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Calibrate your HDR (high dynamic range) display for a better experience with HDR content on your Windows 11 PC. The Windows HDR Calibration app helps you improve color accuracy and consistency. It also lets you customize how vividly colors will appear for both HDR and SDR (standard dynamic range) content when HDR is turned on.

You can download the Windows HDR Calibration app from the Microsoft Store.

Get it from Microsoft

The Windows HDR Calibration app has three test patterns that are recommended by the HDR Gaming Interest Group (HGIG) for a better HDR gaming experience. These three tests determine: 

  • The darkest visible details you can see.

  • The brightest visible details.

  • The maximum brightness for your display.

Note: If you have a built-in display that can play streaming HDR video, but doesn’t support HDR games and apps, use Display calibration for HDR video found in Settings > System > Display > HDR. To check if your display supports HDR games and apps, under Display capabilities on the HDR settings screen, see if the selected display says Use HDR is Supported or Not supported. For more info, see Calibrate your built-in display for HDR content in Windows.

Requirements

Here are the requirements to use the Windows HDR Calibration app:

  • Windows operating system: Windows 11

  • Display: An HDR-capable display (built-in or external display)

  • HDR: Turned on
    To turn on HDR, select the Start button, then select Settings > System > Display > Use HDR.

  • App mode: The app must be running full screen

  • Graphics: A newer GPU (required for color saturation to work properly)

    • AMD

      • AMD RX 400 Series or later

      • AMD Ryzen processors with Radeon Graphics

    • Intel

      • Integrated: Intel 11th Gen (Ice Lake) or later

      • Discrete: Intel DG1 or later

    • NVIDIA: NVIDIA GTX 10xx or later (Pascal+)

  • Display driver: WDDDM 2.7 or later
    To get the latest drivers for your GPU, check for Windows updates or visit the website for your GPU manufacturer. To check for Windows updates, select Start > Settings > Windows Update, then select Check for updates.

Use the Windows HDR Calibration app

  1. After you install the app, select the Start button, then select All apps > Windows HDR Calibration.
    If you have multiple displays, make sure the HDR Calibration app is on your HDR-capable display.

  2. While you’re calibrating your display using the three test patterns (see above), drag the slider until the test pattern is no longer visible on each screen.

  3. When customizing the SDR and HDR content color saturation level, drag the slider to adjust the saturation from less saturated (default, on the left) to more saturated (right).
    The change for color saturation might be subtle and depends on your display characteristics.

Note: In some languages, you'll see a reference to a vertical line. This text appears on the main screen of the app and on the Color Saturation screen. However, the vertical line won't appear in the app. We're working on updating the text.

A few more things...

Here are a couple more notes and other things to help you get the best results from your HDR-capable display and the Windows HDR Calibration app.

  • HDR certified displays typically work great out of the box without any additional calibration. However, you should still consider using the Windows HDR Calibration app on your HDR display. To learn more about the different HDR display certification programs and Windows, see Display requirements for HDR video in Windows.

  • The Windows HDR Calibration app may not work as expected if your HDR display has post-processing effects on by default. You might be able to turn off post-processing effects by using the on-screen display menu and buttons on your display.

  • Use the app in the same lighting conditions that you normally use for your HDR display.

  • Keep an eye on how vivid you make colors appear when calibrating your display. If you increase it too much, HDR content on display might look unnatural and over saturated.

  • The Before and After images might look similar depending on your display.

  • If you want to delete a color profile that was created by using the Windows HDR Calibration app, you can do it using Color Management in Control Panel. Select the Start button, type color management, then select it in the list of results. In Color Management, select the All Profiles tab, select the color profile you want to delete, then select Remove.

  • Run this app whenever you change your display setup (for example, add a new display or replace an existing one).

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