Photoshop 27.8.0 – HDR Causes System-Wide Dimming and Washed-Out Whites on Windows 11

Dear Adobe Technical Support,

I am experiencing a serious HDR-related display issue with Adobe Photoshop 27.8.0 on Windows 11. The problem affects not only Photoshop but the brightness and color appearance of my entire monitor whenever I interact with Photoshop's editing interface.

System configuration:

• Adobe Photoshop: 27.8.0

• Operating System: Windows 11 Pro

• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 12 GB

• Monitor: LG 34-inch UltraWide, 3440 × 1440, 160 Hz, HDR-capable

• Windows HDR: Enabled

Problem description:

When Windows HDR is enabled, Photoshop displays whites as noticeably gray and dim compared to other applications.

More importantly, whenever I click inside Photoshop's canvas or interact with its tools, the entire monitor becomes darker, whites turn gray, and overall brightness and contrast appear significantly reduced.

This affects every application visible on the screen, not just Photoshop.

When I switch focus to another application, the monitor returns to its normal brightness and color appearance after approximately 1–2 seconds.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Enable HDR in Windows 11.

2. Open Photoshop 27.8.0 and Notepad++ side by side, each occupying half the screen.

3. Observe the normal bright whites in Notepad++.

4. Click inside Photoshop's canvas or select a Photoshop tool.

5. The entire display immediately becomes dimmer, including the Notepad++ window.

6. Click back inside Notepad++.

7. After approximately 1–2 seconds, the entire display returns to its normal brightness and white levels.

Interestingly, clicking only Photoshop's title bar does not trigger the issue. It occurs when interacting with the editing interface.

Troubleshooting already performed:

• Disabled "Precise Color Management for HDR Display" under Technology Previews: No improvement.

• Completely disabled Windows HDR: The problem disappears.

• With HDR disabled, Photoshop no longer changes the brightness or color appearance of other applications, and whites are displayed normally.

These tests strongly suggest an interaction between Photoshop's rendering pipeline and the Windows HDR display system.

Why this is a serious concern:

I use Photoshop professionally for photography, image editing, and print production. Accurate perception of whites, brightness, contrast, and color is essential to my work.

If Photoshop changes the appearance of the entire display while editing, I cannot reliably judge whether the colors and brightness I am seeing represent the actual image.

Request for technical assistance:

Could you please investigate this behavior and clarify:

1. Is this a known issue involving Photoshop, Windows 11 HDR, and NVIDIA GPUs?

2. Is there an official fix, patch, or recommended configuration that resolves it without disabling Windows HDR?

3. Could Photoshop's GPU rendering or HDR presentation mechanism be triggering a system-wide change in display luminance?

4. Are there any specific settings or diagnostic procedures you recommend?

I would prefer a permanent solution that allows Photoshop to operate correctly while Windows HDR remains enabled, rather than having to disable HDR whenever I edit photographs.

Thank you for your attention. I look forward to your technical assessment and recommendations.

Best regards,