https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/...-series-x-auto-hdr-what-works-and-what-doesnt
Note that Auto HDR is also support by the Xbox Series S. The article title refers to it being tested on an Xbox Series X.
One of the greatest strengths of Xbox Series S and X is its backwards compatibility. Revisiting old classics, from the original 2001 Xbox, 360 and the Xbox One - Microsoft has maintained a through line across its console legacy. Not only are legacy titles playable, they're enhanced too with higher resolutions, smoother frame-rates, clearer texture filtering and faster load times. Auto HDR is the latest enhancement, drawing on a machine learning algorithm to add HDR to the majority of its back-compat titles on all Xbox systems. The question is - how good is it? Can it really compare to a native HDR implementation?
There's no question, the quality of Arkham Knight's image is boosted with Auto HDR enabled. I ended up playing for hours like this - and while yes, it's still peaking at 1080p and 30fps on Series X - as was the limit on base Xbox One, the colours have far more pop. Rocksteady's work here is a unique case though. Clearly the game's colour palette helps; having a city set in perpetual night means HDR highlights are easy to define - on sparks from the batmobile, explosions, or shop signs. The aesthetic is consistent across the length of the game, making it easier for an algorithm to work in post.
Regardless of the quality of Auto HDR in gameplay, there are a few nitpicks that need addressing. One small, final one I've seen in a few games: overlays are at times brighter than the gameplay itself - hitting a similar peak white point as logos and text. Super Meat Boy is an example of this issue. As a side note, LG 4K TVs have a similar problem with HUD elements when using a similar mode - called 'HDR effect'. It's comparable to Auto HDR in that it interprets the colour space to make whites hit your screen's peak brightness - and overlays like health bars just don't look quite right. Auto HDR is more refined for games at least, being lag free - but there can be similar issues.
Again, all of this is being tweaked and optimised ahead of launch. From our experience so far though, the Auto HDR option is by no means a one size fits all solution - but when it works, it really works. To get the most from the setting, you'll have to manually decide when to enabled it via the Xbox system options. For the future, perhaps an override option would work best when looking at your game library, to make sure it only switches on select titles. Still - it's a fascinating option to have, filling a gap for games that deserved HDR support on release and adding it convincingly to titles that predate the concept. More than that it's another reason to rediscover the Xbox's best games, bolstered and enhanced on its latest hardware - and we're looking forward to seeing more of the compatibility team's work.
