Games Look Bad: HDR and Tone Mapping (2017)

#1

Post by uncircle » Fri, Jul 25, 2025, 7:26 AM UTC

Games Look Bad: HDR and Tone Mapping (2017)
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Re: Games Look Bad: HDR and Tone Mapping (2017)

#2

Post by gampleman » Fri, Jul 25, 2025, 8:23 AM UTC

[2017]

Re: Games Look Bad: HDR and Tone Mapping (2017)

#3

Post by dartharva » Fri, Jul 25, 2025, 8:26 AM UTC

It's not just games, it's regular day-to-day UI too. I'm using an Acer 185Hz VRR HDR10 Gaming monitor.. on Eco mode with HDR disabled. Everything just looks better with HDR turned off for some reason I can't explain.

Re: Games Look Bad: HDR and Tone Mapping (2017)

#4

Post by craxmerax » Fri, Jul 25, 2025, 8:35 AM UTC

When HDR is implemented properly, and you have a proper HDR display, it's such a transformative experience! Most games, however, don't have good HDR implementations. And for whatever reason HDR on Windows is still awful in 2025.

Re: Games Look Bad: HDR and Tone Mapping (2017)

#5

Post by SomeoneOnTheWeb » Fri, Jul 25, 2025, 8:35 AM UTC

dartharva wrote: post #3

It's not just games, it's regular day-to-day UI too. I'm using an Acer 185Hz VRR HDR10 Gaming monitor.. on Eco mode with HDR disabled. Everything just looks better with HDR turned off for some reason I can't explain.

That's normal. For HDR to look good, you need a monitor that hits approximately 1000 nits in brightness. Your monitor only hits 250, which is completely insufficient to display HDR content.

This is one of the stupid things with many monitors, showing HDR at 250 nits is worse than showing no HDR at all. So no matter what you do, 99% of HDR content will look bad on your screen.

Re: Games Look Bad: HDR and Tone Mapping (2017)

#6

Post by can16358p » Fri, Jul 25, 2025, 8:53 AM UTC

HDR is GREAT! Everyone trying to implement HDR + tone mapping excessively just for the sake of it and exaggerating it to show-off (just like those oversaturated Samsung phone screens) is not.

Re: Games Look Bad: HDR and Tone Mapping (2017)

#7

Post by refactor_master » Fri, Jul 25, 2025, 9:13 AM UTC

This is [...] a series examining techniques used in game graphics and how those techniques fail to deliver a visually appealing end result

All I see is opinions though. And the internet is full of them. You just have to Google "why does this game look so ...". At least if the author had compared the search stats of "good/bad/beautiful/washed out" it would've carried some weight.

The GTA 5 screenshot is a terrible example. It looks like a cheap, dead, video game environment, reminding me how far we've come.

Re: Games Look Bad: HDR and Tone Mapping (2017)

#8

Post by 0_____0 » Fri, Jul 25, 2025, 9:15 AM UTC

Past discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15534622

Re: Games Look Bad: HDR and Tone Mapping (2017)

#9

Post by nottorp » Fri, Jul 25, 2025, 9:30 AM UTC

can16358p wrote: post #6

HDR is GREAT! Everyone trying to implement HDR + tone mapping excessively just for the sake of it and exaggerating it to show-off (just like those oversaturated Samsung phone screens) is not.

So were 3d movies until they stopped filming in 3d and started adding pointless effects in postprocessing :)

Re: Games Look Bad: HDR and Tone Mapping (2017)

#10

Post by pyrale » Fri, Jul 25, 2025, 9:33 AM UTC

> But all of them feel videogamey and none of them would pass for a film or a photograph. Or even a reasonably good offline render. Or a painting. They are instantly recognizable as video games, because only video games try to pass off these trashy contrast curves as aesthetically pleasing.

Author is fumbling the difference between aesthetics and realism. Videogames feeling videogamey? What a travesty.