Skip to main content

Is this better than real life? Microsoft claims DX12 can make it happen

microsoft direct 12 high dynamic range colors hdrba
Mermaid-en/Deviantart
Microsoft has talked up its new DirectX12 API a lot in the past couple of months, using the likes of Ashes of the Singularity to showcase its additional draw-cell capabilities, and extolling the much improved benefits of multi-GPU setups under the new standard. However, one of the biggest advantages of DX12 could be its focus on High Dynamic Range (HDR), which could take us beyond photo-realism in short order.

The details about what Microsoft is doing with HDR and DirectX12 were spilled at this year’s Games Developer Conference. In its technical discussion of the technology, it highlighted how with HDR, developers would be able to have very different types of lighting and reflections based on the surface reflection and the light source itself.

DX12 is capable of showing clear differences between fluorescent colors and specular highlights — which could mean more realistic indoor environments, better explosions, and more varied light sources (as per Winbeta).

Related: AMD could steal the performance crown in DirectX12

All of this means more realistic games, and Microsoft went so far as to say on one slide that it thought it would take us “beyond” photo realism before long. While this might seem an excessive claim, it is indeed doable. Photographs that have received HDR post-processing often look unreal in how deep and varied the colors can be.

And it’s those sorts of unbelievable and fantastical environments and games we might get to see in the near future thanks to DirectX 12.

In the shorter term though, it will mean prettier sparks and particle effects and better ways for directing user attention to certain parts of an environment, or better highlighting of important parts of the user interface.

Really though, HDR is just one more feather in DirectX12’s cap, and with all of its other benefits, it’s a very exciting time to be a PC gamer. Now if we could get our hands on some Pascal/Polaris hardware to power it, we’d be golden.

If you don’t have a DX12 compatible GPU at the moment, are you planning on upgrading later this year?

Jon Martindale
Jon Martindale is the Evergreen Coordinator for Computing, overseeing a team of writers addressing all the latest how to…
Best OLED monitor deals: Get an OLED screen from just $450
Marvel's Spider-Man running on the Samsung Odyssey OLED G8.

Shopping some of the best monitor deals is a good way to save on some extra screen real estate, but if you’re looking for something that can produce a stunning image you should turn your shopping cart toward the OLED monitors. OLED is one of the best picture technologies currently available, and it can create a lifelike image that makes interacting with games, presentations, and creative work much more immersive. The best OLED monitors can run pretty expensive, but that’s what OLED monitor deals are for. If you’re looking for superior picture quality and some ways to save, read onward for more details on the best OLED monitor deals taking place right now.
ViewSonic 15.6-inch VX1655 4K OLED portable monitor — $450, was $500

Getting into the OLED game can be both affordable and portable with the ViewSonic VX1655. It’s a 4K OLED display that’s made to function as either a laptop extension or something to pair with a tablet. It comes in at a super sharp 4K resolution and a refresh rate of 60Hz. This isn’t something you’d want to pair with a gaming PC, but it’s a great little display to keep with you if you do creative work on the run or want some extra screen real estate while working on a tablet at your desk.

Read more
Best monitor deals: Gaming, office, curved, OLED and more
Dell UltraSharp 27 4K PremierColor Monitor

Whether you prefer to work at one of the best desktop computers, the best laptops, or anything in between, an external monitor can be helpful to add some extra screen real estate. One of the best monitors can even go a long way toward reducing eye strain and creating an immersive digital or gaming experience. While high end monitors can get quite expensive, there are always some impressive monitor deals to shop, and we’ve tracked them all down. Reading onward you’ll find what we feel are the best monitor deals, whether you’re shopping for 4K monitors, gaming monitors, ultrawide monitors, or more general monitors meant for all-purpose users.
Best monitor deals

The following deals represent a best-of of the deals below. They're selected to give a mixture of prices, styles, and levels of discount. If you don't see something you like, don't worry, as the following sections will have plenty more deals for you to choose from. However, this is a highly recommended place to start:

Read more
7 best Chromebooks for 2024: the best for every budget
Close up of the Chrome logo on the top of a Chromebook.

Chromebooks might have a hard time competing with Windows laptops and MacBooks, but that doesn't mean they don't have their place. We've reviewed hundreds of laptops over the years, testing for important qualities like performance, battery life, and display quality — and we've found that Chromebooks consistently excel at performance and reliability.

You can find Chromebooks from Google, HP, Lenovo, Acer, and many others, and we've dug through them to put together this roundup of the best Chromebooks on the market. They're incredibly accessible devices, and for the right person, a Chromebook can be the best laptop in terms of value.

Read more