I mean... I did "research". The specs said HDR. Or at least seemed to. This is why I hate shopping for TVs and Monitors and why it took me so long to buy one. None of this shit makes sense because there is so much terminology and bullshit. I thought I bought the fucking monitor Regime linked!! It's got 2 different letters and it's fucking different.
FUCK!
Anyway it actually doesn't matter. I'll keep it in SDR and use it as my second monitor once I can snag a 3080 and buy a 4k true HDR monitor. Guess now I know. What you're saying makes sense and I was wondering why the fuck the monitor looked better in SDR mode. I thought my eyes were broken or something.
Yeah, monitor marketing is full of a lot of bullshit, unfortunately.
In this case, when it says 'HDR10' it literally just means it can accept an HDR signal, and that the system will recognize it as being capable of it. The problem is that the system has no actual consideration for how well it can display the HDR. So, it's sending display data intended for something that can display it well.
Many cheaper monitors are at least capable of 'HDR400' which means that it's at the bottom tier of HDR quality, but yours isn't even at that level.
Now, keep in mind that HDR in PC gaming is generally dogshit as it is right now due to few supporting games, and even some of the very expensive monitors ($1000) are still not all that great at it. And even then, windows should still be displayed as SDR instead of HDR because it's not designed for HDR. The games/movies will usually just activate it on their own.
Right now, if you really want good HDR, your only option is going with a decent TV as a monitor. The super expensive monitors with HDR can reach the brightness for good HDR, but they lack the proper number of dimming zones.
This article should help a bit as well:
Share this contentMarketing a display as supporting HDR (High Dynamic Range) is becoming increasingly common in the monitor market with most new displays talking about how great HDR is, and....[click link for more]
www.tftcentral.co.uk