ABSTRACT
The dynamic range that can be acquired using conventional cameras is limited by their design. Images are typically gamma encoded to eight bits per color channel. This means that a luminance range of around two orders of magnitude can be captured and stored. Many camera manufacturers allow Raw data to be exported from their cameras as well. These are images that have undergone minimal incamera processing and are typically linearly encoded to a bit-depth of around 10 to 14. Note, here, that a linear encoding of 10 bits does not present a larger range of luminance values than an 8-bit non-linear encoding. Even if Raw data gives a higher dynamic range than conventional 8-bit images, at this point in time, we cannot speak of a truly high dynamic range. In other words, limitation in current camera designs do not allow us to capture the full range of intensities available in typical real-world scenes.
