The Windows 10 April Update (1803): The Littlest Big Update
by Brett Howse on May 25, 2018 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Software
- Operating Systems
- Windows
- Microsoft
- Windows 10
Display Updates: HDR and High DPI
HDR Updates
High Dynamic Range (HDR) is definitely the new buzzword in the display industry, with displays that offer a wider range of brightness levels. There’s more steps between brightness levels, and proper HDR monitors should offer a much higher maximum brightness level as well.
The requirements for HDR haven’t changed very much since the Fall Creators Update, but there’s a couple of small tweaks. If you’re using a laptop, the device manufacturer has to provide a panel that is at least 300 nits or more, but new for the April Update is that the panel is also required to be at least 1920x1080. The laptop will also need to have an integrated GPU that supports PlayReady hardware DRM for protected HDR content, and have the codecs installed for 10-bit video decoding, which is only the latest CPUs. Since you can’t buy a laptop and add HDR, this is all something that has to be handled by the OEM of course.
For external displays, the system and display both need to support HDMI 2.0 or DisplayPort 1.4, as well as HDR10. There’s no support for DolbyVision in Windows yet.
Your display HDR support is shown here
The GPU must support PlayReady 3.0 hardware DROM for protected HDR content, which is right now a short list of GPUs: AMD Radeon RX 400 or higher, Intel UHD 600 series iGPUs, or NVIDIA GeForce 1000 series cards. All of these cards support the 10-bit video decoding required for HDR.
The PC must have the HEVC or VP9 codec installed as well, and the latest drivers should be used.
HDR is currently only supported for video playback. We’re not yet at a point where the entire OS can be done in HDR.
If you’re using a laptop, Microsoft now has an HDR calibration tool built-in which lets you adjust balance between detail in the dark part of a scene with the brighter parts, and to set if you want HDR to increase display brightness when on battery or not.
High DPI Updates
Using apps created for 96 DPI displays on displays with 200, 300, or more DPI can be a challenge, and over the years, improvements have been made in Windows to better support this. UWP was a possible solution, but with its limited traction it didn’t turn out to be much of a solution, so Microsoft has been fixing both built-in apps to work better on higher resolution displays, as well as fixing issues with using different DPI levels on different displays connected to the system, which is a big issue if you have a new laptop with a high-resolution display, and also dock it with an older 96 DPI monitor.
Microsoft has no real solution to this issue, other than have a dev update their app for HiDPI, but with the April Update Windows 10 will now prompt you to automatically try and fix an app if it think it’s opened with blurry text. You’ll get a notification asking if you’d like to try and fix it, and you can say yes. Then close the app, and hopefully it’s fixed.
Windows was built around 96 DPI as a staple, and with the legacy baggage, this issue will likely never be completely resolved, but luckily most apps work fine now. Some are not perfect, but most of the big name apps now work correctly, which isn’t something you could have said even a couple of years ago.
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damianrobertjones - Friday, May 25, 2018 - link
I'd blame HP for your issues not MS. Did you clean restore the oS?1_rick - Friday, May 25, 2018 - link
"You want "minimal windows"? Then do yourself a favor and upgrade to Win 7."You do know that even in Windows 7, there wasn't a "minimal windows", right? Everything is installed, but a lot of optional stuff is just disabled.
bananaforscale - Sunday, May 27, 2018 - link
*Speakers* didn't work? o.O ...Granted, I had an update break the audio drivers back in W95. By an update that had *absolutely nothing* to do with audio (I think it was a localization thingy; it's been 15 years...).Microsoft is *great* at breaking stuff in weird ways.
Mairene - Friday, May 25, 2018 - link
I don't think you mentioned my favorite new feature: the Hyper-V Console can connect to your VMs at resolutions above 1920x1080 now. It was annoying on a 4K monitor to have your VMs only taking up a quarter of the screen. No more!ChristopherFortineux - Friday, June 8, 2018 - link
Sounds like a first world problem.Dabxxx - Friday, May 25, 2018 - link
I am writing this in High Sierra on a machine that also boots to Win 10 connected to a 4k display. The superiority with which OSX (which has a multitude of its own never fixed problems) scales to 4k compared to Windows 10 is obvious simply by looking at the desktop. That difference becomes more obvious with even simple tasks. It is utter nonsense for the reviewer to write that Microsoft cannot fix how onerous it can be to use a 4k screen with Windows 10--they could start with icons and the taskbar. 5k would be unusable in Win 10 but OSX does that now. I actually prefer working in Windows 10 but there is a penalty for using what amounts to higher than 2k resolution monitors.BurntMyBacon - Tuesday, May 29, 2018 - link
I and my clients have little issue with 4k displays on Win 10. As I recall it, the author didn't say any nonsense about 4k screens either. He did mention issues with running apps designed for 96 DPI on 200, 300, or more DPI displays, though he also said the situation has improved, but the "solution" didn't gain traction.For reference, a 27" 4k is only 163 DPI, and doesn't meet the qualifiers for his statement. You would need a 22" or smaller screen to meet the 200 DPI mark at 4k resolution.
He does blame "legacy baggage" for the problem, but I see this as Microsoft's choice as to whether they want to continue trying to work around it for the sake of their "legacy" clientele or make a clean break to compete with other companies for "newer" clients. We get to live with the results of these decisions and that means less than ideal circumstances for the group that didn't get targeted. We can always choose a different OS, but that comes with its own set of problems.
HStewart - Friday, May 25, 2018 - link
I been running this update for last month of so and I believe it has significant improvements - especially I found with screen handling - especially with fonts and screen resolutions. I enjoying it on my new LG 34U88-B.I place it on many on my machine and mostly with no problems at all - I do have two problem cases
1. 10+ year old Supermicro dual Xeon 5160 - I have not even try it - but previous update had issues with Realtek Audio driver on Supermicro motherboard - just locks. I can probably solved issue by booting up recovery disk and deleting the audio driver - that what I done before.
2. Chuiwa 8 HiPro tablet - not enough storage on that cheap thing. Similar to Xeon system, if I can spend tyime with it - i could solved it - probably best to removed the horrible version of Android OS - just not well functionally like on Samsung Tab S3
I wondering if there is ever a Windows 11 or they just keep updating Windows 10
ianbergman - Friday, May 25, 2018 - link
Win-H for dictation FTWrocky12345 - Friday, May 25, 2018 - link
You mentioned Control panel and how they are moving away from it. I noticed that in the last 2 Windows 10 upgrades but was always still able to find control panel since I hate the settings menus. To me they seem to basic and kinda mobile like which is ok if you are on a mobile device but not a desktop system. My question is this is Control panel still there in the latest Win 10 or is it completely removed now. If it has been removed totally then I am sure it won't be long before some good soul makes their own and shares it on the internet. I try to stay away from that crap settings menu setup system it is made for kids or people that totally have no clue about how to use a computer.I also know they are really pushing that Power shell prompt which I find has some use but is a lot slower to open more so on slower systems & I still seek out the good old Command prompt it has less features but it is quick and easy to use without any of the problems Power Shell can have.