Hot take: AutoHDR tech such as Special K or RTX HDR never actually improves picture

I really, really wanted my TV to shine in my favourite games and to use all of its capabilities so I tried Special K and a few other options. But unless a game had native HDR I always ended up going back to SDR eventually. It just never looked quite right. More punchy, yes, but it felt like a photo with artificially boosted saturation and contrast.

Also, it often felt like it ruined the original artistic vision. That cat in Stray? It only looked cat-like in native SDR. Cats just don't have such saturated colors in real life, they look... normal, even orange ones lol. Artificial HDR ruined that "normalness" and with it, immersion.

I can understand why someone might prefer the punchier picture and a lot of people swear by the SDR-to-HDR tech. But I think it needs to be said that this is not an "improvement". It's an arbitrary modification and may not be for everybody.

Context: I have a modified Samsung S95B (i.e. one of the finest displays in existence). I paid a professional dude to do professional calibration. You could say I am a videophile.