Enable HDR Video Streaming on Windows 11: A Complete Guide

This article explains how to turn on or off the “Allow HDR video streaming even when HDR is off” feature in Windows 11.

HDR (High Dynamic Range) enhances your screen’s contrast and color accuracy, creating a more vibrant and realistic viewing experience. When HDR is enabled, compatible content can be displayed with a wider range of brightness and color, improving visual quality.

Beginning with Windows 11 build 27686.1000, a new option to allow HDR video streaming even when HDR is off was added under Settings > System > Display > HDR. You can turn this feature on or off using the Windows Settings or Registry Editor.

Turn on or off the “Allow HDR video streaming even when HDR is off” feature

As mentioned, users can enable or disable the “Allow HDR video streaming even when HDR is off” feature in Windows 11.

Here’s how to do it.

First, open the Windows Settings app.

You can do that by clicking on the Start menu and selecting Settings. Or press the keyboard shortcut (Windows key + I) to launch the Settings app.

When the Setting app opens, click the System button on the left.

On the right, select the Display tile to expand it.

Click the HDR tile on the System > Display settings pane to expand it.

Under HDR, check or uncheck the box next to “Allow HDR video streaming even when HDR is off” to enable or disable this feature.

You can close the Settings app when you are done.

Turn on or off Allow HDR video streaming even when HDR is off using the Windows Registry Editor

Another way to enable or disable this feature is to use the Windows Registry editor.

First, open the Windows Registry and navigate to the folder key path below.

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\VideoSettings

Next, double-click these two (REG_DWORD) “EnableHDRForPlayback” names on the VideoSettings key’s right pane to open it.

Then, enter a value 1 to enable the “Allow HDR video streaming even when HDR is off” feature.

Enter 0 to turn it off.

If you do not see the “EnableHDRForPlayback” item, right-click a blank area and create a new DWORD (32-bit) registry item.

Then, enter 1 or 0 to enable or disable it.

Save your changes and restart your computer.

That should do it!

Conclusion:

• Enabling HDR (High Dynamic Range) enhances the visual quality of compatible content on Windows 11, offering a more vibrant and realistic viewing experience.
• With the introduction of the “Allow HDR video streaming even when HDR is off” feature, users now have the flexibility to enable or disable HDR video streaming, providing a customizable viewing experience.
• The feature can be toggled on or off through the Windows Settings app or by modifying the Windows Registry, offering users multiple methods to control HDR video streaming based on their preferences.
• Whether using the Windows Settings app or the Windows Registry, users can easily manage the “Allow HDR video streaming even when HDR is off” feature to tailor their viewing experience to their liking.