HDR with MX using RCX and any HDR app

[Nils Ruinet]

Nobody knows how EPIC feature 21 will work.




Here in this tread it was a basic idea about "possible" HDR out of MX today (12 bit) that I displayed at 30 bit LCD like a HP Dreamcolor.

Some of complaints were already expected from a sort of "doctors" and "professors" here :laugh:

and of course that could come from the people who watch it mostly at LDR 6 bit to 8 bit ordinary LCD.

Also no doubts that there are many ways of HDR interpretation and variability.

My point here is just that the idea with HDR is to increase the dynamic range of your camera by combining muliple exposures into one image.
What you've been doing here isn't increasing the dynamic range of the MX at all, you're just maximising what you've already got. So I wouldn't call that HDR, it only adds to the confusion. Call it "tone mapping" if you want. But not HDR.
#21 is supposed to increase it by a few stops, which is pretty different.

And I'm not saying your tests aren't interesting, because they are.
I just think there are easier ways to achieve similar results, using the curves for instance. :smile:

 

[Nils Ruinet]

It is the tone mapped image that most people think of with HDR.

You're perfectly right, but that's exactly the issue.

Because HDR is much more than just that ugly (in my opinion) tone mapping we've been seeing, especially for us.
I don't think RED is thinking of tone mapping when they are working on their new HDRx mode. The idea is to get an even flatter image that will allow for more room in post production.

I'm just saying that by comparison to the native DR of digital cameras before the last year or so, a 13+ stop camera IS an HDR device.

True, but my guess is that as the DR of the sensors keeps increasing, so will what we consider to be HDR.

 

[Sanjin Jukic]

To give you some more food for thought in thinking about HDR:

All you need to know about the DxOMark Sensor scale

DxOMark Sensor metrics and photospace

DxOMark Sensor is an objective scale designed to simplify comparison of digital camera RAW-sensor performance in typical,
real-life photographic scenarios.
To build this scale, we have identified key areas of real-world photography that are as different from one another as possible,
and yet taken together, generally describe the entire photo space. The three photographic scenarios and their corresponding metrics
that we have selected are: landscape photography (maximum Dynamic Range); studio & portrait photography (Color Depth);
and photojournalism & action photography (Low-Light ISO). The DxOMark Sensor score itself reports an overall Image Quality
performance value that is computed from these three metrics, Color Depth, Dynamic Range, and Low-Light ISO.

All three metrics are extracted from the Image Quality database camera RAW-sensor data.
On the DxOMark Sensor scale, the higher the score, the better.
(The scale is kept open, anticipating that sensor technology will continuously improve over time.)
The three scenarios and their associated metrics are described in detail in the following pages.
Note:
For all bar graph representations of the DxOMark Sensor scale and Metrics across the site, we utilize the minimum
and the maximum value found for each metric from among all cameras tested.
The value on the right indicates the actual maximum value for the considered metric,
and the value reported on top of the bar is the actual value for the selected camera.
The maximum (right) and minimum (left) bar ends are set to the actual measured values plus or minus 10% of the difference between
actual maximum and minimum measured values for all cameras.

LINK>>>

HDR means High Dynamic Range to us... it does not mean tone-mapping. Speculate all you want here. We aren't giving out the specifics of how it works until it is released.

Jim

We won't do HDR the same as anyone else just a no one has developed a sensor with the noise characteristics of the M-X sensor.

Jim

A lot of people think of tone-mapping when HDR comes up. We don't. We think of high dynamic range.

Jim

I love that the abbreviation HDR means different things to different people. Some see it as capturing a high dynamic range, some see it as tonemapping. It's amazing the reaction that those three letters provoke. Interesting times my friends....

Graeme

 

[Sanjin Jukic]

Now the things are getting much better here with HDR effect applied to MX images:

Shot on R1-MX with Leica-Apo Summicron f/2.0 @ wide open f/2.0, ISO 1600, 25 fps, 1/50 shutter, original image output from RCX.

From DxO Optics Pro 6 HDR effect apply preset screen grab...

Shot on R1-MX with Leica-Apo Summicron 75mm f/2.0 @ wide open f/2.0, ISO 1600, 25 fps, 1/50 shutter, HDR effect enhanced image with DxO Optics Pro 6.