With Elgato Studio, you can control whether your capture device applies HDR-to-SDR tone mapping for third-party apps like OBS Studio. This setting is found in the device settings menu and is available on Windows for capture devices that support HDR.
What this setting does
While Elgato Studio is running, it manages HDR tone mapping automatically based on your recording settings. You do not need to configure anything manually during normal use.
This toggle controls what happens after Elgato Studio is closed. When enabled, your capture device continues to apply hardware-based HDR-to-SDR tone mapping on its own. That means any third-party app that accesses the device directly will receive a properly converted SDR image, even without Elgato Studio running in the background.
Why it matters
If your source outputs an HDR signal and you open a third-party app like OBS Studio without Elgato Studio running, the app receives the raw video signal from your capture device. Without hardware tone mapping active, that HDR signal displayed in an SDR workflow can look washed out, with flat colors and incorrect brightness.
Enabling this setting prevents that by having the capture device handle the HDR-to-SDR conversion before the signal reaches the app. The result is a correctly displayed image in your third-party software without any additional configuration.
For a deeper look at how tone mapping works and which Elgato capture devices support it, check out our guide on What is HDR Tonemapping.
When to enable it
Enable this setting if you use third-party capture or streaming software alongside or instead of Elgato Studio, and your source outputs HDR content. This applies to apps like OBS Studio, Streamlabs, or any other software that accesses your capture device directly.
With this enabled, HDR sources will look correct in those apps without needing to set up software-based tone mapping manually.
When to leave it disabled
If you only use Elgato Studio for recording, this setting has no effect. Elgato Studio manages tone mapping on its own while it is running.
You can also leave it disabled if your third-party app already handles HDR-to-SDR tone mapping in software. OBS Studio, for example, has built-in tone mapping options that can be configured within the app.
Open Elgato Studio, check the device settings menu, and adjust the setting to match your workflow.
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