2.2 Gamma Curve slider results in Crushed Blacks (mostly noticable on Nautilode) (depends on Area)
Default Game Brightness slider Clips Highlights. the default value of 203 causes clipping. (Most visible in the Vlaakith Area in the Creche. Highlights completely blown out there)
Recommended Settings: Everything default but change "Game Brightness" to 100. And "Highlights" to 40 To avoid clipping.
Actual Recommendation for perfectionists: Dont use this mod
The game brightness slider making highlights look clipped is dependent on the ratio between game brightness and peak brightness. I'll add a slider to control the shoulder start parameter of the display mapper, this should allow for customization and better retention of highlight detail.
The tonemapper is meant to resemble how the game looks in SDR in midtones and shadows, so the 2.2 option would match how the game in SDR looks on a 2.2 gamma display. I didn't find any information on what gamma curve Larian's displays were calibrated to when developing in SDR, so I just left 2.2 and sRGB as options. Most displays come out of the box targeting 2.2 gamma and from what I've seen, the sRGB mode options on most displays typically just properly map the gamut but don't do anything with the gamma curve. The developers did use sRGB encoding in SDR but I suspect they actually developed on 2.2 displays, which would explain why they added a contrast slider in HDR. They must have seen that it was washed out and didn't understand why, so they just slapped on a contrast slider as a quick fix. It's essentially the same thing that Sony Santa Monica did with gow2018. Other games like ff7remake/rebirth, uncharted 4, and control (with the new hdr patch) use sRGB encoding in SDR but were developed on 2.2 displays, so they actually correctly account for the mismatch by encoding with sRGB and decoding with 2.2 in HDR. I went ahead and did the same thing with this mod.
TL;DR: With the default settings I'm trying to take the original look they made for SDR and adapt it to HDR. If it looks crushed with 2.2 then either they meant for it to be that way, or they meant for it to be played on sRGB gamma displays in SDR. Unfortunately, we won't know without contacting the devs.
My current display tracks pq quite well, but my previous ones didn't so I recommend using this test just in case, 68 should only be barely visible: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAhxR-gMU_U
Edit: just added highlights shoulder start slider. I've lowered the default value from 0.5 to 0.375 now and there's more detail retained in highlights.
I don't know if this may help anyone... I got tripped up a bit and maybe someone else can benefit... When installing ReShade, first you have to select which game you are installing it for, and there are two choices for BG3, choose the BG3_Dx11 version. On next screen select dx10/11/12. Lastly install this addon in the bin folder as well. then everything should work properly.
amazing mod, only problem I have now is the character portraits are blown out. using an alienware aw3423dwf with default settings right now, gonna tinker with it some more later but I have a feeling this is gonna have to be handled separately.
18 comments
Default Game Brightness slider Clips Highlights. the default value of 203 causes clipping. (Most visible in the Vlaakith Area in the Creche. Highlights completely blown out there)
Recommended Settings:
Everything default but change "Game Brightness" to 100. And "Highlights" to 40 To avoid clipping.
Actual Recommendation for perfectionists: Dont use this mod
The game brightness slider making highlights look clipped is dependent on the ratio between game brightness and peak brightness. I'll add a slider to control the shoulder start parameter of the display mapper, this should allow for customization and better retention of highlight detail.
The tonemapper is meant to resemble how the game looks in SDR in midtones and shadows, so the 2.2 option would match how the game in SDR looks on a 2.2 gamma display. I didn't find any information on what gamma curve Larian's displays were calibrated to when developing in SDR, so I just left 2.2 and sRGB as options. Most displays come out of the box targeting 2.2 gamma and from what I've seen, the sRGB mode options on most displays typically just properly map the gamut but don't do anything with the gamma curve. The developers did use sRGB encoding in SDR but I suspect they actually developed on 2.2 displays, which would explain why they added a contrast slider in HDR. They must have seen that it was washed out and didn't understand why, so they just slapped on a contrast slider as a quick fix. It's essentially the same thing that Sony Santa Monica did with gow2018. Other games like ff7remake/rebirth, uncharted 4, and control (with the new hdr patch) use sRGB encoding in SDR but were developed on 2.2 displays, so they actually correctly account for the mismatch by encoding with sRGB and decoding with 2.2 in HDR. I went ahead and did the same thing with this mod.
TL;DR: With the default settings I'm trying to take the original look they made for SDR and adapt it to HDR. If it looks crushed with 2.2 then either they meant for it to be that way, or they meant for it to be played on sRGB gamma displays in SDR. Unfortunately, we won't know without contacting the devs.
for more info on sRGB vs 2.2:
https://github.com/dylanraga/win11hdr-srgb-to-gamma2.2-icm
My current display tracks pq quite well, but my previous ones didn't so I recommend using this test just in case, 68 should only be barely visible:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAhxR-gMU_U
Edit:
just added highlights shoulder start slider. I've lowered the default value from 0.5 to 0.375 now and there's more detail retained in highlights.
When installing ReShade, first you have to select which game you are installing it for, and there are two choices for BG3, choose the BG3_Dx11 version. On next screen select dx10/11/12. Lastly install this addon in the bin folder as well. then everything should work properly.
it's a truely remarkable mod,makes this game worthy of HDR.
If I read it correctly, should we leave the in-game HDR settings at default as they're disabled with this addon right?