My TV supports HDR10+, but my MSI Katana 17 B13VFK will not reliably enable HDR when connected through an HDMI 2.1 cable and HDMI 2.1 port. The TV is configured to accept the enhanced signal, yet Windows either leaves HDR unavailable or behaves inconsistently. The laptop also seems stuck at 8-bit color depth, and after a recent update I had to drop from 1440p at 120 Hz to 1080p because the higher-resolution mode fails its signal test. At one point HDR appeared to activate, but the TV showed options such as local dimming that it does not actually support. What settings or compatibility issue could be causing this?
3 Answers
The TV may require an enhanced HDMI mode on the individual input. Look for settings named Enhanced Format, Deep Color, HDMI UHD Color, or HDMI 2.1 Signal. These are often configured separately for each port, even if the TV has a general option saying it can receive an HDMI 2.1 signal. It is also worth testing another certified Ultra High Speed HDMI cable, because some cables marketed as HDMI 2.1 do not handle the expected bandwidth consistently.
Try setting Windows to show the TV only instead of mirroring or extending the laptop display. Some laptop graphics configurations do not expose HDR correctly when multiple displays are active. You can also use Windows’ HDR shortcut, Win+Alt+B, after selecting the TV as the active display. If HDR eventually activates on its own, that points more toward a driver, handshake, or bandwidth negotiation problem than a missing TV feature.
The shortcut did not work, although HDR eventually switched on while I was playing a game. That makes it seem like the connection or driver state is getting stuck rather than the TV completely lacking HDR support.
Check both Windows and the NVIDIA Control Panel. In Windows, look under Display > HDR and see whether HDR is unavailable or simply switched off. In NVIDIA’s resolution settings, verify that the TV is using the correct PC resolution, refresh rate, RGB color format, and 10-bit color depth if the bandwidth allows it. A setting that falls back to 8-bit can prevent HDR from working properly. Also try reinstalling or updating the NVIDIA driver directly, since HDMI HDR detection can be affected by laptop-specific driver bugs.
The system was definitely stuck at 8-bit. HDR briefly appeared after several attempts, but the display modes also became unreliable and 1440p at 120 Hz started failing the signal test.
The TV’s color depth and color space are already set to their highest available values, but I’ll check whether the specific input has a separate enhanced-signal option.