HDR broke on xbox since wolfhunter? EDIT: Patch coming early october

Indigomaterie

It is obvious that the team responsible for the game engine broke HDR with the latest build.
It is somehow still enabled but the game is not delivering the full color spectrum your tv is expecting, hence looking washed out.

Judging from my personal working experience the current situation is not uncommon, but was handled very poorly by the company.

When implementing a new software build, you are of course testing everything before going live.
It probably was clear very soon, that with this build, everything but HDR on consoles was working as expected, so the question came up, what to do.
Delay the patch work on it and fix it, or go live and hope nobody recognizes it.
Of course this decision depends on, if your team has an idea where to look at, so you can give a clear timeframe when the problem is fixed to your manager.
This was probably not the case so they went with the second alternative.

What makes me really sad is the fact, that the company is even forcing its employess to lie about it, as seen in some of the official comments. ("Oh i forgot to put the changes in the patch notes" ...sure ).
I guess the better alternative might have been, to disable HDR on consoles until they come up with a solution and an official honest statement. (Maybe with some dyes as compensation? )

What are your thoughts?

happyhughes2001

Indigomaterie wrote: »

It is obvious that the team responsible for the game engine broke HDR with the latest build.
It is somehow still enabled but the game is not delivering the full color spectrum your tv is expecting, hence looking washed out.

Judging from my personal working experience the current situation is not uncommon, but was handled very poorly by the company.

When implementing a new software build, you are of course testing everything before going live.
It probably was clear very soon, that with this build, everything but HDR on consoles was working as expected, so the question came up, what to do.
Delay the patch work on it and fix it, or go live and hope nobody recognizes it.
Of course this decision depends on, if your team has an idea where to look at, so you can give a clear timeframe when the problem is fixed to your manager.
This was probably not the case so they went with the second alternative.

What makes me really sad is the fact, that the company is even forcing its employess to lie about it, as seen in some of the official comments. ("Oh i forgot to put the changes in the patch notes" ...sure ).
I guess the better alternative might have been, to disable HDR on consoles until they come up with a solution and an official honest statement. (Maybe with some dyes as compensation? )

What are your thoughts?

That seems plausible.

It just seems one thing after another.

It’s very hard to play the game post patch when you are used to it looking much better before the broken HDR.

Beardimus

A roll back on the change while they decide what to do in a more controlled manner would be the most logical thing to do.

lagrue

Audrena wrote: »

lagrue wrote: »

Maintenance and Patches aren't the same thing.... should have never expected a fix with a maintenance.

I could swear someone said there was meant to be an incremental patch for consoles this week, though. Which would have been the perfect opportunity to revert the HDR change.

Well if somebody genuinely said that, they should perhaps check the huge patch notes section on the forum before starting rumours. Visiting there it will be clearly revealed that we on consoles did not get a patch and have not had one since Wolfhunter dropped.

dotme

Beardimus wrote: »

A roll back on the change while they decide what to do in a more controlled manner would be the most logical thing to do.

Yes. Probably won't happen though.

ZOS_MattFiror wrote: »

What we need to do is step back, look at our options, and figure out what is the best thing to do that makes the highest number of players happy. I’m not 100% sure what this is yet, but hang tight and we’ll let you know.

Still looking at options? Why do I think that in a dark back room somewhere, number-crunchers are figuring out the cost of rollback/further fixes vs the subscribers lost as a result of the change... lol

I'm in about $700 on ESO (Subs, crowns, DLCs purchased outright etc) and I'm still an ESO+ subscriber, paying $15/month to look at a washed-out world. Not sure I can justify that much longer. We've had a lot of posts here from players who can't get that "HDR Brightness" slider to do anything at all so I'm guessing that's broken too.

ZOS_MattFiror wrote: »

..if we change it back, there will be players that like the new way better than the old. And they will be correct, just as are the ones who like the old way – this is subjective.

@ZOS_MattFiror - Yes, it's subjective. So perhaps you could give HDR users the ability to adjust the game's intensity to meet their "subjective" preferences?

And maybe hook an HDR TV up to a PS4 Pro sometime soon and tell us what you see when moving that HDR Brightness slider from 0% to 100%? I'm seriously really curious now as to what that mystery control is supposed to actually do. It does nothing at all for me.

I'd like my sunsets back. I want the zones to live up to the expectations set by the load screens. And I'd like to see this resolved quickly, not months from now. Thanks for working on this for us

Davor

Feanor wrote: »

Davor wrote: »

I am curious when I read a thread, and a new message come the title of the thread is bolded. Here I am seeing it greyed out as if I read it. So how come it's still greyed out when new messages are posted in this thread?

That’s an old bug in the forum software. Whenever posts get deleted the post counter doesn’t seem to get updated accordingly, and thus you won’t see the thread being pushed back to the top and bolded until the post count again reaches the number the counter was at before the posts got deleted.

At least that’s my observation over the years.

Thank you for the comment. I can throw my tin foil hat off then. So it's a known bug. That is good at least to not place blame on censorship that I implied. Glad I am wrong with my tin foil hat thinking.

Davor

Indigomaterie wrote: »

It is obvious that the team responsible for the game engine broke HDR with the latest build.
It is somehow still enabled but the game is not delivering the full color spectrum your tv is expecting, hence looking washed out.

Judging from my personal working experience the current situation is not uncommon, but was handled very poorly by the company.

When implementing a new software build, you are of course testing everything before going live.
It probably was clear very soon, that with this build, everything but HDR on consoles was working as expected, so the question came up, what to do.
Delay the patch work on it and fix it, or go live and hope nobody recognizes it.
Of course this decision depends on, if your team has an idea where to look at, so you can give a clear timeframe when the problem is fixed to your manager.
This was probably not the case so they went with the second alternative.

What makes me really sad is the fact, that the company is even forcing its employess to lie about it, as seen in some of the official comments. ("Oh i forgot to put the changes in the patch notes" ...sure ).
I guess the better alternative might have been, to disable HDR on consoles until they come up with a solution and an official honest statement. (Maybe with some dyes as compensation? )

What are your thoughts?

My thoughts. I say you can be correct on how it was released. I would say nobody is lying though. We are all human and mistakes happen. The company while quiet for a long time didn't sweep this under the rug. I can forgive mistakes. While I don't have an HDR TV or monitor, I wish they would have turned on HDR back on for people who want it back on. After all anyone who doesn't want it on can turn it off. Am I correct there or no?

happyhughes2001

Davor wrote: »

Indigomaterie wrote: »

It is obvious that the team responsible for the game engine broke HDR with the latest build.
It is somehow still enabled but the game is not delivering the full color spectrum your tv is expecting, hence looking washed out.

Judging from my personal working experience the current situation is not uncommon, but was handled very poorly by the company.

When implementing a new software build, you are of course testing everything before going live.
It probably was clear very soon, that with this build, everything but HDR on consoles was working as expected, so the question came up, what to do.
Delay the patch work on it and fix it, or go live and hope nobody recognizes it.
Of course this decision depends on, if your team has an idea where to look at, so you can give a clear timeframe when the problem is fixed to your manager.
This was probably not the case so they went with the second alternative.

What makes me really sad is the fact, that the company is even forcing its employess to lie about it, as seen in some of the official comments. ("Oh i forgot to put the changes in the patch notes" ...sure ).
I guess the better alternative might have been, to disable HDR on consoles until they come up with a solution and an official honest statement. (Maybe with some dyes as compensation? )

What are your thoughts?

My thoughts. I say you can be correct on how it was released. I would say nobody is lying though. We are all human and mistakes happen. The company while quiet for a long time didn't sweep this under the rug. I can forgive mistakes. While I don't have an HDR TV or monitor, I wish they would have turned on HDR back on for people who want it back on. After all anyone who doesn't want it on can turn it off. Am I correct there or no?

This would be the best option imo.

Revert back to pre update. Work on small changes over time.

Options are good, people who like the HDR can have it. People who don’t can turn it off.

Everybody wins.

swirve

My expectations are that ZoS will not revert back to the superior HDR previously and will just try to fob people off with lame excuses.

Davor

swirve wrote: »

My expectations are that ZoS will not revert back to the superior HDR previously and will just try to fob people off with lame excuses.

Well if true, then they better change their advertisement that it's HDR compatible.

happyhughes2001

Davor wrote: »

swirve wrote: »

My expectations are that ZoS will not revert back to the superior HDR previously and will just try to fob people off with lame excuses.

Well if true, then they better change their advertisement that it's HDR compatible.

I have asked them about this. Surely false advertising?

Krayl

At this point i just have to write down my settings when I play ESO and when I don't so i can change them. Unfortunately when my tv goes into HDR mode when i have my PS4 up, that HDR profile is only for the console and there's no way to 'save' them.

So pretty much when I play ESO after playing another game or vice versa I have to go manually change my settings. . .since other game developers seem to know what they are doing. Even with the changed settings it doesn't look as good as pre-WH and my icons and load screens look like freakin' cartoons but hey at least i can tell what color effects are supposed to be.

Thanks for the convenience, ZOS!

swirve

Davor wrote: »

swirve wrote: »

My expectations are that ZoS will not revert back to the superior HDR previously and will just try to fob people off with lame excuses.

Well if true, then they better change their advertisement that it's HDR compatible.

Its still HDR compatible, its just a bad job.

Its like advertising an online game which has a great server set-up then downgrading it... it wouldnt breach advertising rules.

Feanor

swirve wrote: »

Davor wrote: »

swirve wrote: »

My expectations are that ZoS will not revert back to the superior HDR previously and will just try to fob people off with lame excuses.

Well if true, then they better change their advertisement that it's HDR compatible.

Its still HDR compatible, its just a bad job.

Its like advertising an online game which has a great server set-up then downgrading it... it wouldnt breach advertising rules.

That’s a bit like buying a sports car and then finding out it only can go 30 mph. You can still drive it, and it gets the job done for most purposes, but I’d feel disappointed

Beardimus

Feanor wrote: »

swirve wrote: »

Davor wrote: »

swirve wrote: »

My expectations are that ZoS will not revert back to the superior HDR previously and will just try to fob people off with lame excuses.

Well if true, then they better change their advertisement that it's HDR compatible.

Its still HDR compatible, its just a bad job.

Its like advertising an online game which has a great server set-up then downgrading it... it wouldnt breach advertising rules.

That’s a bit like buying a sports car and then finding out it only can go 30 mph. You can still drive it, and it gets the job done for most purposes, but I’d feel disappointed

Id say it's more akin to buying a sports car that is fast. Then you take it in for a service and they update it to only go 30mph.

You know what it could do, then it can't.

dotme

ecconova wrote: »

The entire world of Tamriel has more detail and depth since the change. I am seeing detail in so many things the over saturated colors blocked. The whole world seems more dimensional....I hate to say it because I was so against it but ZeniMazx was right about the change, at least on my TV.

Oh man, I just hate it when I'm wrong. Spent 2 hours last night playing with settings and found the results pretty amazing.

I'm still very much in favor of end-user preferences/more control when it comes to HDR, and I'd especially like to see about a 5% increase in color saturation, but I'm slowly falling in love with the new look. For those here who just can't get used to the change, it's clearly going to be this way for a while so I'd encourage you to fiddle until you find a happy place.

What works for me won't work for everyone of course, but this is what I did: First, I simply set my TV back to the same settings that I use for other games and activities. I own a Samsung and pretty much followed the recommendations for my set at rtings.com

Then, although it seemed counter-intuitive, I adjusted the in-game brightness (Not that useless HDR Brightness, the main brightness with the three logos) and set it at about 90%. That's not a typo - I cranked that sucker. This goes against the on-screen instructions, which state the middle logo should be "barely visible" - On my setup, all three logos are clearly visible. I left the HDR Brightness slider at 50% because it doesn't do anything anyway.

The results were spectacular. I had to let my TV adjust its backlight using the ambient sensor (Eco sensor on Samsung TVs) so my retinas didn't get fried when there's low light in the room, but the game looked sharp and the colors were improved considerably. For the first time since the last update, the world put a smile on my face again.

That 3-logo brightness slider isn't like a TV brightness control - It seems to boost color and contrast too, making for a more defined image. And in my case it didn't wash out the shadows at all. It enhanced them. The nights were still totally dark (unless it was cloudy instead of clear) and I was blown away.



Anyway, I'm sure this won't work for everyone but I'm actually liking the new HDR after making the change, and my TV is basically running a standard config again - meaning I don't have to change its settings when playing other games.

If anyone here has a Samsung and wants my settings just to play around with, message me.

happyhughes2001

Beardimus wrote: »

Feanor wrote: »

swirve wrote: »

Davor wrote: »

swirve wrote: »

My expectations are that ZoS will not revert back to the superior HDR previously and will just try to fob people off with lame excuses.

Well if true, then they better change their advertisement that it's HDR compatible.

Its still HDR compatible, its just a bad job.

Its like advertising an online game which has a great server set-up then downgrading it... it wouldnt breach advertising rules.

That’s a bit like buying a sports car and then finding out it only can go 30 mph. You can still drive it, and it gets the job done for most purposes, but I’d feel disappointed

Id say it's more akin to buying a sports car that is fast. Then you take it in for a service and they update it to only go 30mph.

You know what it could do, then it can't.

Yep it’s a serious downgrade.

happyhughes2001

Beardimus wrote: »

A roll back on the change while they decide what to do in a more controlled manner would be the most logical thing to do.

I still hope this happens.

swirve

happyhughes2001 wrote: »

Beardimus wrote: »

A roll back on the change while they decide what to do in a more controlled manner would be the most logical thing to do.

I still hope this happens.

I think we have more chance of them fixing cyrodil lag foe good than reverting to the better HDR that was implemented before they decided to break it and hope no-one would notice or care.

Beardimus

Was keen on the Skin with the IC DLC pack as a mate has it. But it doesn't look good. So dull compared to previous setting.

Hard to want to buy anything without knowing how it will look.

Support are doing refunds so I'm guessing they getting enough complaints, might help our case.

Beardimus

dotme wrote: »

ecconova wrote: »

The entire world of Tamriel has more detail and depth since the change. I am seeing detail in so many things the over saturated colors blocked. The whole world seems more dimensional....I hate to say it because I was so against it but ZeniMazx was right about the change, at least on my TV.

Oh man, I just hate it when I'm wrong. Spent 2 hours last night playing with settings and found the results pretty amazing.

I'm still very much in favor of end-user preferences/more control when it comes to HDR, and I'd especially like to see about a 5% increase in color saturation, but I'm slowly falling in love with the new look. For those here who just can't get used to the change, it's clearly going to be this way for a while so I'd encourage you to fiddle until you find a happy place.

What works for me won't work for everyone of course, but this is what I did: First, I simply set my TV back to the same settings that I use for other games and activities. I own a Samsung and pretty much followed the recommendations for my set at rtings.com

Then, although it seemed counter-intuitive, I adjusted the in-game brightness (Not that useless HDR Brightness, the main brightness with the three logos) and set it at about 90%. That's not a typo - I cranked that sucker. This goes against the on-screen instructions, which state the middle logo should be "barely visible" - On my setup, all three logos are clearly visible. I left the HDR Brightness slider at 50% because it doesn't do anything anyway.

The results were spectacular. I had to let my TV adjust its backlight using the ambient sensor (Eco sensor on Samsung TVs) so my retinas didn't get fried when there's low light in the room, but the game looked sharp and the colors were improved considerably. For the first time since the last update, the world put a smile on my face again.

That 3-logo brightness slider isn't like a TV brightness control - It seems to boost color and contrast too, making for a more defined image. And in my case it didn't wash out the shadows at all. It enhanced them. The nights were still totally dark (unless it was cloudy instead of clear) and I was blown away.



Anyway, I'm sure this won't work for everyone but I'm actually liking the new HDR after making the change, and my TV is basically running a standard config again - meaning I don't have to change its settings when playing other games.

If anyone here has a Samsung and wants my settings just to play around with, message me.

Was your TV colour calibrated before? As mine was, professionally and ESO colours before looked epic.

If i change my settings now to make ESO look good ill be breaking them for other content.

Glad you found a solution that works for you, I'm sure many folks TV are out the box and tweaking will help

Regardless, its not true HDR. It's adapting the colours of your TV.

happyhughes2001

Beardimus wrote: »

dotme wrote: »

ecconova wrote: »

The entire world of Tamriel has more detail and depth since the change. I am seeing detail in so many things the over saturated colors blocked. The whole world seems more dimensional....I hate to say it because I was so against it but ZeniMazx was right about the change, at least on my TV.

Oh man, I just hate it when I'm wrong. Spent 2 hours last night playing with settings and found the results pretty amazing.

I'm still very much in favor of end-user preferences/more control when it comes to HDR, and I'd especially like to see about a 5% increase in color saturation, but I'm slowly falling in love with the new look. For those here who just can't get used to the change, it's clearly going to be this way for a while so I'd encourage you to fiddle until you find a happy place.

What works for me won't work for everyone of course, but this is what I did: First, I simply set my TV back to the same settings that I use for other games and activities. I own a Samsung and pretty much followed the recommendations for my set at rtings.com

Then, although it seemed counter-intuitive, I adjusted the in-game brightness (Not that useless HDR Brightness, the main brightness with the three logos) and set it at about 90%. That's not a typo - I cranked that sucker. This goes against the on-screen instructions, which state the middle logo should be "barely visible" - On my setup, all three logos are clearly visible. I left the HDR Brightness slider at 50% because it doesn't do anything anyway.

The results were spectacular. I had to let my TV adjust its backlight using the ambient sensor (Eco sensor on Samsung TVs) so my retinas didn't get fried when there's low light in the room, but the game looked sharp and the colors were improved considerably. For the first time since the last update, the world put a smile on my face again.

That 3-logo brightness slider isn't like a TV brightness control - It seems to boost color and contrast too, making for a more defined image. And in my case it didn't wash out the shadows at all. It enhanced them. The nights were still totally dark (unless it was cloudy instead of clear) and I was blown away.



Anyway, I'm sure this won't work for everyone but I'm actually liking the new HDR after making the change, and my TV is basically running a standard config again - meaning I don't have to change its settings when playing other games.

If anyone here has a Samsung and wants my settings just to play around with, message me.

Was your TV colour calibrated before? As mine was, professionally and ESO colours before looked epic.

If i change my settings now to make ESO look good ill be breaking them for other content.

Glad you found a solution that works for you, I'm sure many folks TV are out the box and tweaking will help

Regardless, its not true HDR. It's adapting the colours of your TV.

I also had my tv professionally calibrated.

One of the biggest disappointments for me since the broken HDR is how poorly outfits/mounts/housing looks in comparison to pre update.

@ZOS_MattFiror is there a timeframe on decision on if/when it will be fixed.

Still hoping it will be reverted to pre update.

madchuska83

This little fiasco has actually caused a positive change for me. I've finally broken into my backlog of games. Been playing Assassin's Creed Origins for the last week or so. Absolutely stunning game in 4K HDR(and I didn't have to recalibrate my TV). Next up is Far Cry 5, then a plethora of new titles releasing in the next couple of months.

Thank you ZO$ for breaking my ESO addiction. It was the only game I played for nearly 2 years. Now that you've removed the beauty from your game I'm free to pursue other adventures.

Beardimus

madchuska83 wrote: »

This little fiasco has actually caused a positive change for me. I've finally broken into my backlog of games. Been playing Assassin's Creed Origins for the last week or so. Absolutely stunning game in 4K HDR(and I didn't have to recalibrate my TV). Next up is Far Cry 5, then a plethora of new titles releasing in the next couple of months.

Thank you ZO$ for breaking my ESO addiction. It was the only game I played for nearly 2 years. Now that you've removed the beauty from your game I'm free to pursue other adventures.

Actually thats an interesting point, I really only play ESO. So the change is huge for me.

How does ESO with 4K HDR / ESO without 4K HDR look compared to other decent HDR games? As actually thats a real measure.

I get creative teams go in differing routes, but if our ols ESO HDR is similar to other games then we know it was in the ballpark.

dotme

Beardimus wrote: »

Was your TV colour calibrated before? As mine was, professionally and ESO colours before looked epic.

If i change my settings now to make ESO look good ill be breaking them for other content.

Understood. I'm not suggesting changing anything on your TV.

I can't get the big color back from pre-update, but I was able to get the game to look a lot better by going into ESO Options -> Video -> Brightness and moving that slider (The screen with the three logos) until all three logos were very visible.

That's all I did. Even though I expected that to further wash out the colors, it did the opposite - I got brighter colors, more definition in the game world, and my TV managed the shadows and shades perfectly (see my screenshot above - that's with the in-game brightness set to 90%)

YMMV of course - But for me I was able to make the game a lot prettier again by ONLY changing the in-game brightness control. No, it's not pre-update pretty, but it's still a big improvement over the grey washed-out world I had before making this one change.

Beardimus

dotme wrote: »

Beardimus wrote: »

Was your TV colour calibrated before? As mine was, professionally and ESO colours before looked epic.

If i change my settings now to make ESO look good ill be breaking them for other content.

Understood. I'm not suggesting changing anything on your TV.

I can't get the big color back from pre-update, but I was able to get the game to look a lot better by going into ESO Options -> Video -> Brightness and moving that slider (The screen with the three logos) until all three logos were very visible.

That's all I did. Even though I expected that to further wash out the colors, it did the opposite - I got brighter colors, more definition in the game world, and my TV managed the shadows and shades perfectly (see my screenshot above - that's with the in-game brightness set to 90%)

YMMV of course - But for me I was able to make the game a lot prettier again by ONLY changing the in-game brightness control. No, it's not pre-update pretty, but it's still a big improvement over the grey washed-out world I had before making this one change.

Cheers @dotme so a work around rather than a fix but anything that improves how bad it looks is a cool suggestion till we here more

JahneeO

dotme wrote: »

JahneeO wrote: »

I'd like to see this comparison at the same time of day

Well, last night I got lucky. Here ya go...




Now granted, beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I prefer vegetation and lighting that pops a little. We lost that with the update, and it's such a shame. The least they could have done is made the HDR Brightness slider function to allow us to choose our own intensity level. Instead, we were given a grey mess with no options. You can't increase the color on the TV without over-saturating maps, HUD and loadscreens. The transition from load screen to world feels like going from full color to sepia now.

Well, now that is a bit different. I don't understand how they could've just screwed up HDR tvs.

Turns out I am not running HDR, just a XboneX on a 4k UHD with an upscaler. My game still looks like your first photo.
The update didn't change anything for me. That does suck.

dotme

Beardimus wrote: »

Cheers @dotme so a work around rather than a fix but anything that improves how bad it looks is a cool suggestion till we here more

Yes - I'd call it a workaround. Something to make the game bearable until ZOS decides to either restore some of the game's former glory, or give us sliders to set our own intensity/depth/range prefs

GWINDHA1R

For me it worked! I also have a Samsung tv and it worked ! Dotme, if you read this; you are my hero.

dotme wrote: »

ecconova wrote: »

The entire world of Tamriel has more detail and depth since the change. I am seeing detail in so many things the over saturated colors blocked. The whole world seems more dimensional....I hate to say it because I was so against it but ZeniMazx was right about the change, at least on my TV.

Oh man, I just hate it when I'm wrong. Spent 2 hours last night playing with settings and found the results pretty amazing.

I'm still very much in favor of end-user preferences/more control when it comes to HDR, and I'd especially like to see about a 5% increase in color saturation, but I'm slowly falling in love with the new look. For those here who just can't get used to the change, it's clearly going to be this way for a while so I'd encourage you to fiddle until you find a happy place.

What works for me won't work for everyone of course, but this is what I did: First, I simply set my TV back to the same settings that I use for other games and activities. I own a Samsung and pretty much followed the recommendations for my set at rtings.com

Then, although it seemed counter-intuitive, I adjusted the in-game brightness (Not that useless HDR Brightness, the main brightness with the three logos) and set it at about 90%. That's not a typo - I cranked that sucker. This goes against the on-screen instructions, which state the middle logo should be "barely visible" - On my setup, all three logos are clearly visible. I left the HDR Brightness slider at 50% because it doesn't do anything anyway.

The results were spectacular. I had to let my TV adjust its backlight using the ambient sensor (Eco sensor on Samsung TVs) so my retinas didn't get fried when there's low light in the room, but the game looked sharp and the colors were improved considerably. For the first time since the last update, the world put a smile on my face again.

That 3-logo brightness slider isn't like a TV brightness control - It seems to boost color and contrast too, making for a more defined image. And in my case it didn't wash out the shadows at all. It enhanced them. The nights were still totally dark (unless it was cloudy instead of clear) and I was blown away.



Anyway, I'm sure this won't work for everyone but I'm actually liking the new HDR after making the change, and my TV is basically running a standard config again - meaning I don't have to change its settings when playing other games.

If anyone here has a Samsung and wants my settings just to play around with, message me.

msetten

dotme wrote: »

ecconova wrote: »

The entire world of Tamriel has more detail and depth since the change. I am seeing detail in so many things the over saturated colors blocked. The whole world seems more dimensional....I hate to say it because I was so against it but ZeniMazx was right about the change, at least on my TV.

Oh man, I just hate it when I'm wrong. Spent 2 hours last night playing with settings and found the results pretty amazing.

I'm still very much in favor of end-user preferences/more control when it comes to HDR, and I'd especially like to see about a 5% increase in color saturation, but I'm slowly falling in love with the new look. For those here who just can't get used to the change, it's clearly going to be this way for a while so I'd encourage you to fiddle until you find a happy place.

What works for me won't work for everyone of course, but this is what I did: First, I simply set my TV back to the same settings that I use for other games and activities. I own a Samsung and pretty much followed the recommendations for my set at rtings.com

Then, although it seemed counter-intuitive, I adjusted the in-game brightness (Not that useless HDR Brightness, the main brightness with the three logos) and set it at about 90%. That's not a typo - I cranked that sucker. This goes against the on-screen instructions, which state the middle logo should be "barely visible" - On my setup, all three logos are clearly visible. I left the HDR Brightness slider at 50% because it doesn't do anything anyway.

The results were spectacular. I had to let my TV adjust its backlight using the ambient sensor (Eco sensor on Samsung TVs) so my retinas didn't get fried when there's low light in the room, but the game looked sharp and the colors were improved considerably. For the first time since the last update, the world put a smile on my face again.

That 3-logo brightness slider isn't like a TV brightness control - It seems to boost color and contrast too, making for a more defined image. And in my case it didn't wash out the shadows at all. It enhanced them. The nights were still totally dark (unless it was cloudy instead of clear) and I was blown away.



Anyway, I'm sure this won't work for everyone but I'm actually liking the new HDR after making the change, and my TV is basically running a standard config again - meaning I don't have to change its settings when playing other games.

If anyone here has a Samsung and wants my settings just to play around with, message me.

I’m on a PS4 Pro with an LG OLED tv and changing the normal brightness also improved my image spectacular. Though I found that setting in such a way that left circle is just bearly visible (about 25%) gave the most beautiful image. Too high meant that darker places in dungeons became way too bright. At the setting I have now, there is a nice depth in contrast.