If you have an HDR-compatible monitor or TV connected to your computer, you probably know that playing HDR content in Windows 11 requires enabling a toggle in display settings. While HDR content looks good, the rest of the operating system becomes slightly washed out. Microsoft appears to be working on fixing this inconvenience.
Users noticed that build 27686, which was released in the Canary Channel this week, contains a new HDR-related option in the Settings app. It allows playing HDR content when HDR is toggled off, saving you from the chore of manually toggling HDR on whenever you want to play a game or watch an HDR video:
Build 27686 updates HDR settings: a new option to "Allow HDR video streaming even when HDR is off" is present.
— phantomofearth 🌳 (@phantomofearth) August 15, 2024
There are also some string changes, such as "HDR video streaming" being changed to "HDR video streaming, games, apps and more" under Display capabilities. pic.twitter.com/4icDR8OwPc
For some reason, Microsoft has not mentioned this change in the official release notes for build 27686. However, if you are already on the latest Canary build, and your computer supports HDR, go to Settings > System > Display > HDR and expand the HDR section to check out the new "Allow HDR video streaming even when HDR is off" feature.
The upcoming Windows 11 version 24H2, which is expected in the coming months, will bring HDR wallpaper support in JXR format.
Other changes in Windows 11 build 27686 include improvements for Windows Sandbox Client, which is now a Microsoft Store app, energy efficiency improvements that should result in better battery life, the ability to detach a virtual hard disk in Settings, increased FAT32 size limit from 32GB to 2TB, and more. You can check out the full release notes here.
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