Well we have wanted and speculated this could happen for so long that it feels a bit bittersweet to see it in action. It appears Valve is starting to test the waters with giving control over how Saturated you can make the screen. Previously, the only way to do this was using a plugin through Decky Loader called VibrantDeck, but with this integration, it seems you may not need it for much longer.

Valve adds SteamOS Vibrant and Saturation Controls

I initially saw a tweet from Phawx that brought it up and I was intrigued, so I replicated the OS channel he was on and there it was. To get this for yourself, enable "Advanced System Update Channels" in the "Developer" section of the settings and then switch to the "Main" OS system update channel and the Beta channel for the Steam Deck Client.

Valve's version is very simple so far though with only 4 set options of the saturation you can have. That seems to be the extent so far, but this isn't a stable or even beta option yet, so it makes sense how bare-bones it is. The VibrantDeck plugin still has significantly more functionality with more control over how to saturate the screen, so I wouldn't get rid of the plugin yet, but it is really awesome to see this so far.

So why would you even want to saturate the screen? Well, the biggest reason is to make those colors pop. The Steam Deck uses a regular IPS LCD panel, which does have some color restrictions compared to others like OLED. While we can't replicate it fully, increasing the saturation by a little bit can bring out the colors that aren't shown.

Compare
Before Saturation Change
After Saturation Change
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After Saturation Change
Before Saturation Change

The changes, especially in-game, can be significant and incredible, so having this control can really bring out colors we otherwise wouldn't see naturally on this screen panel! We don't know exactly when this could be released to the public, but time will tell, and we are hopeful it will be soon!

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Noah Kupetsky
A lover of gaming since 4, Noah has grown up with a love and passion for the industry. From there, he started to travel a lot and develop a joy for handheld and PC gaming. When the Steam Deck released, it just all clicked.
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