Netflix only supports HDR videos in Windows 10 with Intel or Nvidia GPU

Netflix has announced that it will support HDR in its app and in browser Edge on Windows 10. It only works with integrated Intel GPUs from Kaby Lake processors or newer, or with at least an Nvidia GTX1050. The streaming service does not support HDR on systems with an AMD GPU.

In addition to the Windows 10 Creators Update, it is necessary for HDR in Netflix to use an integrated Intel GPU from Intel’s seventh Core generation or a separate Nvidia GPU in the form of a Geforce GTX1050, GTX1060, GTX1070 or GTX1080 with at least 3GB vram and driver version 387.68. The company does not report why the display of HDR videos in Netflix on a Windows 10 PC is not possible with an AMD GPU.

Both the separate Nividia GPUs and Intel’s integrated GPUs of the Kaby Lake generation support 10 bits per channel for each RGB color, making them suitable for HDR playback. Technically, for example, Vega GPUs from AMD can also do this, but nevertheless it is not possible to stream HDR videos in Netflix on a Windows 10 PC.

Streaming images in HDR is only possible in Microsoft’s browser Edge or in the app in the Windows Store. Netflix’s Premium subscription is also required to stream HDR and users must run the Fall Creators Update of Windows 10, version number 1709.

HDR support on the PC is still somewhat in its infancy compared to the support on, for example, televisions and mobile devices. The streaming service already added HDR to various smartphones and tablets this fall.