Re: An HDR monitor is a big upgrade

On Sun, 28 Apr 2024 10:41:57 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:

On 27/04/2024 18:11, Zaghadka wrote:

I basically let HDR pass me by for quite a while, but I just got a new
Gsync monitor and it was economical and came with HDR. It also has a max
refresh rate of 240Hz, which I keep at 144Hz, so no more Gsync static
image flicker in games (the trick to get rid of that was to cycle down to
143 Hz.)
 
Wow.
 
Bloom finally looks like it should. The sunlight on the leaves in BG3 is
amazing. Talos 2, and this is a high compliment, looks even better, with
the laser effects becoming nothing short of stunning.
 
I never realized what I was missing. I actually want to replay games that
support an HDR display now.
 
Anyway, for anyone who hasn't jumped on that particular horse, I can say
it's well worth it. Way better than VR and half the price.
 
https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/List_of_games_that_support_high_dynamic_range_display_(HDR)
 

>
Glad you like it but personally graphics got to the more than good
enough for me about 2010 or something. It's not that I can't appreciate
the advances made since then but instead that lasts about an hour before
they no longer become important to am I enjoying the game.

I more or less agree. Sure, newer visuals are nice but it's often more
the artistry than the technical aspects that impress me. It's why I
can still see beauty in DOS-era games, despite the limitations of
running in 256-color/320x240 resolution. Games like "Loom" or "Ultima
VII" or even "MS Flight Simulator 5" can - at times - still impress me
with their graphics, despite their age. Sure, there are a lot of
stinkers from that era as well... but the best games

By the mid- to late-2010s, most games had reached a 'good enough'
level of visual fidelity that... well, it's not that they don't
impress me, but I know longer see it as extra-ordinary. I /expect/
games to be gorgeous these days. Whether it is "Far Cry Primal"
(2016), "Star Wars Battlefront II" (2017), "The Vanishing of Ethan
Carter" (2014), or even "Fire Watch" (2016), I remain so impressed by
modern graphics that it's barely worth mentioning anymore. I've even
wondered if - with the power of modern graphics engines - it's
possible to /make/ ugly games anymore.

So it's not that I wouldn't notice the benefits of an HDR monitor...
but I don't think it would have as much an effect on me. It's like the
supposed advantages and increased fidelity of raytracing being added
to games bypass me entirely. I've reached a level with satisfaction
with modern visuals that the minor gains from such trickery barely
register anymore. I'm more likely to see the underlying flaws that
remain - the repeating textures, too-static world design, stuff like
that - than I am to notice that the HDR effects make the lighting
flicker 5% more realistically.

(And that's assuming my aging eyes would even ALLOW me to see the
difference ;-)

In a way, I'm almost jealous that some people still do get excited
about stuff like that. After four decades, I've sort of become jaded
to all the improvements.