HDR Texture Compression for Graphics Hardware

High Dynamic Range Texture Compression for Graphics Hardware
Jacob Munkberg Lund University	Petrik Clarberg Lund University	Jon Hasselgren Lund University	Tomas Akenine-Möller Lund University
ACM Transactions on Graphics (Proceedings of ACM SIGGRAPH 2006) vol. 25, no. 3
Abstract In this paper, we break new ground by presenting algorithms for fixed-rate compression of high dynamic range textures at low bit-rates. First, the S3TC low dynamic range texture compression scheme is extended in order to enable compression of HDR data. Second, we introduce a novel robust algorithm that offers superior image quality. Our algorithm can be efficiently implemented in hardware, and supports textures with a dynamic range of over 10⁹:1. At a fixed rate of 8 bits per pixel, we obtain results virtually indistinguishable from uncompressed HDR textures at 48 bits per pixel. Our research can have a big impact on graphics hardware and real-time rendering, since HDR texturing suddenly becomes affordable. Paper Download pdf [8.3 MB] Video Quicktime [177 MB]