How to Turn On or Off HDR Video Streaming in Windows 11

Managing HDR (high dynamic range) video streaming on Windows 11 lets your display show brighter highlights and deeper shadows simultaneously.

What is HDR Video?

HDR content offers better brightness and color capabilities compared to traditional content (sometimes called standard dynamic range [SDR] content). Standard video formats usually force a compromise, capturing either bright windows or dark shadows without showing detail in both areas at once.

HDR displays reproduce a wider spectrum of color and light while preserving details across extreme tones. Visuals appear far more vivid and distinct. Furthermore, bright regions shine with greater intensity while dark sections deepen without clipping shadow details.

What You Need

Playback requires a Windows PC equipped with a display that’s optimized for HDR video alongside active HDR streaming settings.

Important Things to Know

Display compatibility: Hardware limitations mean not every panel supports HDR video natively. Moving playback to a non-compatible display automatically falls back to standard dynamic range (SDR) streams once new content begins. Restarting the video application forces immediate playback on the target HDR display.

Battery saver mode: Battery saver impact: Windows dims your display to save power, which interferes with HDR playback; disabling Lower screen brightness when using battery saver restores peak illumination. Maintaining peak brightness is mandatory for proper high dynamic range rendering.

Battery power: HDR playback draws substantial power, disabling default HDR streaming while operating on battery. Navigate to Settings > Display > HDR or Use HDR to override this behavior. Choose Battery options, then check the Allow streaming HDR video on battery check box or the Allow HDR games, videos, and apps on battery check box.

Full screen required: Video players running in windowed modes cannot output HDR streams.

How to Turn On or Off HDR Video Streaming

1. Open Settings by pressing Win+I.
2. Click on System on the left side, and then click on Display on the right side.
   

    Open Display settings

3. Click on HDR or Use HDR on the right side.
4. If you have multiple displays connected to your PC, choose the HDR-capable display you want to apply this to in the Select a display to view or change its settings drop-down menu.
5. Turn On (default) or Off HDR video streaming (if available) for what you want.
6. You can now close Settings if you like.

Summary

HDR video streaming transforms standard footage with richer color depth and dynamic lighting. Activating this capability requires compatible hardware and an active toggle inside system settings. Access Settings, proceed to System > Display > HDR, and enable the feature for the target monitor. High dynamic range playback consumes extra battery resources and requires full-screen application windows to function correctly. Multi-monitor setups require assigning media playback to the designated HDR-compatible display.