Intel's Windows FCU Graphics Driver Update Brings HDR, XR Support

By Kevin Carbotte
published

The recent Windows 10 Fall Creators update introduced several new features to the popular operating system. Intel was a little late to the party with a graphics driver for the new version of Windows 10, but the company finally released one that has support for the new Windows features, such as the Windows Mixed Reality platform.

Microsoft believes that the Windows MR platform is the foundation for the future of computing, and it put a lot of effort into ensuring that Windows MR is accessible to as many people as possible. Unlike the Steam VR (HTC Vive) and Oculus Home (Rift) platforms that require high-end gaming PCs to function, you don’t need an expensive discrete graphics card to experience the basic functions of Windows Mixed Reality. The Windows MR platform supports the integrated Intel UHD or HD Graphics 620 found in 7th generation Intel Core processors (Skylake).

You won't get the full experience out of Windows MR without a discrete GPU, but Intel’s HD 620 graphics hardware is powerful enough for productivity, passive entertainment, and basic games in the Windows MR platform. For example, we've seen Minecraft VR running nicely on an Ultrabook.

The new Intel Graphics Driver for Windows isn’t just for Windows MR. The driver also enables HDR video playback on HD Graphics 620 and UHD Graphics 620 hardware. And if you have a processor that supports Intel’s higher-end Iris Pro integrated graphics, the new driver includes performance optimizations for a handful of recent AAA games, including Middle Earth: Shadow of War, Pro Evolution Soccer 2018, Destiny 2, Call of Duty: WWII, and Divinity: Original Sin 2.

You can find the latest version of the Intel Graphics Driver for Windows at Intel’s driver download center.

Kevin Carbotte

 Kevin Carbotte is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware who primarily covers VR and AR hardware. He has been writing for us for more than four years. 

7 Comments Comment from the forums
  • hannibal
    Any information if the new driver support adaptive sync?
    Intel support the adaptive sync but has it implemented it in their drivers yet?
    Reply
  • derekullo
    I'm having a feeling my Intel® HD Graphics 530 won't be able to play Crysis in VR.

    I guess I will have to settle for a health bar in the top left corner of my vision.

    Maybe add Level (Age), Food, Ammunition, Mana and Power Level.
    Reply
  • Tanyac
    So, still no UHD HDR support for discrete graphics cards? It's just plain dumb to have to run two HDMI cables to my TV, one from the iGPU and one from my GTX 1070 for 1080p and 2160 HDR content..
    Reply
  • bit_user
    20357464 said:
    It's just plain dumb to have to run two HDMI cables to my TV, one from the iGPU and one from my GTX 1070 for 1080p and 2160 HDR content..
    I do basically the same thing, and it's not so bad.

    My A/V receiver has two outputs and my TV allows me to enable low-latency "game mode" on a per-input basis. So, one of my receiver's outputs goes to the TV's input with game mode enabled, and the other goes to the input in movie mode. When I switch between games and movies, I switch inputs on the TV. This is easier than going through the menus and enabling/disabling game mode, every time. The benefit of movie mode is better de-interlacing and other picture enhancements that I don't want to forego.
    Reply
  • aaronb72
    No 4K HDR support is ridiculous. It's almost 2018!!!
    Reply
  • Tanyac
    20361289 said:
    20357464 said:
    It's just plain dumb to have to run two HDMI cables to my TV, one from the iGPU and one from my GTX 1070 for 1080p and 2160 HDR content..
    I do basically the same thing, and it's not so bad.

    My A/V receiver has two outputs and my TV allows me to enable low-latency "game mode" on a per-input basis. So, one of my receiver's outputs goes to the TV's input with game mode enabled, and the other goes to the input in movie mode. When I switch between games and movies, I switch inputs on the TV. This is easier than going through the menus and enabling/disabling game mode, every time. The benefit of movie mode is better de-interlacing and other picture enhancements that I don't want to forego.

    My receiver is built into my Blu-ray player, which is 3D and connected to a 4K 3D TV. My PC has a 4K cable going to the TV. I have a Pioneer BDR-211EBK for 4K playback, which I have yet to get working. So one HDMI from the iGPU, and another from the GTX 1070 Strix. Then I have a 4K cable going from the Receiver/Player to play 3D discs from there.

    As I back up my discs and store them offsite, I often run into Problems with Cinavia, requiring the use of WinDVD 12 and AnyDVD HD to play those discs. Iegally own every movie I have.

    This is way too complicated. I should just have one device that connects to the TV with one cable and everything work.

    As Aaronb72 observed, were have the technology for this day and age. The problem is the media/entertainment cartels who are trying to make everything as difficult as possible. And as I said, that's just plain stupid.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    20386556 said:
    This is way too complicated. I should just have one device that connects to the TV with one cable and everything work.
    Maybe you're too demanding? A lot of people have simple solutions that "just work" for them, but you've added a lot of requirements and constraints. If you want a simple solution, then try simplifying the problem.

    20386556 said:
    The problem is the media/entertainment cartels who are trying to make everything as difficult as possible. And as I said, that's just plain stupid.
    I feel you, especially with the Cinavia issues. I just watch everything straight from disc, but I actually think we take it for granted that we can even get content on discs. I'm sure there's already plenty of content that's streaming-only. And this will only increase, over time. There will probably never be an 8k disc format, or one for VR movies, etc.
    Reply