High dynamic video (HDR) has a greater dynamic range than Standard Dynamic video (SDR) and greatly enhances your video viewing experience.

Given that your Windows PC, laptop or tablet supports the right hardware requirements, you can switch over to viewing all of your videos in HDR mode.

How to view HDR videos on Windows PC?

Step 1: Go to Start and open the Settings application. Locate the Apps setting option and select it.

Step 2: Select the Video playback option located on the left-hand side menu.

Step 3:  Toggle on the Stream HDR video.

HDR videos can now be streamed on your Windows device.

Also read: How to link your iPhone or Android to Windows 10

How to play HDR videos on an external display

Since it is possible to add external displays to your Windows device, there is also an option to switch over to HDR mode on it. To enable HDR on your HDR-supported device, follow these steps.

Step 1: Go to the Settings application and select the System tab.

Step 2: Select the Display option located on the left-hand side menu and toggle on the HDR and WCG mode.

How is HDR different from SDR?

HDR offers three times better dynamic range as compared to SDR due to which grey and light tones are better highlighted in dark and bright scenes respectively.

Read this article that better illustrates HDR’s benefits over SDR.

Hardware requirements for viewing HDR videos on Windows PC

Inbuilt display

• The display device must have a maximum brightness of 300 units or more.
• For protected HDR content it must have integrated graphics card supporting PlayReady hardware digital rights management.

External Device

• The device must support HDR10 and DisplayPort 1.4 or HDMI 2.0.
• For protected HDR content it must have integrated graphics card supporting PlayReady 3.0 hardware digital rights management.
• The Windows device must have the latest WDDM 2.4 drivers installed.

Also read: How to run Windows 95 on Mac, Windows or Linux

Featured image by Tadas Sar