PG32UCDM Console Mode HDR issue

[FallenDeity]

My and other's PG32UCDM monitors have a clipping issue on PC when using the console HDR mode in Windows 11. Currently, the monitor clips at 450 nits in the Maximum Luminance window but it clips correctly in the Max Full Frame Luminance window. Is there a firmware update in the works for this or is this an RMA issue?

[Richu6]

That is the tradeoff you make with the "boost"... and the reason i like "console hdr" mode moore without the boost.

In theory ypu should set peak brightness to 1000 nits, and if the highlits window only would be a small dot <2% everything would be fine.

But the problem is, in most games etc. In bright daylight scenes the highlits window is >20% or moore, and then the Panel can not reach any moore than 400-500 nits.

And because of the boost, the tone mapping is "boostet" to higher values than the Monitor can show, and thats why it clips.

If you dont like the clipping, just deactivate the boost, and everything is fine!

Or use one of the other 2 modes, they are brighter than console mode without the boost now, but still has correct tone mappings to 1000 nits. And because of that they do not clip.

[finalmaxgear]

I didn't understand one thing, without the boost it seems more 'off' / less bright, despite setting it regularly at 1000nits.

I can't tell if this difference in brightness is actually there or I'm just imagining it.

[finalmaxgear]

If you are talking about Windows HDR Calibration, and it clips 450nits, you have a problem, i get over 1000nits with Console HDR + Boost.

[Richu6]

I think you are the one with "the problem" here...

In Console Mode with boost on it should clip at about 400-500nits in calibration tool... (or that is at least what it does by everyone)

Without the boost it clips how it should by 1000+

[finalmaxgear]

You are right, the problem lies in my memories 🙂

I remembered that console + boot reached 1000nits, but it did not.

It gets there with Gaming/Cinema + boost.
Where even though it "seems" disabled the boost with these two, it actually "seems" active.

[Richu6]

Gaming and Cinema mode dont offer a "boost" option.

But it seems, that the boost in this modes is allways active in fw105

Because they look for sure "brighter" than in older fw Versions.

But yeah i kinda like these 2 modes now! Because they are bright, but they dont have the clipping issues.

In some games i use one of these 2 modes now. They work great.

But has a bit less contrast than "console-mode"

[finalmaxgear]

Yes, it was already discussed a few pages back about the issue that the boost seems to be active in these modes as well.

I left Gaming HDR, it seems the best for now.

I hope in the next firmware they fix this mode as well, improving the contrast, of course I hope it doesn't become the same as Console, otherwise it's useless.

[Richu6 · Accepted solution]

I dont think there is something to fix! The console mode and cinema mode works perfectly fine, and how they should.

That they have a bit less contrast, is how they should be. Thats the trade off these modes are doing.

You have to think about it.

The panels can only show about 250 nits in a 100% window. (The HDR mode does not matter, thats the actual max, the panel can deliver)

Console mode (without boost). Has the lowest "overall brightness" now. But because of that reason it has the moost contrast, because it has the most "reserves" for the highlits.

Cinema and gaming mode has a higher overall brightness. But at the end only tje same "max" brightness... that is whey they have less contrast! 

I dont think a firmware update can change anything about that.

[BiscuitJar]

Indeed. And what makes the new firmware update so good is because it is mostly eliminates need for manually switching modes.

In the original firmware update you had to choose between two extremes:

• You could either use HDR True Black 400 that gives you good brightness for daytime scenes (the Winterfox youtube video, most game settings etc) when the image doesn't have super bright highlights but rather expectation of fairly uniformly bright image. (Most games I play are in this kind of daytime or cloudy day setting where I just want the image to be not super dim). But in return this mode doesn't deliver 1000 nit highlights in night-time scenes that the panel is capable of.
• Or you could use the original HDR 1000 modes that gave you 1000 nit highlights in night-time scenes where you have small but really bright lights that need to "pop". But in return daytime scenes were super dim.

Now the new "dynamic boost" behavior gets rid of this division: If the scene in question is high APL scene (daytime) the monitor will boost brightness and you get almost as bright image as True Black 400 mode. If the scene has low APL (night-time) you still get the 1000 nit highlights.

But this naturally comes with some corner cases that the panel simply cannot handle: What if you have high APL scene that ALSO has very bright highlights. In those scenes there is clipping. But the new Gaming HDR and Cinema HDR modes with their PQ curve rolloff behavior mitigates that fairly well.

As a result Gaming HDR is kind of the "leave it on and forget" mode for this monitor. You can get bright daytime scenes, bright night-time highlights and all without having to ever switch between HDR modes! 👍

[Silent_Scone]

Few posts have since been cleaned up. Try to keep it clean / on topic, guys. It's been a constructive month or so from many people towards a positive end-game 👍