HDR Compatibility Checker
Compare DisplayHDR 400, 600, 1000, 1400 and True Black OLED on peak brightness, local dimming and colour depth, and see which tier you need.
What the DisplayHDR tiers actually mean
"HDR support" on a spec sheet only means the panel accepts an HDR signal. Whether it can display one is a different question, and that is what VESA's DisplayHDR certification measures: peak brightness, colour depth, and how precisely the backlight can be dimmed in separate zones.
Brightness is only half the story
High dynamic range is about the gap between the darkest and brightest parts of an image at the same time. A panel with a single backlight can be bright or dark, but not both at once, so a bright highlight lifts the whole picture and blacks turn grey. Local dimming splits the backlight into zones so those areas can be controlled separately. More zones means a more convincing image, and full-array local dimming with hundreds of zones is where HDR starts to look genuinely different.
Why DisplayHDR 400 disappoints
DisplayHDR 400 requires only 400 nits peak, 8-bit colour and no local dimming at all — specifications an ordinary SDR monitor already meets. Enabling HDR on such a panel usually makes the picture look washed out rather than better. It is best treated as a marketing badge rather than a feature.
OLED and True Black
OLED panels light each pixel individually, so a black pixel is genuinely off. That gives effectively infinite contrast, which is why DisplayHDR True Black certification exists at lower peak brightness figures — 400 nits on an OLED looks far more dramatic than 400 nits on an LCD.
What you need on the PC side
HDR needs 10-bit colour, which raises the bandwidth your cable must carry by 25% over 8-bit. At high resolutions and refresh rates this can exceed what your cable supports — check yours with the Refresh Rate Calculator.
Frequently asked questions
Is DisplayHDR 400 real HDR?
Not meaningfully. It requires 400 nits, 8-bit colour and no local dimming, which most ordinary SDR monitors already achieve. Enabling HDR on one usually looks worse, not better. DisplayHDR 600 with local dimming is the realistic entry point.
How many nits do I need for good HDR?
At least 600 nits with local dimming for a visible improvement, and 1000 nits or more for a genuinely impressive one. On OLED, 400 nits looks better than 600 on an LCD because the black level is effectively zero.
Why does HDR look washed out in Windows?
Usually because SDR content is being shown on an HDR desktop. Adjust the SDR brightness slider in Windows HDR settings, and only enable HDR for content that actually uses it. On a DisplayHDR 400 panel it will look washed out regardless.
Does HDR affect gaming performance?
The rendering cost is negligible, typically a couple of percent. The practical cost is bandwidth: 10-bit colour needs 25% more than 8-bit, which can force a lower refresh rate on a cable that was already near its limit.