Ive chosen a 16 bit file format for my HDR output and the generated output is very dark. Why?
True HDR file formats (like .exr and .hdr) have a virtually unlimited dynamic range, they don’t have a maximum brightness value that can be represented. On the other hand, 8 bit and 16 bit file formats do have a maximum brightness value of 255 and 65535, respectively. Any pixel brighter than this maximum would be clipped to the maximum allowed brightness. Clipped pixels are lost forever, reducing the brightness afterwards would not recover them. To prevent clipping when HDR data is written to 16 bit files, PTGui Pro reduces the brightness of the images such that the brightest pixel in all images does not exceed the maximum value of 65535. Note that the 16 bit HDR output should be regarded as ‘pseudo HDR’: it can be used to edit layered HDR files in any 16 bit capable application. But if post processing is done in an HDR capable application, it’s better to choose a true 32 bit HDR output format such as .hdr or .exr.
Related Questions
- What if I convert a file into same format several times saving in the same output folder without setting different output names respectively? Will your program just overwrite the previous conversion?
- Ive chosen a 16 bit file format for my HDR output and the generated output is very dark. Why?
- What format is the nmon output file?
