Posted Mon Oct 3, 2016 at 05:16 PM PDT by Brian Hoss
Worth the effort.
Today is a big day for my launch PS4 as today is the first time that I have been able to run HDR content out of it. That HDR content comes via 'Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.' Since I reviewed the PS4 version of that game (see here), and am now starting the first chunk of DLC, 'System Rift,' I am loving being able to check out the HDR look well ahead of the PS4 Pro. Of course, as with any early adoption type tech, there have been issues.
I'm getting ahead of myself, however, so let me back up. Today, Eidos Montreal released the 1.05 patch for 'Deus Ex: Mankind Divided,' and this latest patch includes HDR support for the PS4 and Xbox One S. Focusing in on the PS4 version which I have, HDR support in 'Mankind Divided' requires a few different things. These items include the aforementioned version 1.05 update of the game, any PS4 (updated to version 4.00), and a HDR compatible display.
Upon booting the game, I was prompted to turn on HDR rendering, which is a choice stored in Video part of the Options menu. Unfortunately for me, toggling on HDR, which made the display go into HDR mode, turned everything pink.
I've used several different HDR enabled devices with this display and AVR, so I was a bit surprised by the pink screen. After checking all the PS4 settings and the TV settings, I still had pink vision. That meant that it was time to start checking connections.
I connected the PS4 directly to the display using an HDMI cable I regularly use for Ultra HD Blu-ray players, and voila, no pink vision. After some more experimenting, I found that a Video Conversion setting on the Denon AVR was causing the pink vision. (It was simple enough to turn that off.) Finally, with that trouble sorted out, I could actually check out 'Deus Ex: Mankind Divided' in HDR.
Sadly, I had to make it quick, but immediately the title screen showed a big difference. The franchise (the recent entries) signature yellow to gold hues have been turned up with the HDR mode enabled.
Update: After finshing the 'System Rift' DLC (review here), I'm left puzzling at both the HDR mode and the original non-HDR mode.
First up, turning the HDR mode on does ruin some of the load screens, specifically the character portraits:
I like the results of using the HDR mode, but I also must face the fact that the game's normal brightness slider is a bit bjorked. When I set it, it needs to be at 100%, which in turn makes the game (and not the test pattern) too bright globally. (Washed out and bloomy). When using HDR, the brightness slider does not have such a global effect. Setting it at 35% (with HDR on) and the results are pleasing.
Still, using HDR can also effect several smaller touches that had me wondering about the game's filters:
With HDR:
Without HDR, 35% Brightness:
Without HDR, 100% Brightness:
I tried out various settings in several different locations with much the same result. And then the game was patched again to 1.06, but nothing in terms of these trends seem to be affected.
Source: Square Enix
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