Starfield – PS5 Pro
I have looked more into Starfield on PS5 (Pro) and this is what's going on.
When we have selected HDR On When Supported or HDR Always On in PS5s (Pro) system settings then the game will give us one more setting in the in-game menu called HDR brightness.
The extra in-game setting is a contrast slider. It increases midtone brightness and lowers shadows when we increase the slider. It does the same as the contrast slider, just more aggressive.
The game still outputs SDR and PS5 simply outputs its HDR Always On in both modes, HDR Always On and HDR On When supported.
So this is one more game where HDR On When Supported doesn't do what it's supposed to. We recently also saw that in Crimson Desert.
Choose HDR Off in PS5s system setting if you want to be certain the game outputs SDR.
HDR Always On is not HDR. It's SDR in an HDR container. Its only purpose is to make you stay in your TVs HDR picture mode. It will cap max luminance to around 255 nits.
Below I will link to my article about HDR Off, HDR On When Supported and HDR Always On.
