Don't like the way your HDR looks? Virtual HDR OSD for Windows 11 is for you!
Hi everyone!
I got tired of one particular limitation of my HDR monitor: as soon as I enable HDR, its built-in OSD locks out most of the useful color controls.
So I made Virtual HDR OSD for Windows, a small open-source Windows 11 utility that lets you fine-tune an HDR ICC/ICM profile through a simple GUI, almost like having a software OSD for adjustments that the monitor no longer exposes in HDR mode.
In my particular case, my AOC Q27G3XMN has a noticeably warmer HDR white balance, with a yellow/red cast compared with the much more neutral SDR mode I prefer. The app lets me make small RGB, white-balance, gamma, saturation, brightness and contrast corrections and visually match HDR much more closely to SDR.
The idea is not to replace proper hardware calibration. I actually recommend first creating a baseline profile with Microsoft's Windows HDR Calibration app and then using Virtual HDR OSD only for small subjective corrections or for matching the display to your preferred SDR appearance.
SDR-in-HDR gamma correction
The project also integrates an optional implementation based on Dylan Raga's excellent win11hdr-srgb-to-gamma2.2-icm project:
https://github.com/dylanraga/win11hdr-srgb-to-gamma2.2-icm
Windows 11 normally renders SDR content inside HDR using the piecewise sRGB transfer function rather than a conventional pure gamma 2.2 curve. This can make shadows and darker midtones look noticeably lighter/washed out on displays normally viewed around gamma 2.2.
The correction is optional and can be toggled on the fly:
Alt+1 → Gamma correction OFF Alt+2 → Gamma correction ON
This is especially useful because the correction is intended for SDR content displayed while Windows HDR is enabled; native HDR content does not require the same transformation.
The watchdog
I've repeatedly encountered Windows 11 restoring or associating the wrong SDR/HDR color profile after switching HDR modes, particularly when using Win + Alt + B.
Virtual HDR OSD therefore includes an installable background watchdog that keeps track of the SDR and HDR profile associations and restores the appropriate profile after a mode change.
And if you don't care about the GUI or profile editing at all, the watchdog is also available as a completely standalone BAT.
NOTE:
The standalone watchdog only fixes the SDR-HDR association bug; it does not include the ON/OFF hotkey for the gamma curve correction. That feature is only available if you install it from the app.
Download / source
Everything is available here:
GitHub Project:
https://github.com/Mixomo/Virtual-HDR-OSD-for-Windows-11
Exe. Release:
GitHub: https://github.com/Mixomo/Virtual-HDR-OSD-for-Windows-11/releases/tag/1.0.0
SourceForge: https://sourceforge.net/projects/virtual-hdr-osd-for-windows-11/
The repository includes the full documentation and usage guide, source code, the standalone watchdog, and instructions for running or building the project yourself. A compiled portable EXE is also available for people who just want to run the application without setting up the Python environment.
The project is specifically intended as a practical, subjective fine-tuning tool rather than a replacement for a colorimeter or professional display-calibration workflow.
Hope you find useful!
