Windows 11 Bug Changes White To Yellow On HDR Displays

Microsoft has confirmed a color issue affecting users working in "some image editing programs... on certain HDR displays" in Windows 11. The most frequently observed symptom of this issue is where a bright yellow hue replaces the white regions in images.

If the circumstances in which the color issue occurs sound somewhat undefined, that is probably one of the reasons Microsoft hasn't picked it up until now. However, having your whites rendered in bright yellow isn't a great experience by any measure (whether that be in computing, laundry, or dentistry) and would surely repulse the content creator segment Microsoft wishes to appeal to with its premium Surface computers and accessories.

Microsoft's latest ugly bug in Windows 11 affects version 21H2 of the OS. The issue details section shared by Microsoft on the Windows 11 release health status pages says that various image editors and HDR displays might exhibit this issue. However, misrendering whites as bright yellow isn't the only symptom of the underlying issue; testers observed this is merely the most common color mismatch problem.

"This issue occurs when certain color-rendering Win32 APIs return unexpected information or errors under specific conditions," explains Microsoft to the more technically minded. "Not all color profile management programs are affected, and color profile options available in the Windows 11 Settings page, including Microsoft Color Control Panel, are expected to function correctly."

Users currently wrestling with this HDR error don't seem to have any workaround to the issue at the time of writing. However, Microsoft's shame must be a spur to get a fix out ASAP. The Redmond-based software giant hasn't provided an exact date for delivery of a solution to the headlining HDR color issue, but it gives an estimate of "late January."

Windows 11 has had its fair share of bugs since its launch in early October. Despite Microsoft pitching the new OS as a significant advance for gamers, it had some unfortunate processor speed-sapping bugs, as well as slower disk performance until recently.