PercepTool2 vs. Photoshop HDR

I received a question from a reader asking why PercepTool2 is better than Photoshop's built in HDR functionality. Since better is rather subjective, I'll try to answer the question by quoting the creators.

"We produced the first practical HDR plugin for Photoshop, Optipix, when the digital revolution was beginning at the turn of the century. HDR Align and BlendTM is a vast improvement on that algorithm and includes a multi-align routine that fixes Photoshop’s inability to align the same thing the same way twice.

The alignment routine can run as many as 11 alignments per layer. The default is Normal (6 alignments). The HDR blending routine is proprietary and gives the best “natural” blend of any HDR software available. 2 to 100 images can be added in Layers, aligned and blended. This blend can, of course, be adjusted with the tone mapping EqualizerTM."

"PercepTool 2TM, EqualizerTM, and HDR Align and BlendTM are all dedicated to reproducing a perceptual and emotional image that you first saw and felt in your eye and camera. These tools rely on research from the perceptual processing of the human eye and brain, from Lightness science, from research into the great masters of painting, and from the practice of photography."

In my own experience, the HDR functionality in Photoshop is great for creating what I call "modern art masterpieces." The results tend to be "hyper-real." The results from the 3 plug-ins that make up the PerceptTool2 package, properly employed, create realistic views that really do accurately depict the scene (the full tonal range) as viewed at the time - as I perceive it.

If our goal is to provide the trier of fact with a true representation of the scene, an accurate representation of pieces of evidence, and so forth, then the PercepTool2 package of plug-ins is one to have in your tool box.

Enjoy.