One of the main advancements of the Nintendo Switch 2 is its support for High Dynamic Range displays. This works in both handheld mode, thanks to the console's own display, and TV mode, when the console is connected to an external display.
Granted, the console's display was found to be severely lacking in HDR capabilities. The edge-lit LCD can only output 450 nits at maximum, which is nowhere near what's needed to display a proper HDR image. Moreover, being an LCD, the Nintendo Switch 2 display cannot provide anywhere near the same contrast level as an OLED display.
This limitation will only be overcome when the inevitable OLED Switch 2 releases in the future. Meanwhile, users can still access a better HDR experience in TV mode, provided they have a capable HDR display. However, Nintendo's HDR calibration settings menu isn't exactly user friendly.
As pointed out by YouTuber My Life in Gaming, after adjusting the peak brightness setting, there is another prompt that can be triggered with the Y button that brings the user to another brightness slider. This is, however, the paper white slider, which is completely different than the peak brightness slider, as HDR-savvy users already know.
As such, if your HDR is overblown, tweaking this setting may help. The YouTuber brought the slider below the midpoint and noticed improvements in midtones, shadows, and even menus with HDR enabled in Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition.
Another 'tip' is that you should always enable HGIG in your display's options. The HDR Gaming Interest Group was founded nearly seven years ago to optimize HDR gaming content across various displays. When HGIG is enabled, a display's dynamic tone mapping is disabled, preserving the creator's intent and delivering an optimal HDR image.
Granted, even with these two tweaks, Nintendo's first-party games don't look that much better in HDR on the Nintendo Switch 2. It's clear they still have to learn how to optimize their games for the format. Still, you'll get the optimal HDR image for third-party games.
For our full Nintendo Switch 2 review, head to Chris's article.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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