Microsoft is bringing the Auto HDR feature of its Xbox Series X and Series S consoles to the PC, reports Windows Central. With Windows 21 Build 21337 and above, PC gamers can experience the ability to add enhanced tone mapping to more than 1,000 DirectX 11 and 12 games that were not mastered to support HDR in the first place. According to Microsoft, Auto HDR will add color and brightness information to your games, as long as you have a compatible monitor.
Microsoft
You can see how the feature works in the comparison above. Microsoft uses shades of gray to show the parts of the image that a non-HDR monitor can successfully replicate. The native HDR presentation of Gears 5 it has more details in its shadows and highlights, but even the Auto HDR presentation has significantly more information than its SDR counterpart.
As long as you are a Windows Insider, you can enable the feature by opening your way to the Windows HD Color Settings page. It will be interesting to see how it affects the HDR landscape on PCs. The format is notoriously confusing in Windows 10. Furthermore, not all HDR-compatible monitors are made the same way. The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) has six different levels for its DisplayHDR certification. With their emphasis on high refresh rates, most game monitors fall into one of the lowest categories, if they qualify. This made it difficult to take advantage of technology the way you do on consoles and TVs.