P3D HDR Brightness tweak!

[MyPC8MyBrain 273]

I have found a way to increase the brightness with HDR enabled.

In the shadersHLSL/PostProcess folder is a file named ' HDR.hlsl '

Make a backup of this file elsewhere, then load it into notepad or similar editor.

At line 166 you will find ' //avgLuminance *= 0.85f; ' which is commented out by the two slashes.

remove the two slashes ie: ' avgLuminance *= 0.85f; ' and save.

If you want to experiment with this value, increasing it makes the image darker, decreasing makes it lighter.

I haven't determined whether it messes with the overall HDR experience, but the programmer put this line in and it seems to work.

Note: In my case, just saving and running P3D worked the first time, but later runs of P3D resulted in a black (blank) screen.

The solution was to ensure that the associated compiled shaders in the ' C:\Users\Yourname\AppData\Local\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v2\Shaders ' were deleted.

As I understand it, the HDR code looks at the average brightness of the display and boosts it adding bloom to simulate the effects of light and dark.

The stock code seems optimised for a standard display.

Those of us with triple screens have much larger display area that often includes parts of the side window views. This extra brightness has the HDR overcompensating and resulting in a darker than desired screen. Changing the code at line 166 seems to tell the code that the average brightness is less, therefore add more brightness.

------------------

Another option which leaves the rest of the code alone, is to increase the return value of the ' Composite ' function.

Insert ' final *= 1.2f; ' just before the last line of code

eg:

bloom = bloom * BloomMagnitude;

// Add in the bloom

float3 final = color + bloom + brighten + dither;

final *= 1.2f;

return float4( final, 1.0f );

}

So far I prefer the above option. Note: setting a value too high causes bright parts to clip.

source

http://forum.avsim.net/topic/451123-brighter-hdr-tweak/

[mutley 4,498]

Thanks for sharing Chris, so far, I have never been a fan of HDR in P3D so this will be worth a look-see!

Cheers

[MyPC8MyBrain 273]

here is a little clip a friend made to show the differences
personally i find it hard to put my finger on the changes; the first half to me looks better

 

[Christopher Low 63]

I have disabled HDR Lighting in P3D. The image doesn't quite look right to me when it is enabled.

[britfrog 180]

I have disabled HDR Lighting in P3D. The image doesn't quite look right to me when it is enabled.

 

Ditto, looks too much like xp10 for my liking

[MyPC8MyBrain 273]

i believe we are all in the same boat here when it comes to HDR

the feature although very young; has good merits (wider and finer color spectrum)

we will be able to take advantage at some point