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A high dynamic range rendering pipeline for interactive applications

In search for perceptual realism

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Abstract

Realistic images can be computed at interactive frame rates for Computer Graphics applications. Meanwhile, High Dynamic Range (HDR) rendering has a growing success in video games and virtual reality applications, as it improves the image quality and the player’s immersion feeling. In this paper, we propose a new method, based on a physical lighting model, to compute in real time a HDR illumination in virtual environments. Our method allows to re-use existing virtual environments as input, and computes HDR images in photometric units. Then, from these HDR images, displayable 8-bit images are rendered with a tone mapping operator and displayed on a standard display device. The HDR computation and the tone mapping are implemented in OpenSceneGraph with pixel shaders. The lighting model, together with a perceptual tone mapping, improves the perceptual realism of the rendered images at low cost. The method is illustrated with a practical application where the dynamic range of the virtual environment is a key rendering issue: night-time driving simulation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université Paris-Est, LEPSiS, 75015, Paris, France

    Josselin Petit & Roland Brémond

  2. Université Lyon 1, LIRIS, UMR5205, 69622, Lyon, France

    Josselin Petit

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  1. Josselin Petit
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  2. Roland Brémond
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Correspondence to Roland Brémond.

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Petit, J., Brémond, R. A high dynamic range rendering pipeline for interactive applications. Vis Comput 26, 533–542 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00371-010-0430-5

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