as necessary?
I usually do this in-game so why would a non-HDR game have an HDR toggle?
You may have to enable HDR for Linux on each monitor individually from the display settings, and then enable HDR for the game itself from within its own settings.
I only have 1 (large) monitor. I toggle it on and everything looks like butt. Then toggle it off and it looks normal again. It’s an HDR OLED display.
If you’re on KDE, you can use the “sRGB color intensity” to quickly test if your content (e.g. via mpv or Proton) is really in HDR.
If the content changes while going from minimum to maximum in “sRGB color intensity”, it’s SDR, if it does not change, it’s HDR.
I also have an OLED monitor and HDR looks fantastic on KDE.
