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Windows 11Windows 10

To play HDR video in Windows 11, your display, PC, and graphics card must meet certain requirements. Here are the requirements:

Display

Your display can be a built-in display, like the kind on a laptop, tablet, or 2-in-1 PC, or it might be an external display that’s connected to your PC.

  • Built-in displays. The built-in display needs to have a resolution of 1080p or more, and a recommended max brightness of 300 nits or more. To find the specifications for a specific laptop or tablet, visit the device manufacturer’s website

  • External display. The HDR display or TV must support HDR10, DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0 or higher, USB-C, or Thunderbolt. To find the specifications for a specific PC or external display, visit the device manufacturer’s website.

Whether you have a built-in or external display, we recommend you look for displays that are certified for HDR. Here are the different HDR certifications to look for when buying an HDR-capable display or Windows 11 PC:

  • AMD FreeSync Premium Pro

  • Dolby Vision

  • NVIDIA G-SYNC ULTIMATE

  • VESA DisplayHDR - DisplayHDR certification has multiple tiers—a higher number indicates a higher tier. Here are some tips for getting the best experience:

    • Look for the latest DisplayHDR certification—version 1.1 certified displays.

    • Look for displays that meet the DisplayHDR 500 or higher tiers.

If you go to Settings > System > Display > Advanced display and your display doesn’t show as certified (it says Not found next to HDR certification), it might be because it doesn’t have an HDR certification, or the display manufacturer hasn’t published HDR certification information for your display. To find out if your display is HDR certified, visit the device manufacturer’s website.

Windows 11 PC

Your Windows 11 device needs to have an integrated graphics card that supports PlayReady hardware digital rights management (for protected HDR content), and it must have the required codecs installed for 10-bit video decoding. Devices using modern processors support this capability. Some codecs might already be installed on your PC. Here are the common codecs that are required to play HDR video:

  • HEVC. You’ll need this codec and a premium subscription to play HDR video on Netflix. To determine if this codec is installed, open Settings, select Apps > Apps & features, then search for video extension. If this codec isn’t installed, you can download it from the Microsoft Store —HEVC Video Extensions.

  • VP9. You’ll need this codec to play HDR video on YouTube. To determine if this codec is already installed, open the Microsoft Store app, and search for it there—VP9 Video Extensions.

  • AV1. To determine if this codec is already installed, open the Microsoft Store app, and search for it there—AV1 Video Extension.

We also recommend that you have the latest graphics drivers (WDDM) installed on your Windows PC. To get the latest drivers, go to Settings  > Windows Updates > Advanced options > Optional updates, or check your PC manufacturer's website.

Stream HDR video on Windows

Built-in displays

To play streaming high dynamic range (HDR) video in Windows 10 (version 1803 or later), the built-in display for your laptop, tablet, or 2-in-1 PC needs to support HDR. To find the specifications for a specific laptop or tablet, visit the device manufacturer’s website.

Here are the requirements for versions 1803 or later:

  • The built-in display needs to have a resolution of 1080p or more, and a recommended max brightness of 300 nits or more.

  • The Windows 10 device needs to have an integrated graphics card that supports PlayReady hardware digital rights management (for protected HDR content), and it must have the required codecs installed for 10-bit video decoding. Devices using modern processors support this capability. Common codecs required for this include HEVC, AV1, and VP9, which can be obtained from the Microsoft Store: HEVC Video Extensions, VP9 Video Extensions, AV1 Video Extension.

Here are the requirements for versions 1709 or later:

  • The built-in display needs to let you have control over the backlight, and needs to have a max brightness of 300 nits or more.

  • The Windows 10 device needs to have an integrated graphics card that supports PlayReady hardware digital rights management (for protected HDR content), and it must have the required codecs installed for 10-bit video decoding. Devices using modern processors support this capability. Common codecs required for this include HEVC, AV1, and VP9, which can be obtained from the Microsoft Store: HEVC Video Extensions, VP9 Video Extensions, AV1 Video Extension.

  • The Windows 10 device manufacturer needs to have enabled HDR on the device.

Note: If the Stream HDR video switch was off when you upgraded from version 1809 to version 1903 or later, the Stream HDR video switch won't enable, preventing you from streaming high-dynamic-range (HDR) videos. To work around this issue, see KB4512062, "Stream HDR video" can't be enabled when switched off before upgrading to Windows 10, version 1903 or later.

External displays

To play streaming high dynamic range (HDR) video in Windows 10, your external display and Windows 10 PC need to support HDR. To find the specifications for a specific PC or external display, visit the device manufacturer’s website. Here are the requirements:

  • The HDR display or TV must support HDR10, and DisplayPort 1.4 or HDMI 2.0 or higher. We recommend displays that are DisplayHDR certified.

  • The Windows 10 device needs to have a graphics card that supports PlayReady digital rights management (for protected HDR content), and it must have the required codecs installed for 10-bit video decoding. Devices using modern processors support this capability. Common codecs required for this include HEVC, AV1, and VP9 codecs, which can be obtained from the Microsoft Store: HEVC Video Extensions, VP9 Video Extensions, AV1 Video Extension.

  • We recommend that you have the latest graphics drivers (WDDM) installed on your Windows 10 PC. To get the latest drivers, go to Windows Update in Settings, or check your PC manufacturer's website.

Stream HDR video on Windows

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