What's the difference between 4K Ultra HD, HDR, and Xbox One X Enhanced games?

Watch Xbox One X enhanced games video. Video only available in English

Xbox One X opens a window onto several visual enhancements that target the latest UHD (ultra-high-definition) TVs. As you shop for Xbox games, you’ll see these terms in various combination, depending on the game: 4K Ultra HD, HDR, and Xbox One X Enhanced. Here’s a breakdown on each.

4K refers to image resolution, or the number of pixels used for each image. Games described as being 4K offer a resolution of 3840 pixels × 2160 lines, offering substantially higher resolution of 1080p HD. To view 4K games at their native resolution, your TV must be 4K-capable.

Visual dynamic range refers to the difference between the darkest and brightest information a game can show. As suggested by the term HDR, or high dynamic range, some games offer darker darks and brighter brights than others, depending on the screen you view them on. HDR on Xbox has a 10-bit color range, or wide color gamut, which uses more colors for a richer, more detailed image. On Xbox, this feature also goes by the name Dolby Vision, which is used by some video apps.

Enable 4K HDR on your Xbox One X or Xbox One S to get the visual benefit of games and apps that support HDR. To see HDR visuals, your TV must be HDR-certified and support either the HDR10 or the latest Dolby Vision standard. This means it must have a display range that skews toward either extra brightness (peak brightness over 1000 cd/m2 and black level below 0.05 cd/m2, for a contrast ratio of at least 20,000:1) or extra darkness (peak brightness over 540 cd/m2 and black level less than 0.0005 cd/m2, for a contrast ratio of at least 1,080,000:1).

Most TVs that support Dolby Vision will also support HDR10, so for the best HDR experience, enable both on your Xbox. However, if your TV supports Dolby Vision but not HDR10, you’ll get HDR from your Xbox only while viewing apps that use Dolby Vision.

To see if your TV supports Dolby Vision on Xbox, check your console’s 4K TV Details (Settings > Display & sound > Video output > 4K TV details), or check the list from Dolby.

Note The linked file is in English only.

Games that are said to be Xbox One X Enhanced offer one or more of the following benefits over non-Enhanced editions:

• Graphic enhancements
• Additional visual effects
• Higher framerate
• Higher resolution (up to 4K, depending on your TV)