PS4 Pro HDR/New TV advice

BigReg79

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I've just bought a PS4 Pro and I'd now like upgrade to a 4K TV to do it justice.

I'm curious about HDR but the more I read, the more I realise I've probably got to spend at least a grand on a TV that supports it well. And it would have to be one that supports HDR10.

Is it worth bothering with HDR at all or should I just look for a dependable lower end 4K TV and leave it for now? Is there a great deal of HDR stuff on the PS4 that makes it worth having?

One other thing to consider is, if I do decide to upgrade to 4K Netflix, they use Dolby Vision so that would throw another spanner in the works.
 
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I have a mid-range LED that supports HDR10 and HLG. In my experience Netflix HDR is nothing to write home about, 4K Blu Rays look amazing with HDR and the PS4 was just so annoying in HDR I turned it off. It made a game a know very intimately look off and weird! The PS4 looks amazing without in my opinion.
 
I have a mid-range LED that supports HDR10 and HLG. In my experience Netflix HDR is nothing to write home about, 4K Blu Rays look amazing with HDR and the PS4 was just so annoying in HDR I turned it off. It made a game a know very intimately look off and weird! The PS4 looks amazing without in my opinion.
That will be because your tv isnt good enough to display hdr correctly, as the op states you need to spend around £1000 for a tv that meets the minimum spec needed to display hdr as it was intended.
A mid range lcd tv will probably look terrible with hdr as it's trying to get 1000/4000 nit content displaying on its 350-400 nit capable screen.
 
That will be because your tv isnt good enough to display hdr correctly, as the op states you need to spend around £1000 for a tv that meets the minimum spec needed to display hdr as it was intended.
A mid range lcd tv will probably look terrible with hdr as it's trying to get 1000/4000 nit content displaying on its 350-400 nit capable screen.
There is more to HDR than simply brightness.
 
There is more to HDR than simply brightness.
Yes rec2020, a tv needs to hit a minimum of 90 percent of dci-p3, most mid range tv's dont reach this, and hdr is mainly about how bright specular highlights go, if you have a TV that only reaches 350 nits it simply won't be showing hdr content anywhere near how it should be displayed. It's mainly about the dynamic range of a TV inbetween black and white, a mid range lcd doesn't go black enough or bright enough, or display the colours how they are meant to be shown.
 
Not true there are mid-range TVs that do a decent job with HDR and can go black or bright enough. I have one, if you're not seeing the results either it's a poor TV or it's not configured correctly, to blanket all Mid-range as not being capable is just wrong.
 
Not true there are mid-range TVs that do a decent job with HDR and can go black or bright enough. I have one, if you're not seeing the results either it's a poor TV or it's not configured correctly, to blanket all Mid-range as not being capable is just wrong.
There isn't one mid range tv that hits hdr premium minimum specification, even the Sony xf9005 doesn't meet hdr specification to display it correctly, and i would say that's either at the upper of mid range or lower upper range on the TV scale, which tv do you have?
If its the Samsung nu7400 then it doesn't even get close to doing hdr justice, it was below the Q6 model wise, and that doesn't hit hdr minimum specification.
You'd have needed the Q7 at the very least to see hdr as anywhere near intended for a 2018 Samsung panel .
 
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alot of cheaper HDR tvs are in fact 8 bit panels so despite being able to accept a 10 bit HDR signal they cannot display a 10 bit hdr signal. this is why with cheaper tvs you often dont see much difference with HDR
 
Definitely overkill, but it hits over a 1000 nits so should have no problem displaying hdr as intended.

But seriously, is a 6K 32" monitor good enough to play action games on a desktop at that viewing distance? Would it be nauseating?
 
But seriously, is a 6K 32" monitor good enough to play action games on a desktop at that viewing distance? Would it be nauseating?
If you can afford it and game up close i don't think it's too close, i use to game 8ft away from a 120 inch projector, and that was awesome, headshots were easy.
For that money though i would personally buy something bigger and better with an oled, you can get a 77 inch screen for similiar money.
 
If you can afford it and game up close i don't think it's too close, i use to game 8ft away from a 120 inch projector, and that was awesome, headshots were easy.
For that money though i would personally buy something bigger and better with an oled, you can get a 77 inch screen for similiar money.

No news on the refresh rate on that Apple Pro Display XDR screen. There is also the issue with how good is the upscaling
 
HDR is the bigger reason to upgrade over the resolution boost in my opinion. Gaming has a lot more fine lines than film though so it will make a difference having a 4k screen but depending on the size of the TV and distance you sit will make a big difference to how much of an upgrade the increased resolution makes.

Obviously budget makes a difference in the quality of the HDR and how much of the High Dynamic Range you actually get. Games can be up to 10000nits in brightness which obviously has a very high range and no TV can actually deliver that - yet. Therefore the content has to be limited to the TV's capability. Budget TV's too tend to be LED's with edge lit technology which can lead to blooming - a very bright Logo on a solid black background will be very difficult to do without the backlight affecting the black quality. The majority of games are full screen so you don't have to worry about uneven black bars though.

As others have said, HDR isn't about 'brightness' but about the range. A TV that only hits 500nits, even with perfect blacks, isn't able to deliver the range that a TV at 1000nits can. It has to limit the content down to its capability and/or clip the highlight details. Colour range too matters and the wider the colour Gamut and greater the contrast range, the better the HDR presentation and closer it will get to the Master. Colour volume matters with HDR and the 'best' have the greatest colour volume. If a Neon Red (or a Lightsabre) is meant to be displayed at 1000nits for example, some TV's won't be able to display that as 'red' as it should be or as bright either because they don't have the colour gamut or as high a dynamic range necessary to display that. There are quite a few games with HDR Neon and Lightsabres in HDR so the quality of that does vary considerably between TV's. If you are only used to SDR, its still an upgrade and can still look 'impressive' but it can still be a long way from being displayed as intended or as good as it could be. IF you are used to gaming on a 540p, 720p looks like a great upgrade, but its still not as good as 1080p offers...

Another consideration is the future. We are expecting next gen in a year (or less) and they will take advantage of HDMI 2.1 with Variable Refresh Rates (VRR), High Frame Rate (HFR - 4k at up to 120fps), eARC etc. Currently, only LG's OLED TV's (I believe) offer HDMI 2.1. Samsung Q series offer VRR. None of these are needed for the PS4 Pro though but maybe a consideration IF you are likely to upgrade your console in a year or so. If you don't want to upgrade your TV again for quite a while, then maybe consider which TV has the most 'future proof' features. I know the Future can change and nothing is totally future proof but there is no doubt HDMI 2.1 is going to be used for next gen gaming consoles.

At the end of the day, its difficult to recommend something without knowing budget and long term plans.
 
One of the best games on ps4 for HDR goodies and graphics and gameplay is Horizon Zero Dawn especially on PS4pro. When everything works properly, the intensity of light and dark and colours just mesmerize your retinas. The best game on Xbox for HDR is Forza horizon 3 or 4. There are various stuff on youtube how to set up your tv for HDR on PS4 pro, Good Luck.
 
If there's anything sillier than HDR for games I've yet to hear about it. Overkill.
 

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