Dell Precision 5540 and HDR

I have the same issue. I can’t enable HDR on my 5540 either. I’ve tried 2 HDR-10 monitors, HDMI, DisplayPort, and Dock connection. Nothing seems to work.

I’ve read a few posts about the GPU passing through the 630 chipset which makes me think this is the problem. No matter what I do I can’t get my external monitor to show up on the Nvidia GPU in the Nvidia control software.

There should be an option in the system Bios to give your Nvidia GPU exclusive control over the external display connectors (Display-Port and HDMI).  The issue you are having may be related to the Intel UHD Graphics. (If the option is available you might want to try disabling Optimus or Graphics Switching all together)

Once this is set, you should be able to click on that display in the Windows Display Settings and enable HDR.

Make sure that you are running the newest graphics drivers from both Intel and Nvidia.  (The Windows Update published versions may or may not work for HDR).

There is no option to switch to exclusively use NVIDIA GPU in the bios on my precision 5540 or 5550. No HDR output at all! How do I enable it?

@JamesJAB1  That BIOS option only exists on Precision 7000 Series systems and the new 5750 when ordered with an RTX GPU.  This is also the case for the Precision 500 Series sister systems, namely the XPS 15 and 17.  The XPS 17 when ordered with an RTX GPU has this option, but the XPS 15 doesn't, nor do XPS 17s with GTX GPUs.

In terms of HDR, one of the possible issues here is that HDMI 2.0 when running 4K resolution can only carry 2 of the following 3 things at a time: HDR, 60 Hz, and 4:4:4 "full" chroma.  There isn't enough bandwidth to carry all 3 of those simultaneously when running 4K.  So if you want 4K 60 Hz HDR, you need to reduce chroma to 4:2:0, but I'm not sure if the Intel GPU that controls the display outputs actually supports that.

The other possibility is that this is a limitation of the fact that the Intel GPU only supports DisplayPort 1.2, not 1.4.  DisplayPort 1.2 has no formal support for HDR (and doesn't have enough bandwidth for 4K 60 Hz HDR at 4:4:4 chroma either), and it's possible that the HDMI 2.0 output on the system is driven by a DisplayPort 1.2 GPU output with an HDMI signal converter chip in the path, since I don't think the Intel GPU built into the CPUs used in those systems has native HDMI 2.0 support.

The second suggestion seems more likely as I tried to set the refresh rate to 25hz with no effect. 

Regards

Looks like I am not the only one who is plagued with this issue.

Let me give you some more perspective on this issue if it is helps.

I was using Precision 5530 and connected Dell UltraSharp 27 4K HDR Monitor: UP2718Q via Dell WD19TB Thunderbolt Docking Station.

5530 has HDMI 2.0 which doesnt support HDR, so had to use the docking station. When the monitor is connected via Display port which is DP1.4 port, for some reason i never got HDR option though technically it should work. But when I connect the same via HDMI (From monitor to Docking station) I got HDR and it worked. The only problem i had was that it was giving 8-bit with dithering and not 10-bit.

Now i just changed the laptop to Precision 5540 and the remaining setup remains the same. To my wonder the HDR option vanished. I tried multiple troubleshooting by connecting the monitor directly to laptop since 5540 got HDMI 2.0b port which technically should output 4K HDR. and connecting to the docking station via DP and HDMI etc, but it vain. I even updated the intel DCH driver via different modes (Windows update, Intel update, Dell update) but none helped. One of my other friend use the exact same setup as me and he too not getting HDR in 5540. Looks like we all stuck even after having everything we need it to work.

If at all anyone find any kind of solution, please share it with us all so that we can finally work in peace

Thank you Diwagar for bringing this issue to attention again. I second that if anyone finds a solution, please post! Best Trond