PRESS RELEASE: High Dynamic Range Imaging

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Highly Anticipated Second Edition of the “Bible” of High Dynamic Range Imaging Just Published!

“With the mainstream introduction of affordable LED HDTVs and computer monitors, the principles of high dynamic range imaging have gone from an academic research topic to essential knowledge. For anyone involved in software or hardware development for computer games and entertainment video, this second edition of High Dynamic Range Imaging offers everything you need and more. Highly recommended.”
- Ian Ashdown, President, byHeart Consultants Limited

Burlington, MA – June 8, 2010 – The entertainment industry is being transformed by the technology unveiled in the first edition of High Dynamic Range Imaging.  This landmark book is the first to describe HDRI technology in its entirety and covers a wide-range of topics, from capture devices to tone reproduction and image-based lighting.  The techniques described enable you to produce images that have a dynamic range much closer to that found in the real world, leading to an unparalleled visual experience.  As both an introduction to the field and an authoritative technical reference,it is essential to anyone working with images, whether in computer graphics, film, video, photography, or lighting design.

The second edition of the “bible” of High Dynamic Range Imaging brings a significant update, adding chapters on high dynamic range image capture (hardware and software), display devices, as well as image difference metrics and video. All existing chapters have been updated to reflect the current state of the art, ensuring the book’s leading position as a reference text for those working with images, whether it is for computer graphics, film, video, photography, or lighting design.

This book is a must-read for R&D professionals and academics studying computer graphics, digital design and visualization. Visual effects artists in entertainment industry (including interactive entertainment/games) will also benefit from learning the cutting edge techniques outlined by the inventors and original implementors of High Dynamic Range Imaging, as will engineering staff (i.e. coders, implementors of HDRI) at HDRI display/sensor manufacturers such as Phillips and Samsung.


High Dynamic Range Imaging, 2nd Edition
Acquisition, Display, and Image-Based Lighting
By Erik Reinhard, Wolfgang Heidrich, Paul Debevec, Sumanta Pattanaik, Greg Ward and Karol Myszkowski
Published by Morgan Kaufmann
Copyright May 2010
ISBN: 9780123749147 | Hardcover | 672 pages
List Price: 89.99 USD | 54.99 GBP | 64.95 EUR

Key Features:

  • Up-to-date revision of the ”BIBLE” of High Dynamic Range Imaging
  • New material includes chapters on High Dynamic Range Video Encoding, High Dynamic Range Image Encoding, and High Dynamic Range Display Devices
  • Invaluable reference for anyone serious about computer graphics, interactive entertainment, or photography/imaging
  • Written by the inventors and initial implementers of High Dynamic Range Imaging
  • Covers the basic concepts (including just enough about human vision to explain why HDR images are necessary), image capture, image encoding (not as easy as it sounds), file formats, display techniques, tone mapping for lower dynamic range display (FAR from easy), and the use of HDR images and calculations in 3D rendering
  • Range and depth of coverage is good for the knowledgeable researcher as well as those who are just starting to learn about High Dynamic Range imaging

About the Authors:
Erik Reinhard is assistant professor at the University of Bristol and founder and co-editor-in-chief of ACM Transactions on Applied Perception. He is interested in the interface between visual perception and computer graphics and also in high dynamic range image editing. His work in HDRI includes the SIGGRAPH 2005 Computer Animation Festival contribution Imagebased Material Editing, as well as tone reproduction and color appearance algorithms. He holds a BSc and a TWAIO diploma in computer science from Delft University of Technology and a PhD in computer science from the University of Bristol, and was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Utah.

Wolfgang Heidrich is Associate Professor and Dolby Research Chair at the Department of Computer Science, University of British Columbia.

Paul Debevec is a research assistant professor at the University of Southern California and the executive producer of graphics research at USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies.

Sumanta Pattanaik is an associate professor of computer science at the University of Central Florida, Orlando (UCF).

Greg Ward is a pioneer in HDRI, having developed the first widely used HDR image file format in 1986 as part of the Radiance lighting simulation system.

Karol Myszkowski is a Senior Researcher in the Computer Graphics Group of the Max-Planck-Institut für Informatik in Germany.

About Morgan Kaufmann: Since 1984, Morgan Kaufmann has published premier content on information technology, computer architecture, data management, computer networking, computer systems, human computer interaction, computer graphics, multimedia information and systems, artificial intelligence, computer security, and software engineering. Our audience includes the research and development communities, information technology (IS/IT) managers, and students in professional degree programs.  Learn more at www.mkp.com.

Contact Chrissy Barthelette, 781-313-4707 or [email protected], for an electronic review copy, access to our expert authors, or to publish excerpts of our material.