Nvidia RTX HDR crushes Windows AutoHDR in every single way

Users have found a way to port over the Nvidia RTX Video HDR for general usage in any application, and the results leave Windows AutoHDR in the dust.

For those unfamiliar with the technology, Nvidia recently released an RTX Video HDR driver that makes use of advanced machine learning algorithms to convert SDR videos to HDR in real-time for HDR displays. While the driver was initially meant for usage on Youtube and other video-viewing experiences, modder 'emoose' has found a way to port it over to any and all media.

This allows the driver to be used in games and results in the Nvidia RTX Video HDR competing directly with Microsoft's Windows AutoHDR. You might be thinking that the RTX Video HDR wasn't built for gaming, but the results might shock you. In practice, Nvidia's RTX HDR outperforms Windows AutoHDR in almost every single metric.

To test this yourself, you need to head over to NexusMods and download the NV TrueHDR mod. Operating it requires some basic knowledge of command prompt usage. Once you get the hang of it, you can enable RTX HDR for any executable file you want and it will be present in HDR.

This method of implementation means it's much more widely applicable than the Windows AutoHDR, which was limited to selected, whitelisted DX11 and DX12 games. RTX HDR will work on anything DirectX9 onwards without any hassle, and even provide support for retro titles that rely on emulators.

As for results, you can check out the testing done by the folks over at Eurogamer. Basically, in all areas with higher contrasts of lighting and shadows, the effects look darker and more convincing. The rendering also occurs naturally rather than appearing slowly like an effect.

However, do note that due to the use of ML requiring more resources, RTX HDR will be more performance-intensive than Windows AutoHDR. However, these differences don't go further than 6% on the highest settings, at which point, we feel that it's well worth the sacrifice.

We expect that Nvidia will release an official version with a proper UI toggle in the near future alongside some well-deserved promotion and advertisement. The RTX HDR is definitely a feature that HDR screen owners should add to their list of features.

Be sure to check out our list of the best HDR displays.