What HDR actually does

HDR (High Dynamic Range) expands two things your monitor can display at once: brightness range and color gamut. An HDR monitor can show a bright highlight (like a sun reflection) and a deep shadow in the same frame without crushing either.

Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) content tops out around 100-250 nits of brightness and covers sRGB. HDR content can hit 1000+ nits in highlights, sink to near-zero in shadows, and use the wider DCI-P3 or BT.2020 color space.

VESA DisplayHDR tiers

VESA DisplayHDR is the most common HDR monitor certification. The number refers to peak sustained brightness in nits.

HDR400: 400 nits peak, 8-bit color, no mandatory local dimming. Entry level - marketing label more than a real HDR experience.

HDR500: 500 nits peak, 10-bit color, wide color gamut required. Step up from HDR400.

HDR600: 600 nits peak, 10-bit, local dimming required. Noticeable HDR impact starts here.

HDR1000: 1000 nits peak, 10-bit, real local dimming. Full HDR experience.

HDR1400: 1400 nits peak, top-tier LCD HDR.

For OLED:

HDR True Black 400: 400 nits peak with absolute pixel-level black. Looks more impactful than HDR1000 LCD in dark rooms.

HDR True Black 500 / 600: newer OLED panels with higher sustained brightness.

HDR10, HDR10+, and Dolby Vision

These are the transport formats that carry HDR metadata to your monitor.

HDR10: royalty-free baseline. Static metadata for the whole file. Supported everywhere.

HDR10+: dynamic metadata per scene. Better tone mapping on dimmer displays.

Dolby Vision: dynamic metadata per frame. Requires Dolby licensing. Best tone mapping quality.

Most Windows, macOS, and game HDR outputs use HDR10. Dolby Vision support on PC is still limited.

Do you need HDR?

Yes, HDR helps

Gaming titles with native HDR (Cyberpunk 2077, Horizon, Forza, etc.)

Streaming HDR movies (Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV)

Video and photo color grading for HDR deliverables

Anyone watching in a dimmer room where OLED blacks can shine

Not really

Office work, browsing, document editing

Gaming in bright rooms where HDR contrast is washed out

Anyone on HDR400 - the experience is basically SDR with a certification sticker

Avoid the HDR400 trap

HDR400 monitors are marketed as "HDR" but they offer:

No local dimming

8-bit color (sometimes 8-bit + FRC)

Peak brightness only slightly above SDR

On an HDR400 monitor, HDR mode often looks worse than a well-tuned SDR mode because the panel cannot physically deliver what HDR content expects.

For a real HDR experience on LCD, HDR600 is the practical minimum. On OLED, any HDR True Black tier gives a great HDR experience thanks to infinite contrast.

How to test HDR on your monitor

Run our HDR Monitor Test to check what your browser and display report.

Open Windows HDR calibration (Settings > Display > HDR) or macOS HDR preferences to see reported peak nits.

Play an HDR clip like the Microsoft HDR YouTube sample. If bright highlights pop and shadows stay dark without crushing, HDR is working.

If the image looks washed out in HDR mode, either your monitor is too dim (HDR400 class) or your OS HDR settings need calibration.

Bottom line

HDR on a monitor means real contrast expansion, not a marketing sticker. Target HDR600+ on LCD or any HDR True Black OLED. Pair it with HDR-native content, and you will actually see the difference.

What Is HDR on a Monitor? HDR400, HDR600, HDR1000 Explained