Razer Blade 15 OLED - HDR question | Razer Insider

Razer Blade 15 OLED - HDR question

  • 3 December 2019
  • 5 replies
  • 142 views

Hi,

Just received the laptop and I have a couple of questions regarding HDR.

Does the display actively display any messages when HDR content is being displayed?
When turning HDR on in Win 10, the display becomes noticeably dimmer - is this normal?
Does HDR need to be on in Win 10 for HDR content to display correctly (i.e. in HDR mode) or does it kick in regardless?

Hopefully someone can help. Apologies if repeat topic.
Thanks

This topic has been closed for comments

5 Replies

The laptop works a little bit different than using a desktop PC with HDR. On desktop, you do have to flip that switch before you open any HDR video streaming or game, and yes, the dimmer / duller picture is normal when you flip that switch. On the Blade OLED, you actually don't have to flip that HDR switch in the display settings. HDR content will just work automatically when you open it in it's respective apps. That said, a big caveat here is that HDR gaming does not work at all on all these laptops with HDR OLED panels. The only HDR things you can do with them are Netflix, via the Netflix application and HDR YouTube Vids (only works w/Edge browser though).
Thanks, Punkkture.

That answer makes sense and is consistent with my other research. Appears that things are working as designed - not great.

Any simple explanation as to WHY this is the case, beyond it's an Optimus or processor switching issue? What I'm really trying to find out is whether a software or hardware fix/re-design will be required to address this.

Thanks
Yeah, I was pretty bummed to realize this when I got this laptop as I'm a big fan of how good HDR gaming can look on a great HDR display.

I certainly haven't seen any official response as to why this is the case but I've probably read most of the same forum posts & speculation as you have. My concern is that because of the 'integrated' nature of HDR on these laptops, that specific software / games would have to be individually coded to recognize this kind of setup. Hopefully though, it is just something that Optimus or some other software / driver in the chain needs to fix.
Userlevel 7
drunken0monkey
Thanks, Punkkture.

That answer makes sense and is consistent with my other research. Appears that things are working as designed - not great.

Any simple explanation as to WHY this is the case, beyond it's an Optimus or processor switching issue? What I'm really trying to find out is whether a software or hardware fix/re-design will be required to address this.

Thanks

Punkkture
Yeah, I was pretty bummed to realize this when I got this laptop as I'm a big fan of how good HDR gaming can look on a great HDR display.

I certainly haven't seen any official response as to why this is the case but I've probably read most of the same forum posts & speculation as you have. My concern is that because of the 'integrated' nature of HDR on these laptops, that specific software / games would have to be individually coded to recognize this kind of setup. Hopefully though, it is just something that Optimus or some other software / driver in the chain needs to fix.

This Reddit thread may help you guys find the answer.
If you're curious what HDR looks like on a 4K Razer Blade display, enable HDR in Display settings and then play the following YouTube video:



or:



You can tell you're watching HDR because YouTube will report "HDR" as the resolution (gear icon), rather than simply "HD" or "4K".

As mentioned previously, enabling HDR in Windows does dim the average brightness of the display, but this can be compensated by using Fn-F9 (screen brightness).

- Dave