Microsoft to offer Xbox HDR calibration app and windowed gaming optimizations for Windows 11

Windows 11 Xbox feature cover EDITED.png

Microsoft will soon roll out some Xbox features for our fellow PC gamers on Windows 11. The company plans to bring the Xbox HDR Game Calibration app and optimizations for windowed gaming to the operating system (OS). Through the features, users will get to enjoy improved colour accuracy and consistency of an HDR display, plus run older games with less input lag, Auto HDR, and Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) when they're in windowed mode.

Windows 11 already has the Auto HDR feature from the Xbox Series X / S consoles on board. Now, it's time for some optimizations for windowed games that will allow them to support Auto HDR and VRR. After it comes out, users will find a "Optimizations for windowed games" option in settings. Turning it on will apply to older DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 games, which you typically had to run in fullscreen previously to get all the latency and performance benefits. For the DirectX 12 games, they already "take advantage of the new presentation mode," said Hannah Fisher, a program manager in the graphics and DirectX team at Microsoft.

Windows 11 Xbox feature 1.png

Windows 11 Xbox feature 2.png

However, it is expected to bring bugs and issues as these optimizations are still in test builds of Windows 11 this week. To minimize the problem, Microsoft will allow users to exclude specific games or apps if anything goes wrong. According to Fisher, the team has also "disabled apps that have known issues on default to ensure that you have the best settings without having to do much guesswork on what might be wrong."

Lastly, Microsoft has promised to roll out updates for the OS more regularly rather than putting out changes in one shot annually. What do you think about the features? Let us know your opinion by leaving a comment, and stay tuned to TechNave.com for the latest tech report.