HDR Gaming

[Abnormal Palm]

I got myself an OLED telly because the world is collapsing and I wanted to try before I die. Literally never bought anything in my life I haven't regretted in about five minutes except this. Takes a bit of fiddling to get the very best out of it but it's absolutely amazing. HDR definitely makes more of a difference than 4K.

My top recommendations for HDR games:

Tetris Effect - Reminded me of PSVR except blistering quality. I was actually welling up playing it in the dark on headphones. Never seen anything so spectacular in any game in my life. Particle fuck fest.

Rez Infinite - I don't even really like Rez that much, but it's unreal on OLED because of the perfect black background, everything seems incredibly crisp and full of life. It almost looks 3D, there's so much light bursting out of the screen. This is better than on PSVR.

GT Sport - Forza Motorsport 7 nails the mundane beauty of overcast skies and drizzle and a natural bleary glare like nothing else besides RDR2, but GT Sport in HDR is aesthetically OutRun 2020, a hyperreal blue sky bloomy sunbeam extravaganza. It looks better than real life.

Horizon Zero Dawn - Amazing that a 2017 game is still so visually impressive but it's scaled up and up no matter what I've played it on. On the C9, it's as good as it's going to be and it's fucking spectacular. It's more in the line with The Witcher 3 than RDR2, all fantastical bluey pinks and saturated skylines but it's still something subtle, layers of lights and shadows. I can't wait for a sequel.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps - It's plagued with bugs and it's crashed my Xbox half a dozen times but when it works, it's one of the best looking games I've ever seen. The animation and layers and layers of background and foreground are a big part of it, but it's the lighting which really strikes you. There's a verisimilitude to the reflections and shadows which makes your screen seem like a diorama, a window into a world. If I wanted to show someone what HDR gaming is in 2020, this would be it.

Anyone got any more suggestions?

[Sin Agog]

Enviro-Bear 2000

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

I too have bought my first HDR telly, but it's a fair bit cheaper than yours, so the effect won't be as dramatic. I'm playing Mass Effect Andromeda on it, which looks pretty nice, if not for the dynamic brightness, but the expanded colour range looks very good. Try that.

[Abnormal Palm]

Cheers, I'll give it a go. I definitely think game devs still need to figure out how to best use HDR tastefully but as a medium, it's absolutely perfect for it. I heard that MS are using some machine learning algorithms to implement HDR with their next gen backwards compatibility. That would be amazing. I wish Sony would do the same. Bloodborne would be incredible in HDR, just thinking about the skyboxes and shadows and flickering flames and lamps.

And then I think of how tragic it is that Nintendo have basically abandoned contemporary technology. Imagine MK8D, ARMS, Splatoon 2, Odyssey or BotW in HDR. Jesus, imagine Daemon X Machina or Tropical Freeze.

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

Also, if your telly has a YouTube app, I'd recommend going on that and searching for "HDR Test". Some of those really max out the HDR and can look quite dramatic, almost 3D. I think there's one called Costa Rica that's good, should be one of the first results.

[AsparagusTrevor]

I treated myself to an OLED about a year and a half ago, and upgraded my PS4 to a Pro and I've been loving the HDR gaming. Some standouts for me have been Tetris Effect as mentioned above (also great in VR), God of War was a beautiful showcase with all its different worlds, and Spider-man was great in a more subtle way. More recently, MK11 has been wowing me with its lovely flashy effects.

The uptake of HDR by PC devs has been disappointing so far, even neglecting games which have support on consoles.

[peanutbutter]

What OLED televisions have people bought? I'm pretty much guaranteed to get a cheaper one once I move to a place large enough to have one and have stable enough of an income to feel okay about it.

[Abnormal Palm]

I got an LG C9 55". I did think about 65" but I sit about 1.5m away so it's pretty spot on. I don't want to have to move my head especially. Blackout shutters on the skylight so it's pitch darkness.

[AsparagusTrevor]

Mine's a Philips 9002 55 inch. I'm a huge fan of Philips' Ambilight, which is a built-in backlight which can either be a static colour or react to the action on-screen which works great with games.

[peanutbutter]

I got an LG C9 55". I did think about 65" but I sit about 1.5m away so it's pretty spot on. I don't want to have to move my head especially. Blackout shutters on the skylight so it's pitch darkness.

That's the one that's like 500 cheaper than seemingly every other OLED, right? Any weird cost cutting measures observed?



I assume all of these have some measures built in to prevent screen burn? That's a huge issue with OLED's from what I've heard

[AsparagusTrevor]

OLEDs sometimes have selective dimming and screensavers, and they run a cleaning cycle when they're on standby, but I think the whole burn-in problem, while certainly possible, has been overblown. I've spent hours on games with static HUDs and apart from some retention which quickly fades I've had no problems.

[Abnormal Palm]

That's the one that's like 500 cheaper than seemingly every other OLED, right? Any weird cost cutting measures observed?

I assume all of these have some measures built in to prevent screen burn? That's a huge issue with OLED's from what I've heard

Sadly not, I'm afraid. It's pretty much top of the line for the screen and processor.

https://www.tomsguide.com/uk/us/best-tvs,review-2224.html

It's down to £1299 at John Lewis for the 55", but that's also with five years warranty.

The B9 is supposed to be as good for 4K stuff, albeit not quite as good a processor for upscaling 1080p/HD content. You can get that for £1099 in lots of places.

Both B9 and C9 have several functions to prevent burn-in, such as pixel shifting when in use (imperceptible) and refreshing during standby.

[peanutbutter]

looks like I mixed up the B9 and C9

...do television/monitor manufacturers deliberately give them the most confusing names? Always feel like there's a chance I'll buy the totally wrong model by mistake.

[Abnormal Palm]

It's ridiculous, I know.

Basically, the number is the year of release for these LG OLEDs and the letter is the model. They all have the same screen panel tech, though. The differences are stuff like built-in soundbar or stand or some other design thing. I don't care about that, I just wanted a beast screen.