Calibrate your built-in display for HDR content in Windows
Applies To
Windows 11 Windows 10Important: You can only calibrate built-in displays with this feature. You won’t be able to use it to calibrate external displays. To calibrate an external HDR-capable display, see Calibrate your HDR display using the Windows HDR Calibration app.
Calibrate your built-in video display to get the video quality and look you want when you’re watching streaming HDR video. By calibrating your display, you can set the balance between the details in the bright parts of a scene and the details in the dark parts of it. For example, the bright parts of a scene might include things like sunshine, fire, and light reflections. The dark parts of a scene could include shadows or dimly lit rooms.
Note: For more info about HDR requirements for Windows, see Display requirements for HDR video.
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Select the Start button, then type settings. Select Settings > System > Display .
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Select HDR. Ensure your built-in display is selected under Select a display to view or change its settings, then select Display calibration for HDR video > Calibrate.
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On the Calibrate your display screen, drag the slider at the bottom to the left or right.
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To add more details to the snow on the mountain, drag the slider to the right.
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To add more details to the buildings, drag the slider to the left.
When calibrating your display, the goal is to get a good balance between details in darker parts of a scene (in this case, the windows in the buildings on the left) and brighter parts of it (here, the snow at the top of the mountain).
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When you’re happy with the results, select Exit full screen in the bottom-right corner.
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Watch a streaming HDR video in a supported video app and look at the video quality.
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If you’re not happy with how the video looks, go back to step 4 and calibrate your display again.
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If bright scenes in the video were washed out, drag the slider to the right.
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If dark scenes in the video didn’t have a lot of detail, drag the slider to the left.
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(Optional) To go back to the original calibration settings, select Restore default under Display calibration for HDR video.
Support for Windows 10 will end in October 2025
After October 14, 2025, Microsoft will no longer provide free software updates from Windows Update, technical assistance, or security fixes for Windows 10. Your PC will still work, but we recommend moving to Windows 11.
Important: You can only calibrate built-in displays with this feature. You won’t be able to use it to calibrate external displays.
Calibrate your built-in video display to get the video quality and look you want when you’re watching streaming HDR video. By calibrating your display, you can set the balance between the details in the bright parts of a scene and the details in the dark parts of it. For example, the bright parts of a scene might include things like sunshine, fire, and light reflections. The dark parts of a scene could include shadows or dimly lit rooms.
Note: To calibrate your built-in display for HDR video, your PC needs to be running Windows 10 (Version 1803 or later), and it needs to be able to play HDR video. To find out which version of Windows 10 you have, see Which Windows operating system am I running? For more info about HDR requirements for Windows, see Display requirements for HDR video.
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Select the Start button > Settings > Apps > Video playback .
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Under Stream HDR video, select Windows HD Color settings.
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In Windows HD Color settings, select your laptop display under Choose display. Make sure the Settings window is on your laptop display.
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Select Change calibration settings.
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On the HDR video calibration screen, select Full screen for the sample video.
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On the Calibrate your display screen, drag the slider at the bottom to the left or right. When calibrating your display, the goal is to get a good balance between details in darker parts of a scene (in this case, the windows in the buildings on the left) and brighter parts of it (here, the snow at the top of the mountain).
-
To add more details to the snow on the mountain, drag the slider to the right.
-
To add more details to the buildings, drag the slider to the left.
-
-
When you’re happy with the results, select Exit full screen in the bottom-right corner.
-
Watch streaming HDR video in a supported video app and look at the video quality.
-
If you’re not happy with how the video looks, go back to step 5 and calibrate your display again.
-
If bright scenes in the video were washed out, drag the slider to the right.
-
If dark scenes in the video didn’t have a lot of detail, drag the slider to the left.
-
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(Optional) To go back to the original calibration settings, on the HDR video calibration screen, select Reset calibration.
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