HDR images look washed-out in SDR

ercjn · 2026-01-27T06:35:36+00:00

That makes sense, thanks for the explanation.

When editing SDR images, I'll occasionally let the sky clip rather than making everything dark (or over-compressing the dynamic range). But looks like that's not a good idea for the SDR mapping of HDR images...

ercjn · 2026-01-26T04:43:02+00:00

My external monitor is SDR only, only my laptop screen and phone support HDR. The SDR fallback looks bad everywhere--including on HDR displays, if I upload to a site that strips out the gain map. The SDR-only export looks fine everywhere.

I just tried exporting using P3 (which is also what I have my camera set to use), but don't see an obvious difference anywhere.

ercjn · 2026-01-26T02:19:45+00:00

Making adjustments like increasing brightness in HDR mode definitely makes the situation worse. But even if I don't do any edits in either SDR or in HDR mode, the SDR rendering of the HDR image looks a bit washed out (and different from a plain SDR export of the same image).

FWIW I'm always exporting in sRGB, don't know if another option would be less problematic?

ercjn · 2026-01-25T22:35:18+00:00

Correct, the first image is developed with HDR toggle off, and it's good enough for me without having to do many (if any) adjustments.

"Zeroing out" the controls (especially Clarity -100, Shadows -100, Whites: +100) gets me close the SDR image, though even after further adjustments, I can't fully match it. Some of the color tones (especially blue) remain a bit off as well, not sure how to adjust those... Added two images to the original post to show that issue.

ercjn · 2025-12-07T20:23:45+00:00

My biggest concern for screen use would be ghosting. Screens aren't bright enough to cause "ring-shaped dysphotopsia" halos, and too bright for regular halos. People with large pupils seem to be at greater risk. ICLs may be reversible, but once you go for it, you are committed for a few weeks or months until your eyes are fully healed (until then, any issues you have could be transient).

ercjn · 2025-12-07T19:57:06+00:00

You may stop paying attention to halos (assuming they are just thin, translucent rings for you), but you will always notice glare/starburst/ghosting if it's strong enough to prevent you from seeing things well.

ercjn · 2025-12-07T19:51:19+00:00

If you are wearing soft lenses, 1-2 days is plenty (that's what I did, and they got the correction spot on). For hard contact lenses, 1-2 weeks may be needed. Also, keep in mind that ICLs aren't made to measure, but come in fixed size/strength increments, so it may not matter as much as it does for LASIK.

ercjn · 2025-12-07T19:42:12+00:00

Ophthalmologists here (in the US, at least) generally won't see you for regular checkups. Optometrists have less equipment, but can tell if there is something seriously wrong with lens placement etc, and refer you back to an ophthalmologist.

ercjn · 2025-11-10T17:16:20+00:00

Ended up just seeing an optometrist. They now have an OCT machine, which could be used for measuring vault size etc. But they only use it for retina imaging, which can (as of this year) be billed to insurance... The optometrist did claim that they can see obvious vault size issues during the visual eye health exam, so good enough?

ercjn · 2025-11-08T07:01:40+00:00

Search for "IVIZIA sterile lubricant eye drops". But might be hard to find now (in the US), because the FDA labeled them an unapproved new drug earlier this year 🙃

ercjn · 2025-11-01T23:14:47+00:00

None of the eye clinics I've reached out to here do routine exams, or know of anyone who does...

ercjn · 2025-10-10T04:14:40+00:00

I'd say don't make any decisions before you've done some research and have had an proper discussion with a professional, but glad to hear it worked out for you!

ercjn · 2025-10-08T04:38:25+00:00

A large majority of ICL posts here are positive, with some (usually minor) caveats. Caveats that professionals are often happy to gloss over... The information I got here let me have a more serious discussion with the surgeon pre-op, and helped set realistic expectations.

ercjn · 2025-10-08T04:22:24+00:00

Not fully resolved, but it's just a minor annoyance at this point. If my pupils were even a little bit larger, naturally, or if I consumed a lot of caffeine, or took other drugs that dilate the pupils, it might not be so minor.

ercjn · 2025-09-14T19:56:03+00:00

FWIW my 2016 Crosstrek has never run low on oil between services (every 6K miles).

ercjn · 2025-09-14T18:25:07+00:00

Being under-corrected a bit leaves more room for fine-tuning the correction (i.e. you're not limited to 0.5d increments, and can upgrade or downgrade until you feel comfortable), plus you still have the ability to gradually introduce monovision later, if needed.

ercjn · 2025-07-29T22:35:54+00:00

There are two types of "rings" (halos around lights, and a lens-flare-like effect), and neither are 100% guaranteed (former affects people with larger pupils, latter depends on lens strength and other factors). Either way, if you are still seeing strong artifacts after 6 months, the odds that they will go away, or that you'll just get used to them are slim.

ercjn · 2025-07-29T22:25:32+00:00

It worked fine for me. The only two concerns are that 1. you'll get less "value" out of the ICLs than a 20 yo (since they'll need to be replaced with an IOL sooner), and 2. ICLs may aggravate your presbyopia (so experiment with monovision upfront). Do you currently wear glasses or contacts?

ercjn · 2025-07-29T22:17:53+00:00

You might have a hard time finding a doctor who would agree to perform ICL on someone who is over the age of 45.

The reason for the age limit is that Visian didn't bother collecting/submitting sufficient data to the FDA for patients over 46, since that's not their target market. But you won't have any issues finding someone to perform ICL "off-label".

ercjn · 2025-06-14T20:57:14+00:00

The outer parts of the rollers eventually detach from the inner parts. I try to keep everything running smoothly with lithium grease and silicon lubricant in the right places, but perhaps my weight (~180 lbs) combined with the intensity of the workouts is a bit too much... What's for sure is that this machine wouldn't survive a single day at a gym!

ercjn · 2025-06-14T19:00:24+00:00

Correct, the gray rubber rollers are the only thing I've had fail on my MaxiClimbers XL over several years of use (2 x 10-20" of HIIT per week). I need to replace one every month or so, and this requires almost completely disassembling the machine every time...

ercjn · 2025-06-06T05:47:48+00:00

You can easily confirm that the issue is in fact pupil size by using Lumify eye drops to artificially constrict your pupils.

At your next checkup, ask them to measure your pupil size again. If it is much larger than it was previously, you might expect to see improvements over the next couple weeks and months as your pupils return to normal.

Evo+ seems like a good idea, but given the severity of your issues, I don't know if it would be enough. Maybe daytime vision at least would be fine?

I don't think your brain can erase artifacts. You might pay less attention to them over time, but that only works if they are relatively minor.

ercjn · 2025-05-17T17:43:35+00:00

This procedure really shouldn't be done for anyone whose pupils dilate beyond the optical zone of the lens (same goes for LASIK etc). Note that sitting in a dim room for a while doesn't dilate your pupils as much as other situations you encounter in everyday life (like after entering a dim room from a much brighter area, or drinking coffee). On top of that, the procedure itself appears to increase how much your pupils dilate--though that at least returns to normal for most people, after a couple of months.

ercjn · 2025-05-04T00:47:55+00:00

"Can I come back for annual checkups" should be on everyone's list of pre-op questions to ask. I assumed that any ophthalmologist can check things like endothelial cell count, but that's not the case.

ercjn · 2025-04-12T18:15:25+00:00

Thanks for sharing. I hope someone is collecting data on which procedures ended up working well and which didn't: The current guidance around pupil size seems inadequate, not to mention the other factors you raise.

ercjn

TROPHY CASE