The fact that it exists suggests Nvidia may be developing a comparable product.
At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January, Nvidia revealed a new capability for RTX Video HDR. If your display is capable of handling it, it is a neat little trick that can transform standard dynamic range (SDR) videos that are broadcast through a web browser into high dynamic range (HDR) videos on displays that are compatible with it. In order to accomplish this effect, the technique makes use of the tensor cores of the graphics processing units (GPUs). Recently, an inventive modder has discovered a way to apply this technology to games, including older DX9 and DX11 titles. Despite the fact that “free HDR” is a fantastic concept in and of itself, the fact that this is even conceivable suggests that Nvidia may already be working on something that is comparable.
The NvTrueHDR – RTX HDR for games mod is available for free download on Nexxusmods, provided that you have created an account with the web-based service. The mod’s developer, who goes by the name emoose, looks to be a well-known entity in the modding scene, thus it appears to be a secure download. However, it is always a good idea to exercise caution when working with third-party software. Thanks to what the author describes as certain hidden “TrueHDR” files in the Nvidia 551.31 driver that enables RTX Video HDR, the hack makes it possible for you to enable high dynamic range (HDR) in virtually any game. Due to the fact that Emoose is still in its infancy, the community needs to test it on a wide range of games and report what works and what does not work. Emoose claims that it is compatible with games that use DirectX 9, DirectX 10, DirectX 11, DirectX 12, and potentially even Vulkan and OpenGL.
At the same time that it is more dependable than the cumbersome AutoHDR that is built into Windows 11, the mod intends to enable high dynamic range (HDR) on games that do not officially support it. For it to even function, that functionality needs to be disabled, and in addition to that, you need to have a monitor that is compatible with HDR10. Nvidia claims that RTX Video HDR makes advantage of the tensor cores of its graphics processing units (GPUs) in order to reveal highlights and colors that are hidden by the typical compression used in streaming videos today. Similarly, same effect is utilized in games; however, there is no such thing as a free lunch. A number of users on Reddit have mentioned that it can result in a significant decrease in performance in certain games, as Tweaktown has mentioned.
If you want to test out the mod, you need to be familiar with the command line, which is a skill that is being increasingly lost in today’s world. Following the execution of the NvTrueHDR.exe file, you will be prompted to select the game on which you wish to execute the program. It will then locate the relevant EXE file, at which point you will be able to choose the quality level of the HDR implementation. It is important to proceed with caution because the mod creator mentions that the maximum quality level can result in a 10% performance penalty. Additionally, the author does not include a list of GPUs that are compatible with the software; therefore, we will presume that it is compatible with any RTX card that has tensor cores, which includes RTX 20-series and subsequent graphics cards.