HDR is a great feature, but it's not well - tuned on the Nintendo Switch 2.

I believe you guys already know that we got our hands on Nintendo's Switch 2 (hereinafter referred to as NS2) not long ago. At that time, we mainly talked about some upgrades and experiences of the console itself.

However, recently when Tony connected the NS2 to the TV and experienced the docked mode, he was shocked by Nintendo's "amazing" HDR settings...

As a matter of fact, Sony's PS5 and Microsoft's Xbox have supported HDR for a long time, while Nintendo didn't officially add 4K HDR signal output for the dock until the NS2.

Not only is it troublesome to adjust the HDR on the NS2, but also the in - game visual experience after adjustment doesn't seem right...

I'm not the only one who encountered this problem. Other NS2 users online have also reported similar issues.

Logically speaking, HDR TVs are very common nowadays. Why did the HDR on the NS2 turn out to be a failure?

After watching the analysis of YouTuber HDTVTest, I found that it's related to the rather chaotic HDR standards themselves, but Nintendo should take most of the blame.

To make it easier for you to understand, Tony needs to explain first why the HDR in games is more likely to fail?

To put it simply, the HDR in videos is "static", while the HDR in games is "dynamic".

Take an HDR video as an example. Apart from the video content data, there is also a section of data related to HDR, such as the maximum brightness, minimum brightness, color space, etc. of this video. We call this data "metadata".

Since the video is pre - made, the creator can know the specific values of these parameters during production and write them into the metadata. When playing an HDR video, the video software will load the metadata and send it to the display device such as a TV or monitor.

As we all know, the maximum brightness that a screen can achieve is directly proportional to the price of the screen itself. Most of the TVs and monitors we use can only reach a maximum brightness of 1000 nits at most.

However, the brightness data marked for very bright objects such as the sun in an HDR video far exceeds 1000 nits.

So the TV will remap the brightness according to the brightness provided in the metadata and its own capabilities to achieve HDR display within its own limits. This operation is called Tone Mapping.

But games are different. Since each frame of a game is generated in real - time, the TV or monitor cannot determine the actual brightness data of this frame.

Since the display end cannot obtain the brightness information, how can we avoid the failure of game HDR? At this time, the HDR adjustment needs to be carried out through the console to determine the upper and lower limits of the brightness that the TV can display.

Take the PS5 as an example. Turn on the PS5 and enter the HDR adjustment option. Then we can adjust the brightness in three different screens to achieve the goal of "making certain elements just disappear".

What are adjusted in these three screens? First, the first screen is an all - white screen, which is used to adjust and determine the Global Maximum Brightness (MaxTML) of the TV.

This brightness refers to the brightness when there are a large number of high - brightness elements in the scene.

For example, in a racing game, the bright sky on the track. In this scenario, if the global maximum brightness value exceeds the range that the TV can handle, overexposure will occur, making it hard to see clearly; while if the value is too low, it will feel not bright enough.

The second screen is mostly black with a small white area in the middle. It is used to determine the Window Peak Brightness (MaxTML) of the TV.

A common example is how bright the street lights at night should be. Similar to the global maximum brightness, if the window peak brightness value is too large, it will also cause the elements to be overexposed, resulting in the loss of details.

The third screen is all - black, which is used to determine the Minimum Brightness (MinTML) that the TV can handle.

That is, in the scene, how bright the darkest part needs to be for the player to see. Similar to the window peak brightness, when the minimum brightness is too low, the details in the dark areas of the scene will be lost.

Through these parameters, a brightness range can be defined. In this way, the game console can fit a new Mapping Curve according to this brightness range. With this curve, the game console can know the upper and lower limits of the display device, so that details can be clearly seen when both bright and dark elements are displayed at the same time.

However, there are only two interfaces for HDR adjustment on the NS2. The first interface is similar to the second interface on the PS5, which is used to confirm the window peak brightness. That is, elements like the sun in the picture, which are small in range but high in brightness.

Although it looks similar, it may take dozens of presses to make the sun on the right disappear. What's going on?

According to the test of blogger HDTVTest, this setting on the NS2 is adjusted in increments of 10 nits. That is to say, assuming the peak maximum brightness of your TV is 1000 nits, you may need to click nearly 100 times from the darkest to the brightest. While a similar operation on the PS5 may only require 15 clicks.

Seriously, clicking dozens of times is so inhumane.

The second interface is a picture, and you can slide the slider left and right to adjust the overall brightness of the picture.

Yes, you heard it right. It is really just a picture. And the slider below actually only adjusts the overall visual experience of the picture.

What about the third interface? Sorry, Nintendo doesn't have it. That is to say, there is no way to determine the minimum brightness on the NS2 console.

These two adjustments can't achieve what the PS5 can do, which is to fit a suitable brightness curve through multiple parameters. It's like a jigsaw puzzle missing a few pieces. Without all the pieces, it's even more impossible to complete the puzzle. The same principle applies to the NS2.

Since the fitting is inaccurate, it's even harder to say what the actual picture effect will be. A slight wrong adjustment may lead to a poor visual experience of the picture.

So how exactly can we adjust the HDR on the NS2 well? Blogger HDTVTest provided a method. But the premise of this method is that the TV supports HGIG. So - called HGIG is actually a standard proposed by the HDR Gaming Interest Group.

Tony will first explain how the game console processes the video signal and transmits it to the TV for output.

This process is a bit like cooking. The game console, like a chef, needs to adjust the amount of seasonings according to the situation of the ingredients (the picture) to present the correct picture. And the Tone Mapping of the TV itself is a bit like a "pre - made seasoning packet".

Without HGIG, it's like when the chef is cooking, after adding seasonings, he also adds a seasoning packet. When you add both seasonings and a seasoning packet, it's Secondary Mapping. As a result, what the chef originally intended to make sweet and sour may turn out to be salty because of the seasoning packet.

The resulting taste will inevitably be strange. Corresponding to the TV, it means the game picture is distorted.

The function of HGIG is equivalent to not using the seasoning packet and directly serving the finished dish according to the taste adjusted by the chef (the game console). In this way, secondary mapping is avoided, and the accurate picture expected by the game can be obtained.

Image source: @hdtvtest

Although HGIG can solve the problem, since it is not a mandatory standard, only a few TVs such as those from LG and Samsung provide the HGIG option. You need to confirm with the merchant whether your TV supports HGIG.

So if your TV has an option related to HGIG, you can enable HGIG and then adjust according to the following table based on the brightness of your TV. In this way, the difference in subjective feelings can be avoided.