So you've heard over and over again that Valve will be implementing their new HDR lighting technology in the upcoming Half Life 2 expansion, Aftermath. You have caught screenshots of the new technology and it looks great, but what exactly does HDR mean and what will it bring to the existing Source gaming engine?For a more detailed explanation of HDR (or High Dynamic Range), bit-rech.com have interviewed Valve's Doug Lombardi where they take an in-depth look at the technology and even compare screenshots in HDR to real life images in order to get a better idea of what to expect.
HDR stands for High Dynamic Range, and is also sometimes referred to as High Dynamic Range Imagery (HDRI) or High Dynamic Range Rendering (HDRR). The Dynamic Range is the ratio of the largest value of a signal to the lowest measurable value. Current 16-bit integer-based formats use colour component values from 0 ("black") to 1 ("white"), but don't allow for what is known as "over-range" values, for example, a whiter-than-white highlight glinting off a piece of metal.
HDR facilitates the use of colour values way outside the normal range in an effort to produce a more realistic rendering of a typical 3D scene. If you have ever driven through a dark tunnel in your car, and then emerged out the other side into blazing sunshine, temporarily blinded by the difference in light levels - that oversaturation is one example of what is possible with HDR
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