Tomb Raider heads to a new team working on it and this time we get to see another developer's look at HDR.
Nixxes handled the late addition HDR upgrade of Rise of the Tomb Raider and still to this day, one of the best functional examples, offering a capped 4000 nit output and good visible control of max luminance, No wonky contrast adjustments and the option to tweak overall brightness and influence black levels, all using a series of sensible calibration charts.
There are screenshots from the first hour of the game, I don't think I've posted anything intentionally spoiler, however if you want to go in totally cold, then you may not want to look further down.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider is certainly no slouch, we have 2 sliders, one to control the peak HDR brightness and another to adjust the brightness.
HDR is this time maxed out at 1500nits , however it is not labeled as such, just set it as per usual (remember to let the screen stew for a little while, some displays take a little while to hit max peak output) - more on this 1500nit limit later.
The good news is here, it's almost impossible to create a poor image.
The below gif is cycling between various different brightness settings. Personally I have left the brightness setting as default.
There is also an in-game HDR on/off toggle, something not normally seen in Xbox games, however very common in PS4 games. Unlike games with this option, it does not physically change the HDMI output (and blank out the screen as it changes) it actually clamps the peak brightness at around 400nits (-I need to double check this number). This is the same value we saw the Forza Horizon 4 demo in SDR at, so perhaps this is what we will see in more games moving forwards.
What is particularly great is that no matter where you set the brightness, you will still achieve near black and good levels of low nit shadow. I'd recommend you leave it in the default 50% position on the assumption this is the standard that the game was made to.
Pro-Tip: You can switch the in game slider to SDR, adjust the brightness here and switch it back to HDR and it will work in addition to the HDR brightness setting. This is useful if you are playing in a very light room and are struggling to see as it gives you double the brightness adjustment - However the in game exposure will now be able to clip above the internal limit in places where it normally wouldn't have.
So let's get into it.
Early parts of the game in traditional AAA showoff fashion is set at night time. Not night time in the Rain or Night time with burning fires, but Night time in a Mexican town on Day of the dead. Candles are lit on the Alters generating HDR level light and Neon tube lighting illuminates the bars and states providing another light source
Overall the stand out thing here is not just the HDR, but the incredible PBR lighting and shading and volumetric lighting that is all working in harmony to deliver a real film like presentation.
Interesting the game is using some dynamic colour grading, which is a little more subtle than titles I've seen before. The intensity of the color look up tables driving the grading almost appear to increase and decrease in intensity as you move between areas and as you approach cutscenes.
As we move through this area of the game we see a flatter image tweaking the output to deliver a very carefully controlled filmic image, peak brightness is reduced slightly and blacks appear to be raised slightly. This could either be down to dynamic colour grading or perhaps a light volumetric mist (or an approximation of a haze)
The game's in game camera and photomode simulates a 6 blade aperture camera lens, producing a hexagonal bokeh blur when it is engaged.
Here we can see several different light sources , the Moon and these streetlamps, both output varying degrees of brightness. Note the matt texture wall is reflecting back an appropriate amount of light and the light source that is illuminating the mist appearing as a volume Is not providing a disproportionate amount of light.
This is a really good example of how the HDR itself is not doing the heavy lifting to give these scenes a lifelike look, but the rendering technology and the artful use of lighting and material work throughout the game is what really separates this from other titles.
This is a fairly frequent occasion, the game itself falls broadly within the range of what is doable in SDR, however these small controlled light sources and they way they create realistic looking shading and interact with environments plays a huge part In why the game looks so good.
That's not to say there aren't moment's when the peak brightness is really used for full effect, the sun being a go to spot to validate the in game peak brightness after measuring the slider control
With some mild supernatural elements too, we also get to see natural looking lighting applied to non-existant objects and materials, giving a juxtaposition of reality and fiction simultaneously.
Everywhere you look, whether it is on the impressive setpieces
or the in game graphics (yes, this is not from a cutscene), the lighting always remains incredible and the HDR output behaves in exactly as intended.
Coming back to the 1500 nit limit, which is often viewed as a contentious choice by some. Rather than simply let the game run free with a 4000-10000k nit in game output, which we know the developers have either never every seen with their own eyes, here Eidos Montreal have built a game around a real world display.
If you are playing on a display that is close to this you will see how the in game light sources make use of not just this max value, but other values that sit between SDR and 1500nits.
Here we can see 3 different light sources, all producing data of different brightness. Going right back to one issue of HDR content, the white of a piece of paper not being as bright as the white of the sun, we occasionally see games that treat all light sources with the same level of HDR intensity. Shadow of the Tomb Raider has been carefully constructed in such a way that if you have a capable display you will see these differences very clearly and what this helps with is this amazing HDR representation of real world light.
So all in all, a really really amazing looking game, once of the best of the year and the gen thus far. Shadow of the Tomb Raider is without doubt one of the best examples of HDR you can find , as a perfect example of how when a game is designed and created with HDR in mind, it is a fantastic additive improvement to the visuals of videogames and movies.
Thanks for reading!
Nixxes handled the late addition HDR upgrade of Rise of the Tomb Raider and still to this day, one of the best functional examples, offering a capped 4000 nit output and good visible control of max luminance, No wonky contrast adjustments and the option to tweak overall brightness and influence black levels, all using a series of sensible calibration charts.
There are screenshots from the first hour of the game, I don't think I've posted anything intentionally spoiler, however if you want to go in totally cold, then you may not want to look further down.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider is certainly no slouch, we have 2 sliders, one to control the peak HDR brightness and another to adjust the brightness.
HDR is this time maxed out at 1500nits , however it is not labeled as such, just set it as per usual (remember to let the screen stew for a little while, some displays take a little while to hit max peak output) - more on this 1500nit limit later.
The good news is here, it's almost impossible to create a poor image.
The below gif is cycling between various different brightness settings. Personally I have left the brightness setting as default.
There is also an in-game HDR on/off toggle, something not normally seen in Xbox games, however very common in PS4 games. Unlike games with this option, it does not physically change the HDMI output (and blank out the screen as it changes) it actually clamps the peak brightness at around 400nits (-I need to double check this number). This is the same value we saw the Forza Horizon 4 demo in SDR at, so perhaps this is what we will see in more games moving forwards.
What is particularly great is that no matter where you set the brightness, you will still achieve near black and good levels of low nit shadow. I'd recommend you leave it in the default 50% position on the assumption this is the standard that the game was made to.
Pro-Tip: You can switch the in game slider to SDR, adjust the brightness here and switch it back to HDR and it will work in addition to the HDR brightness setting. This is useful if you are playing in a very light room and are struggling to see as it gives you double the brightness adjustment - However the in game exposure will now be able to clip above the internal limit in places where it normally wouldn't have.
So let's get into it.
Early parts of the game in traditional AAA showoff fashion is set at night time. Not night time in the Rain or Night time with burning fires, but Night time in a Mexican town on Day of the dead. Candles are lit on the Alters generating HDR level light and Neon tube lighting illuminates the bars and states providing another light source
Overall the stand out thing here is not just the HDR, but the incredible PBR lighting and shading and volumetric lighting that is all working in harmony to deliver a real film like presentation.
Interesting the game is using some dynamic colour grading, which is a little more subtle than titles I've seen before. The intensity of the color look up tables driving the grading almost appear to increase and decrease in intensity as you move between areas and as you approach cutscenes.
As we move through this area of the game we see a flatter image tweaking the output to deliver a very carefully controlled filmic image, peak brightness is reduced slightly and blacks appear to be raised slightly. This could either be down to dynamic colour grading or perhaps a light volumetric mist (or an approximation of a haze)
The game's in game camera and photomode simulates a 6 blade aperture camera lens, producing a hexagonal bokeh blur when it is engaged.
Here we can see several different light sources , the Moon and these streetlamps, both output varying degrees of brightness. Note the matt texture wall is reflecting back an appropriate amount of light and the light source that is illuminating the mist appearing as a volume Is not providing a disproportionate amount of light.
This is a really good example of how the HDR itself is not doing the heavy lifting to give these scenes a lifelike look, but the rendering technology and the artful use of lighting and material work throughout the game is what really separates this from other titles.
This is a fairly frequent occasion, the game itself falls broadly within the range of what is doable in SDR, however these small controlled light sources and they way they create realistic looking shading and interact with environments plays a huge part In why the game looks so good.
That's not to say there aren't moment's when the peak brightness is really used for full effect, the sun being a go to spot to validate the in game peak brightness after measuring the slider control
With some mild supernatural elements too, we also get to see natural looking lighting applied to non-existant objects and materials, giving a juxtaposition of reality and fiction simultaneously.
Everywhere you look, whether it is on the impressive setpieces
or the in game graphics (yes, this is not from a cutscene), the lighting always remains incredible and the HDR output behaves in exactly as intended.
Coming back to the 1500 nit limit, which is often viewed as a contentious choice by some. Rather than simply let the game run free with a 4000-10000k nit in game output, which we know the developers have either never every seen with their own eyes, here Eidos Montreal have built a game around a real world display.
If you are playing on a display that is close to this you will see how the in game light sources make use of not just this max value, but other values that sit between SDR and 1500nits.
Here we can see 3 different light sources, all producing data of different brightness. Going right back to one issue of HDR content, the white of a piece of paper not being as bright as the white of the sun, we occasionally see games that treat all light sources with the same level of HDR intensity. Shadow of the Tomb Raider has been carefully constructed in such a way that if you have a capable display you will see these differences very clearly and what this helps with is this amazing HDR representation of real world light.
So all in all, a really really amazing looking game, once of the best of the year and the gen thus far. Shadow of the Tomb Raider is without doubt one of the best examples of HDR you can find , as a perfect example of how when a game is designed and created with HDR in mind, it is a fantastic additive improvement to the visuals of videogames and movies.
Thanks for reading!
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