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Valve's High Dynamic Range Explored

 by Josh Venning on September 30, 2005 12:05 AM EST
47 Comments | Add A Comment
47 Comments
Image Comparison

For those used to the look of Half life 2 and Counterstrike: Source, the new HDR effects in Day of Defeat probably won't blow your socks off. The enhancements are subtle, but you can definitely tell that they are there. Most noticeable is the auto exposure effect, which simulates the way that the eye can be blinded slightly by stepping into the sun from a dark area. While some might complain that this is annoying, it seems to us that annoying or not, it adds another dimension to the gameplay. In other words, in a real battle, the sun in your eyes will affect your aim, thus adding to the realism of the game. The bloom effect is noticeable as well, and it is very effective at making light in the game seem brighter than it really is.

Below are some images that compare the different modes. The top-most image is with no HDR enabled, the middle image is with bloom only enabled, and the bottom is full HDR enabled.


Click to enlarge.


Click to enlarge.


Click to enlarge.

At a glance, it's easy to tell that the image with full HDR enabled is brighter than the one with no HDR enabled, but the differences between the images are subtle. Pay special attention to the glare of the sun on the rifle, as this gives you a sense of the different levels of lighting. Notice how in the middle image (with bloom only enabled), the lighter colors in the distance on the buildings and sand are much brighter and create more contrast to the scene. And with the bottom-most image (full HDR enabled), you can see how the combination of the bloom and auto-exposure brighten the scene even more. This may seem very bright, but keep in mind that this is one of the widest spaces in any of the four maps. The game smoothly brightens or darkens the screen depending on where you are in the map, and the highest contrast ratios are observed when looking out of a dark area into a bright one (or vice versa).

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  • eastvillager - Monday, October 3, 2005 - link

    Screenshots don't do it justice, nor does 'trying' it for 5 minutes, deciding you don't like it and then going back to your old config. It adds considerably to the experience, for me at least.

  • Marsumane - Sunday, October 2, 2005 - link

    Im not so sure I agree that the NV cards are not as good at implementing this engine's HDR effects due to the fact that the NV cards are all one of two extremes. They are either the highest end cards which crush the entire ati lineup and dont provide a good comparison, or they are the lowest-tier card in the roundup with no real direct competition. I mean just look at the memory bandwidth of the 6600gt as well as the pixel pipelines and ull find that it has no real comparison to the ati cards benched. Furthermore, I dont see how the ATI cards have anything to compare to either. It seems as if the top NV card had the least impact from implementing HDR and it just scaled down the list fairly evenly. Maybe the conclusion was made based upon the numbers of cards not posted, but from my perception, based on reading the numbers on here, I'm not seeing any real reason to state that NV cards do worse than ATI cards in this comparison. Furthermore, look at the x800 from bloom to full HDR. The 6600gt had less of a percentage hit as compared to the x800. Maybe I missed something, but does anyone else see this? Please correct me if im wrong.

  • gamara - Tuesday, October 4, 2005 - link

    I caught that too. The GTX dropped 2.5 FPS from none to full. The x850 XT dropped 15.8. For those that like percentages, the NVidia dropped 3.5% while the ATI dropped 22.3%. How exactly is that better? I like how the GT went from second to last with no HDR to second best with full. I will concede the 6600 GT dropped over 50% with the full effect, but when FSAA first hit the scene the thought of running a low-mid range with AA was OBSURD.

  • islandtechengineers - Sunday, October 2, 2005 - link

    i know why... factors factors factors..... anyway its still not nice to only release if with DOD and the lost coast..... to bad if couldnt be released for all :-{ even as a update which I'm sure will arrive..

  • Busithoth - Saturday, October 1, 2005 - link

    well, I'm running a 2405 with an x800xt, and HDR made the difference between smooth as butter and less than that. I liked the effect, but the fast pace of things in DoD made it really annoying to me more than anything else. Given time, I can get used to it, of course, but I'd rather be in single-player doing so (come on lost coast), then I can try my hand at MP again.

    I can't understand the argument that it's an aid to players, though.
    More realistic, I'll grant that. but how exactly does it help anyone but campers, I don't know. Besides the fact that people can just turn it off, it's an act of faith to assume that someone's gonna be blinded coming around a corner. (as I was multiple times when it was still enabled)

    altogether though, HDR on, I thought this game was bliss for the eyes.

  • Frackal - Friday, September 30, 2005 - link

    Why do computer users bitch so much

    I love the HDR, it does look more realistic and moreover BF2 looks crappy after playing DOD-S. BF2 was my fav. game until DOD-S, now its a tough call because BF2's gameplay is better but it doesn't look that great anymore.

    HDR is the future

  • OvErHeAtInG - Saturday, October 1, 2005 - link

    Yes. Most of the people complaining about HDR haven't even tried it, it seems. See Wilson's post above, you have to see it in motion. Frankly the screenshots don't look anything like the game in motion. Has anyone here played GT4 for the PS2? They implemented some sort of advanced light thingies like this to great effect. The whole point is how something (wet road surface at sunrise) would look totally different depending on the angle you're looking at it from; blinding white one second, black the next, just like in real life.


    Has anyone else tried HL2 after they added HDR to some of the maps? Looks good. And like they said *if you read up on it*, this is really a partial implementation of HDR, worked into the source engine. Of course it's really only worth it if you have a high-end videocard, otherwise you'll have to disable AA in order to get playable frames. In a very-aliased game like HL2, it's a tough call which I'd rather have :)

  • coomar - Saturday, October 1, 2005 - link

    with a 6800gt, i was playing everything high at 1280x1024 with 2x aa/8af i think with hdr on

  • gravy - Friday, September 30, 2005 - link

    the 6600GT is obviously going to be limited, but why put a 6600GT up with X800's and the likes of 7800's ??!!

    might as well have thrown in a 9800XT to compare with the 6600GT, and then a 6800GT to compare with the X800's

    i hope to see a follow up to this with these cards as well as the upcoming X1800's and X1600's, a nice well rounded comparison to see how both players are fairing with the new technology

    perhaps a Lost Coast review will be just that as it will likely be more demanding than DOD:S ??

    thanks for a nice read

  • ViperV990 - Friday, September 30, 2005 - link

    What is the point of all these fancy lights if there are no shadows? I am talking about the boat and the tank traps in the screenshots.

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