Adobe updates, including display HDR

robgendreau

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Adobe released a bunch of updates and there are some that many here might appreciate.

For me, the content aware remove in Lr and LrC will really speed things up assuming it works as well in Lr as it does in Ps, since now I won't have to send images to Ps for that purchase (the old healing cloning stuff in Lr is rather meh).

There are also improvements in selection and masking in Lr, including one specifically for people.

But one of the additions that may be most important down the line is the addition of the ability to produce display HDR images (not HDR as in what we're used to for say creating more DR in an image by stacking, but HDR as in "HDR capable display." It's capable of producing some dramatically better results in images like landscapes, esp things like sunsets, where you want the brights to really stand out. It can now be enabled as a tech preview in the Ps prefs for Adobe Camera Raw.

Fortunately, many Apple displays are capable of HDR. My 2019 MBP for example.

You can see how it works in this Greg Benz video:
 
That's pretty cool, I tried it out. I switched my big monitor to HDR (which I normally just do for movies or games), and it looks great, but would probably cause some eye strain over long sessions. And then what do you do with the resulting edits, unless you know your client or end-use will be on an HDR display...
 
That's pretty cool, I tried it out. I switched my big monitor to HDR (which I normally just do for movies or games), and it looks great, but would probably cause some eye strain over long sessions. And then what do you do with the resulting edits, unless you know your client or end-use will be on an HDR display...
As with any output, one has to tailor to what the audience has.

But increasingly people viewing images on mobile have HDR capable phones.

Perhaps a bigger problem is the file format and a capable viewer. Once again, video is out in front on this, but stills will catch up. YouTube does it, so can Insta, etc be far behind?

For right now, it's more about whether one wants the 4 stops or so extra range for say home viewing, or for say showing off to clients.
 
For HDR to be useful at the consumer level, we'll need a better delivery format. With only 8-bit color, I doubt JPEG is up to it.

As far as I know, WebP doesn't have more color information. It is just smaller than JPEG for similar quality.

Is HEIC/HEIF good enough? Apple ProRaw would probably be, with 12-bit color.

It's easy enough to switch your display to HDR, if supported, but how would the browser or image viewer know to do this, or that it had been done.
 
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For HDR to be useful at the consumer level, we'll need a better delivery format. With only 8-bit color, I doubt JPEG is up to it.

...

It's easy enough to switch your display to HDR, if supported, but how would the browser or image viewer know to do this, or that it had been done.
Greg Benz has a nice webpage that explains the tech for presenting static photos on HDR displays.

This page is best viewed via Chrome:

https://gregbenzphotography.com/hdr/
 
For HDR to be useful at the consumer level, we'll need a better delivery format. With only 8-bit color, I doubt JPEG is up to it...

It's easy enough to switch your display to HDR, if supported, but how would the browser or image viewer know to do this, or that it had been done.
Greg Benz has a nice webpage that explains the tech for presenting static photos on HDR displays.

This page is best viewed via Chrome:

https://gregbenzphotography.com/hdr/
Thanks for the ultra-useful information, Julian! And indirectly Greg.

The HDR photographs on the right side are in AVIF format, however Firefox cannot display then in actual HDR. They just look dim without Chrome.

I switched my LG 27UK650 to HDR, and it looked better than in Photo mode, even though the rtings.com review said HDR support was poor. However it didn't pass test #1.

Hmm, M1 Air does not pass test #1 until brightness is turned down.
 
For HDR to be useful at the consumer level, we'll need a better delivery format. With only 8-bit color, I doubt JPEG is up to it...

It's easy enough to switch your display to HDR, if supported, but how would the browser or image viewer know to do this, or that it had been done.
Greg Benz has a nice webpage that explains the tech for presenting static photos on HDR displays.

This page is best viewed via Chrome:

https://gregbenzphotography.com/hdr/
Thanks for the ultra-useful information, Julian! And indirectly Greg.

The HDR photographs on the right side are in AVIF format, however Firefox cannot display then in actual HDR. They just look dim without Chrome.

I switched my LG 27UK650 to HDR, and it looked better than in Photo mode, even though the rtings.com review said HDR support was poor. However it didn't pass test #1.

Hmm, M1 Air does not pass test #1 until brightness is turned down.
Yeah, my MBP didn't do 1 (the text) but a Mac Studio did even though not using an HDR display. So I dunno.

When set up, the HDR images look incredible. Still a ways from easy use however, at least for stills. Although I can save in JXL from Ps, I haven't found a viewer yet. Chrome opened them, but they looked awful...not sure if that was Chrome or the file format. Looked great in Ps with HDR on in ACR though.
 
Greg Benz has a nice webpage that explains the tech for presenting static photos on HDR displays. This page is best viewed via Chrome:

https://gregbenzphotography.com/hdr/
... Hmm, M1 Air does not pass test #1 until brightness is turned down.
Yeah, my MBP didn't do 1 (the text) but a Mac Studio did even though not using an HDR display. So I dunno.

When set up, the HDR images look incredible. Still a ways from easy use however, at least for stills. Although I can save in JXL from Ps, I haven't found a viewer yet. Chrome opened them, but they looked awful...not sure if that was Chrome or the file format. Looked great in Ps with HDR on in ACR though.
Weird! Thanks for the update.

I had not known about JXL (JPEG XL), developed by the same folks who brought us JPEG. Looks like a promising format because AVIF is so heavily patent encumbered.

 
The HDR photographs on the right side are in AVIF format, however Firefox cannot display then in actual HDR. They just look dim without Chrome.
Brave Browser is another option, for those who like to minimize Google. On my Mac, through an external Asus PG43U, the HDR images don't show up dim in Firefox, and not at all in Safari, but they work in Brave.
 
The HDR photographs on the right side are in AVIF format, however Firefox cannot display then in actual HDR. They just look dim without Chrome.
Brave Browser is another option, for those who like to minimize Google. On my Mac, through an external Asus PG43U, the HDR images don't show up dim in Firefox, and not at all in Safari, but they work in Brave.
I don't like Brave's business model, but I do use it on my cellphone (FF mobile sux).

Open-source Chromium, the basis for Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Brave browser, and maybe Vivaldi (?) might also work.

Chrome and probably Chromium support AVIF, another interesting format that might or might not be preferred to JPEG XL.
 
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