High-dynamic-range rendering

High-dynamic-range rendering (HDRR or HDR rendering), also known as high-dynamic-range lighting, is the rendering of computer graphics scenes by using lighting calculations done in high dynamic range (HDR). This allows preservation of details that may be lost due to limiting contrast ratios. Video games and computer-generated movies and special effects benefit from this as it creates more realistic scenes than with the more simplistic lighting models used.R420 series: X700, X700 Pro, X700 XT, X800, X800SE, X800 GT, X800 GTO, X800 Pro, X800 AIW, X800 XL, X800 XT, X800 XTPE, X850 Pro, X850 XT, X850 XTPERadeon RS690: X1200 mobilityGamma Chrome: S18 Pro, S18 Ultra, S25, S27GeForce 7: 7300 LE, 7300 GS, 7300 GT, 7600 GS, 7600 GT, 7800 GS, 7800 GT, 7800 GTX, 7800 GTX 512MB, 7900 GS, 7900 GT, 7950 GT, 7900 GTO, 7900 GTX, 7900 GX2, 7950 GX2, 7950 GT, RSX (PlayStation 3)R700 series: HD 4870 X2, HD 4890, HD 4870*, HD4850*, HD 4670*, HD 4650*GeForce 9 Series: 9800 GX2, 9800 GTX (+), 9800 GT, 9600 GT, 9600 GSO, 9500 GT, 9400 GT, 9300 GT, 9300 GS, 9200 GTR900 Series: HD 6990, HD 6970, HD 6950, HD 6870, HD 6850, HD 6770, HD 6750, HD 6670, HD 6570, HD 6450GeForce 500 Series: GTX 590, GTX 580, GTX 570, GTX 560 Ti, GTX 550 Ti High-dynamic-range rendering (HDRR or HDR rendering), also known as high-dynamic-range lighting, is the rendering of computer graphics scenes by using lighting calculations done in high dynamic range (HDR). This allows preservation of details that may be lost due to limiting contrast ratios. Video games and computer-generated movies and special effects benefit from this as it creates more realistic scenes than with the more simplistic lighting models used. Graphics processor company Nvidia summarizes the motivation for HDR in three points: bright things can be really bright, dark things can be really dark, and details can be seen in both. The use of high-dynamic-range imaging (HDRI) in computer graphics was introduced by Greg Ward in 1985 with his open-source Radiance rendering and lighting simulation software which created the first file format to retain a high-dynamic-range image. HDRI languished for more than a decade, held back by limited computing power, storage, and capture methods. Not until recently has the technology to put HDRI into practical use been developed. In 1990, Nakame, et al., presented a lighting model for driving simulators that highlighted the need for high-dynamic-range processing in realistic simulations. In 1995, Greg Spencer presented Physically-based glare effects for digital images at SIGGRAPH, providing a quantitative model for flare and blooming in the human eye. In 1997, Paul Debevec presented Recovering high dynamic range radiance maps from photographs at SIGGRAPH, and the following year presented Rendering synthetic objects into real scenes. These two papers laid the framework for creating HDR light probes of a location, and then using this probe to light a rendered scene.