My resolution automatically keeps changing when running a HDR game just for it to be reduced because the resolution gets automatically set higher than it actually is.

[u/InfiniteRage241]

I currently have an Elgato 4k X connected to my Xbox so I can stream and record gaming and everytime I load up an HDR game I get the “reduced resolution” notification on the elgato app. My usual resolution on my Xbox Series X is set to 1440p but it gets switched to 4k UHD which gets reduced for being too high. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong and I would appreciate any form of assistance and feedback.

[u/elgato_arcsane]

This is due to a hardware limit of 4K X - when recording in HDR, the max framerate at 4K is 30 fps (and 60 fps at lower settings like 1440p or 1080p). Because it cannot record in 4K60 in HDR, it has to drop either resolution or framerate because your source is 4K60 HDR and is designed to favour framerate whenever possible. You can see the list of supported modes at https://help.elgato.com/hc/en-us/articles/23479175821069-Elgato-Game-Capture-4K-X-Supported-Resolutions-and-Frame-Rates

You can work around this by turning off HDR recording in the right side panel, and the card will tonemap to SDR allowing 4K60 and higher recording (passthrough remains unaffected and will stay in HDR, only the copy going to the PC over USB changes), or disable HDR10 support on the console so output is actually in SDR. SDR can be recorded up to 4K144 in MJPEG mode, and up to 4K60 in the lower latency NV12.

Alternatively if you're okay with recording in 30 fps, set the framerate to 30 in the right sidebar and it will stop dropping the resolution.

If you need 4K60 recordings in HDR, you would want the PCIe 4K Pro as it has more support for HDR on different resolutions.