The Windows 11 2022 Update started rolling out almost a month ago and while it packs lots of new features with more on the way, Microsoft is continuing to detail other advancements that may not be consumer-facing until you really know where to look. Today, it has revealed more details about Auto Color Management (ACM) improvements that should greatly benefit select PCs with Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) displays on the Windows 11 2022 Update.
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Microsoft says that while it has supported color management APIs on Windows for a couple of decades, they were meant as helper functionalities for apps that wanted to use it, other apps simply used the standard sRGB space and were not directed by the OS. ACM on the Windows 11 2022 Update makes this process more streamlined by controlling color management for apps at a system level.
Basically, apps that don't target HDR or other wider color gamuts will get mapped to the sRGB color space but with more "consistency". Microsoft claims that they will be able to render more colors, offer additional details, and have fewer color artifacts. Meanwhile, apps that want to do color management can utilize the ICM/WCS color management APIs on the display's native gamut. Finally, apps can also leverage Advanced Color APIs can use a combination of both gamuts. For those unclear what Advanced Color content includes, the minimum specifications are as follows:
- Dynamic range (luminance): higher than sRGB's 0-100 nit range
- Color gamut: wider than sRGB's color primaries
- Precision/bit depth: greater than 8 bits per color channel
Microsoft has described other advantages of ACM as well. Without the technology, the Desktop Window Manager (DWM) bounds windowed apps to 8 bits per color channel but with ACM enabled, apps can access color spaces with 10-16 bits of precision. On displays that only support 8-bit precisions, Microsoft claims that the colors will look better overall because it will leverage dithering.
If you're a developer who wants to try out ACM with your app, here are the requirements:
- Windows 11, version 22H2 (10.0; Build 22621) release
- WDDM driver version 3.0 or greater
- Supported GPU
- AMD
- AMD RX 400 Series or later
- AMD Ryzen processors with Radeon Graphics
- Intel
- Integrated: Intel 12th Gen (Alder Lake) or later
- Discrete: Intel DG1 or later
- NVIDIA
- NVIDIA GTX 10xx or later (Pascal+)
- There are no hard requirements on the display or connection – ACM can provide benefits even on 8-bit sRGB panels. However, we strongly recommend ACM devices to have panels with a wider-than-sRGB gamut, and optionally 10-bits per color channel or greater.
- Global registry key (for app developer use only, see details here)
It is important to note that ACM isn't exactly new, in a way. Advanced Color APIs were introduced for HDR displays exclusively with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update a few years ago. The good news is that ACM in the Windows 11 2022 Update brings these capabilities to SDR displays too, but the not-so-good news is that it's only supported for "specially provisioned" SDR displays, those being the Surface Studio 2+ and Surface Pro 9 for now. For display manufacturers and PC OEMs, Microsoft has offered documentation on how SDR displays can be calibrated to take advantage of ACM.
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