Sophisticated Lighting control
DxO Lighting is a unique local exposure and dynamic range optimizer that can
reveal shadow detail & preserve highlights.
Automatically replicating analog film techniques known as “dodging and burning”, DxO Lighting Engine brings out shadow detail while preserving highlights, textures, colors and a natural look.
In addition, DxO Lighting automatically restores highlight details in some Raw images.
Lighting
Human vision is extraordinarily complex and sophisticated.
When it comes to photography, the way humans see is very different from the way in which photographic systems capture and reproduce scenes.
Why what we see isn’t what we get
Photography is all about capturing variations in brightness and color and rendering them for output as accurately and appealingly as possible. The human eye is extremely adaptable to localized lighting conditions, enabling us to see at the same time both inside a dimly-lit room and out through the window to the brightly-lit exterior, and to make out details in shadows that are thousands of times dimmer than surrounding areas.
Photographic films and digital camera sensors can’t do this. Neither can computer displays or photographic papers reproduce such a range. In order to produce satisfactory results, contrast management tools are essential to reproduce the luminance range of the real world within the limits of our media.
Unfortunately, the eye is also very sensitive to errors in exposure and contrast in image reproduction, and the real world can make them difficult to avoid. Highly directional or harsh light sources can result in a range of problems including blocked shadows, flare and burned-out highlights:
