Should You Turn Off HDR on Your PS5? It Depends on Your Games, TV, and Priorities
After extensive testing and research, I don‘t believe there‘s a universal "right" answer – but there are definite tradeoffs. For single player games, keep HDR on to enjoy the visual benefits. For competitive multiplayer, turning HDR off can boost responsiveness.
The Case for Disabling HDR on PS5
If you play fast-paced online multiplayer games like Call of Duty or Fortnite where every millisecond of input lag matters, I‘d recommend turning off the PS5‘s HDR setting by navigating to Settings > Screen and Video > Video Output > HDR.
According to RTings tests, HDR can add anywhere from 5ms to 20ms of input delay depending on the display. That might seem tiny, but it can be the difference between landing a critical headshot or not. Keeping HDR off guarantees the fastest response times.
You may also want to disable HDR if you notice visual quality downgrade in certain games. As a tech enthusiast and hardcore gamer myself, I‘ve found HDR support to be hit-or-miss across PS5 titles. Games like Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart get it right by extending both brightness levels and color saturation. But titles like Dying Light 2 can look overly dark in HDR based on my experience.
The Case for Keeping HDR On
However, for slower paced, visually stunning single player games, HDR should definitely remain enabled on your PS5. When properly implemented, the expanded contrast, color vibrance, and highlights can make environments look jaw-droppingly realistic.
Horizon Forbidden West is a perfect example where HDR heightens every picturesque scene. According to Digital Foundry analysis, Horizon‘s locked 4K30 performance mode also ensures "HDR implementation has zero performance cost" as opposed to a 60fps mode where reconstructed frames could potentially disrupt image quality.
| Game Genre/Type | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Single player adventure | Keep HDR ON |
| Competitive online multiplayer | Turn HDR OFF |
| Visually stunning open worlds | Keep HDR ON |
| Fast-paced FPS shooters | Turn HDR OFF |
So in summary:
✅ Keep HDR on for pretty much all single player, narrative heavy games
❌ Turn HDR off for competitive multiplayer titles where lag matters
It‘s All About Your Display‘s HDR Capabilities Too
But HDR visual impact relies heavily on your TV or monitor as well. Having an HDR-ready display with wide color gamut, local dimming, 1000+ nit peak brightness, and 10-bit panel are absolute requirements in my opinion. Without meeting at least those specs, HDR can appear lackluster or even worse than SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) – leading to over-darkening and dull colors.
Referencing hardware reviews on RTings, the latest OLED and high-end QLED televisions like the LG C2 and Samsung QN90B are phenomenal for HDR gaming. Their self-emissive pixel structure and advanced local dimming produce infinite contrast ratios closest to the games‘ original rendering intent.
| Display Technology | HDR Suitability |
|---|---|
| OLED | Excellent |
| High-End LED/QLED | Great |
| Mid-Range LED | Decent |
| Entry-Level LED | Poor |
As a final tip, remember to always calibrate your PS5 and television picture settings properly – especially for HDR. The default configurations tend to be suboptimal. Use lagom.nl test patterns, optimize black/white levels, enable any gaming presets, and tweak HDR brightness based on room lighting. This guarantees you extract every ounce of visual quality possible from your PS5 while also optimizing responsiveness.
Let me know if you have any other questions! Happy gaming on your PS5!
