What’s the Difference Between HDR and HDRi?

This is where we get to that other important aspect of HDRi. Let’s look at your eyes while you're using a poorly-optimised monitor. You're straining to accommodate changes in lighting as details get washed out and overall image quality appears "off" and unnatural. This can lead to a variety of eye problems and impede productivity, not to mention make you feel quite awful.

Ailments that stem from computer use fall under the category of Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS). These problems run the gamut: headaches, blurred vision, eye strain, dry eyes, neck pain, and more. It’s no surprise that these problems lead to unpleasant, shortened sessions on your monitor that result in fatigue and frustration. Whether that worse experience is in homework, streaming, or gaming isn’t the point.  The point is to eliminate the problem—even if the problem on your screen is caused, in part, by your environment. 

You’ve probably noticed that changes in lighting around you impact the way your display looks. Maybe there’s a break in the clouds and suddenly your room is much brighter. Perhaps you’ve been playing or streaming for a bit and didn’t notice the sun going down. Either way, your monitor’s display is no longer suited to your environment. It’s possible you’ll observe this with your eyes. It’s more likely your eyes have noticed without you registering it. If only that could be fixed. 

Think of HDR like any other workflow. You can either just take it as-is without any refinement and try to make the best of things, or you can apply intelligent adjustments. The difference between HDR and HDRi boils down to a basic workflow versus an intelligent workflow. An HDRi-equipped monitor customizes content to your space, your display, and your experience.

HDR raises brightness to show more detail. This, however, can wash out bright areas on your display. HDRi takes content and ambient lighting into consideration. By performing unique optimisation for your content and your environment, HDRi delivers an ideal image. Colours are vivid, improved contrast assures much better detail, and you have the confidence of working on an intelligent display.

Video games are by their name visual, and of course colour and detail are everything. Without accurate colours and detail retention, games lose their effect and are not as enjoyable. Even the prettiest game can become washed out or over-saturated, resulting in jarring visuals that pull you out of the experience. With technologies like HDRi, you not only get the most accurate depiction of each game, but also greater detail visibility, which is a tremendous advantage in competitive multiplayer. For really delving into game worlds and experiences, the finest displays are a must, and we believe at BenQ we do everything to provide you with immersive visuals.