HDR Software Review

In photography, bracketing is the general technique of taking several shots of the same subject using different or the same camera settings. Bracketing is useful and often recommended in situations that make it difficult to obtain a satisfactory image with a single shot, especially when a small variation in exposure parameters has a comparatively large effect on the resulting image. Auto bracketing is automatic bracketing by using a setting on the camera to take several bracketed shots (in contrast to the photographer altering the settings by hand between each shot).

HDR Sofware works with differently exposed photos. To get good results, it is important that each one of the source photos are taken with a sufficiently different exposure in order to properly cover the dynamic range of the scene. Taking three photos separated by two EVs (i.e. two full-stops), or five photos separated by one EV, will be sufficient for most outdoors scenes.

What’s the difference between global tone mapping and local tone mapping?

Global tone mapping technologies refer to techniques that use a monotonic mapping curve to independently transfer real-world lighting and color to your display. These technologies are relatively simple and fast. However, these technologies cannot give impressive results.

Tone Mapping is the technology used to convert 32-bit float pointing format to 8-bit images for display or print, which captures our visual experience in the process of conversion. Since 32-bit float pointing radiance map is also called digital HDR negative, Tone Mapping can be regarded as the corresponding development process of the conventional photography workflow.

What are the system requirements for Photomatix?

On both platforms:

• 1 GB of RAM (more recommended, the more the better)
• 500 MB of available hard-disk space (more recommended)
• 1,024×768 or greater monitor resolution
• Color monitor with 16-bit color or greater video card