If you're in the market for a new gaming monitor, there's a high chance that most listings you'll be looking at will have three recognizable letters listed as a feature: HDR. High-dynamic range is a relatively new display technology that has gone through numerous iterations on TVs. Gaming monitors are far behind what is capable on living room displays, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be considering it when shopping for a monitor.

We've put together a guide on everything you need to know about HDR on PC monitors, including exactly what HDR is, all the different specifications, and what to look out for when buying a display, especially a gaming monitor. While we will touch on HDR in TVs, this won't be the primary focus of this guide.

What is HDR?

High-dynamic range (HDR) is a specification that determines whether a display can render an image that has deeper contrast, a wider color gamut, and generally better representation of brightness than that of a standard-dynamic range (SDR) display. This means that with content that supports HDR and a correctly calibrated display, you will often be able to spot more details in both brighter and darker scenes while also enjoying an image that can look slightly more saturated or color-accurate, depending on the implementation.