I have an RTX 4090 and an HDR 10 capable monitor (Alienware AW3821DW) and I had been using HDR in MSFS 2020 by toggling HDR 10 on in the graphic options.  I recently got the Nvidia App, and I noticed a new RTX HDR option.  I tried it, and all I can say is WOW.  I believe it is much better than using the HDR 10 option in MSFS.  If you want to try it:

 

Install the Nvidia App.

Turn ON HDR in windows.

Launch MSFS and turn OFF HDR 10 in the graphics options. 

Save settings and quit MSFS.

Turn ON RTX HDR for MSFS in the Nvidia App.

Launch MSFS and double check that HDR 10 is still OFF in MSFS.

Press ALT + Z and toggle ON RTX HDR.

Configure RTX HDR as per your preference.  I left mine at default, and I think it looks great.

 

I also tried toggling ON the RTX Digital Vibrance option, but even after adjusting it I didn't like the brightness and saturation that it adds.  But to me using RTX HDR is really good in MSFS, especially at sunrise and sunset.

Will have to give this a try.  I have used HDR10 from time-to-time within the SIM and it works well.  The downside I have found is that taking screen shots can be a challenge as the images come out over-exposed and I have not found a capture tool that is capable of handling HDR10 very well except for the screen capture for XBox.  Not too keen on that method as it grabs two images and from my previews one is over-exposed and the other at times seems under-exposed which requires an editor to make some adjustments.

Thanks for sharing.

Not sure about taking screenshots with RTX HDR, I haven't tried that.

Have you tried the Windows HDR Calibration tool available on the Microsoft store? It will create a custom ICC profile that I believe applies to games as well as the desktop. I just bring this up because, in theory, it should be better to use the game's native HDR. As far as I understand it, the option in the Nvidia app is similar to Windows Auto HDR, in that it's taking the SDR image and blowing out the highlights to create an HDR effect at the expense of color depth.

I'm on the AW3423DW and it makes me squint in 2024, but I also see you're on 2020, and 2024 is definitely better as far as HDR is concerned. But even with that said, using the calibration tool may make the Nvidia HDR look even more impressive. IMO, HDR is the biggest visual upgrade since HD (1080p HD that is, I think real HDR makes a larger impact than even 4k).

2 hours ago, crosswind said:

Will have to give this a try.  I have used HDR10 from time-to-time within the SIM and it works well.  The downside I have found is that taking screen shots can be a challenge as the images come out over-exposed and I have not found a capture tool that is capable of handling HDR10 very well except for the screen capture for XBox.  Not too keen on that method as it grabs two images and from my previews one is over-exposed and the other at times seems under-exposed which requires an editor to make some adjustments.

Thanks for sharing.

That's the reason why I don't use HDR too, I like to take screenshots while flying.

1 hour ago, Funky D said:

Have you tried the Windows HDR Calibration tool available on the Microsoft store? It will create a custom ICC profile that I believe applies to games as well as the desktop. I just bring this up because, in theory, it should be better to use the game's native HDR. As far as I understand it, the option in the Nvidia app is similar to Windows Auto HDR, in that it's taking the SDR image and blowing out the highlights to create an HDR effect at the expense of color depth.

I'm on the AW3423DW and it makes me squint in 2024, but I also see you're on 2020, and 2024 is definitely better as far as HDR is concerned. But even with that said, using the calibration tool may make the Nvidia HDR look even more impressive. IMO, HDR is the biggest visual upgrade since HD (1080p HD that is, I think real HDR makes a larger impact than even 4k).

Hey Funky, thanks for reminding me to run the calibration tool again.  I will run it again and see if its even better.  

4 hours ago, Alvega said:

That's the reason why I don't use HDR too, I like to take screenshots while flying.

You can use the Xbox game bar to take screenshots and they look pretty good, even while using HDR. At least that’s what I do, and the shots look great. I think they automatically tone the brightness and colors to display the image in SDR. But using HDR for day to day gaming is second to none, especially if you’re using an OLED panel. 

5 hours ago, Funky D said:

I'm on the AW3423DW

Same (AW34DWF). I absolutely love this monitor. It made me give up VR because the image quality is so good. At least in 2020. At night in a dark cockpit, on the ground, light rain, mind blowing. 

Edited March 4, 20251 yr by V1ROTA7E

Not sure if it was the last graphics driver or windows update that made my screen go really bright, but a recallibration with the windows callibration tool had it fixed and sorted within a couple of minutes.  

On 3/3/2025 at 11:48 PM, Alvega said:

That's the reason why I don't use HDR too, I like to take screenshots while flying.

Shift + G and you get a normal screenshot 😇The solution already posted saw it too late 🙃

Edited March 5, 20251 yr by virtualstuff

30 minutes ago, virtualstuff said:

Shift + G and you get a normal screenshot 😇The solution already posted saw it too late 🙃

Thanks, I never use the Xbox game bar  but will check it out.

Thanks for the tip. I just tried this in MSFS24 - really amazing results! Will stick with this for a while and see how it goes but my initial impression is that it looks a lot more natural than the in-sim HDR (on an AW2423DWF panel)!

Thought I would try this as I have the same monitor with a 3080...however when I clicked on the Game Filters, they are all greyed out.  This is with the game running and not running.  The screen does say I have Game Filters turned on but it gives me nothing.  Any ideas?

Garry

1 hour ago, flytriman said:

Thought I would try this as I have the same monitor with a 3080...however when I clicked on the Game Filters, they are all greyed out.  This is with the game running and not running.  The screen does say I have Game Filters turned on but it gives me nothing.  Any ideas?

Garry

You need to restart the sim after enabling the filters, but I don't recommend enabling the filters if you use frame generation, most probably the sim (MSFS 2024) will freeze and you will need to close the process in task manager.

Edited March 6, 20251 yr by Alvega

I tried this but found it gave a bit of an FPS hit compared to in-sim HDR. Good that it offers more tuning though, that's one thing I hope will be part of the default HDR offering in time.