Rift users! Let's make space dark again! Fix for the Rift CV1 bad low-end gamma.

horizone

horizone
The Rift Gamma curve is a lot brighter than a normal monitor in the dark range which is bad for space games. Some of the mood is lost.

Some of this is due to the fact that we are blocking out all other light in an HMD and some of it is because Oculus OLED panels have somewhat low fidelity in the dark range which Oculus have compensated for with a non-standard (too bright to what we're used to) gamma curve.

Now with the new dithering Frontier have added to Elite, we don't get sharp edges in dark colours anymore so why not take this opportunity and tweak the game's gamma curve (for the Rift only) just a little.

To get rid of the too bright greyish gas/dust clouds (you see them 2000Ls out from stars when not facing the core) and make them more blue and darker (more like how it would look on a regular monitor), change the following values in your GraphicsConfigurationOverride.xml.

Location: C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\Options\Graphics

Code: 
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<GraphicsConfig>
  <HDRNode_Reference>
          <ToeDenominator>0.2050</ToeDenominator>
          <ToeStrength>0.2300</ToeStrength>
  </HDRNode_Reference>

  <!--
    Your HUD colours here if you have any
  -->
</GraphicsConfig>

If you change ToeDenominator down to 0.2000 it will get even darker if you prefer that. Don't go below 0.2000. It affects more than the galaxy background of course.

This is only to tweak the Rift more towards correctness. I do not encourage wild experimentation with these settings. In some thread I saw devs recommended against changing these values so it's on your own risk. Your luck with this may vary since different Rifts can differ somewhat in brightness I think.

Oh, and please keep this thread to be for correcting the Rift to look more towards monitor, not making crazy out-there changes or non-rift tweaks. :) thanks.

Disclaimer: I don't know too much about color correction so no super hi-tech questions please. I just want Elite to be better in the Rift.

EDIT: This is just a nudge at the settings, don't expect any day and night differences, especially if you are already satisfied with your image quality. Some people might not see the difference if they don't do a A-B comparison.

EDIT 2: Make sure your in-game gamma slider is at default. Have not tried anything else.
 
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drkaii

drkaii
[HJ]-RedRaven said:
Good stuff - will give it a go.

I wonder if @Drkaii could add acceptable ranges to the ED Profiler tool?
Click to expand...

Let me try it. If anything we want a reduction in the dynamic range in order to brighten the darkest blacks in order to get rid of the smearing

EDIT: Ok I've had a look. I do indeed like dark space, but it seems to darken everything rather than affecting the gamma curve, which is a shame. Also, it worsens the black smearing. I will not be including it in EDProfiler unless this takes off with everyone
 

horizone

horizone
My goal was to lower the very lowest part of the gamma curve only to remove the washed out space I been suffering from since DK2 went on to the shelf and that I feel Oculus is responsible for adding.

Fortunately, my black smear, while I can see it, doesn't really bother me. Spud at default (1).

I believe, I was somewhat successful as the in-game gamma control requires several steps down to reach blackerspace and brings with it everything else (imo), whilst my config file alterations seems to make greyspace into blackerspace without darkening the midtones and hilights to any significance. I might be wrong though, it's so hard to test when you need to restart the game between each change and travel to reach different scenarios.

YMMV, I'm just a confused immersion seeker. :) I might try more tweaking. I'll share if I find something.
 

drkaii

drkaii
horizone said:
My goal was to lower the very lowest part of the gamma curve only to remove the washed out space I been suffering from since DK2 went on to the shelf and that I feel Oculus is responsible for adding.

Fortunately, my black smear, while I can see it, doesn't really bother me. Spud at default (1).

I believe, I was somewhat successful as the in-game gamma control requires several steps down to reach blackerspace and brings with it everything else (imo), whilst my config file alterations seems to make greyspace into blackerspace without darkening the midtones and hilights to any significance. I might be wrong though, it's so hard to test when you need to restart the game between each change and travel to reach different scenarios.

YMMV, I'm just a confused immersion seeker. :) I might try more tweaking. I'll share if I find something.
Click to expand...

To me the midtones did go down quite a bit.
 

CMDR MAIN SEQUENCE

CMDR MAIN SEQUENCE
Just tried this. A very noticeable difference using your suggested values. Definitely seems to help with what I call the "black blotchiness" where black space meets the grey "clouds" (note: not black smearing which I either don't have or don't notice). Settled on a gamma setting of 40% though this makes the cockpit a bit on the dark side. Because everything is darker one unfortunate side effect is that the god rays (i.e. from the cockpit UI) are slightly more pronounced but nothing major. Need to do a better before and after comparison and try and few different values. Nice find, thanks.
 

CMDR MAIN SEQUENCE

CMDR MAIN SEQUENCE
Anyone else tried this? Surprised this thread didn't get more traction given the black problem in the Rift.

Am currently using a ToeDenominator of 0.2100 and a ToeStrength of 0.2000. It's probably the darkest I can go without having to adjust my monitor's settings too much (although it can store 3 profiles so not really an issue).

@horizone - are you still using this mod? Are you using the values in your OP?
 

BaronVonDoon

B
I tried it, and didn't like it, it made the cockpit of my Python too dark, even when I turned the ingame gamma up. Can't say I saw a massive difference in the quality of gas clouds, but I'm on Colonia at the minute and space looks a little busy anyway. I've put it back to stock now, might have a fiddle again when I get back to the bubble.
 

jevens

J
BaronVonDoon said:
I tried it, and didn't like it, it made the cockpit of my Python too dark, even when I turned the ingame gamma up. Can't say I saw a massive difference in the quality of gas clouds, but I'm on Colonia at the minute and space looks a little busy anyway. I've put it back to stock now, might have a fiddle again when I get back to the bubble.
Click to expand...

I found this tweak was quite nice actually if you put the rifts digital vibrance up to 55% on the Nvidia Control panel, and have the in game gamma up really high, it counter acts the crushed blacks and in turn actually did something quite extraordinary ..for some reason that combo made the standard orange hud colours way more readable than usual, with a bit of SS of course, like totally usable for the first time in VR, with some really awesome clear blue text for bounty awards etc.. playing with it last night it was pretty cool and arcady in the RES. give it a shot!
 

horizone

horizone
MAIN SEQUENCE said:
Anyone else tried this? Surprised this thread didn't get more traction given the black problem in the Rift.

Am currently using a ToeDenominator of 0.2100 and a ToeStrength of 0.2000. It's probably the darkest I can go without having to adjust my monitor's settings too much (although it can store 3 profiles so not really an issue).

@horizone - are you still using this mod? Are you using the values in your OP?
Click to expand...

Yes, I am using it. I only play Elite in the Rift so I don't have to worry about the normal screen. There might be much better values than those I have suggested but for now, and for me, it makes space less washed-out cloudy and some lost brightness in midtones doesn't bother me too much. Space is a dark place usually :)

It seems Elite uses the filmic gamma curve similar to Uncharted 2. Which is presented here: http://www.slideshare.net/ozlael/hable-john-uncharted2-hdr-lighting TL;DR: Around slide 141 there are some familiar variables.

I wish there was a in-game tool of some sort to really see the curve and a test picture so one could experiment with the values and observe the difference when changing values.

I found one tool that presents the Uncharted 2 cinematic gamma curve with test pictures but it doesn't really help with adjusting the curve for Elite: https://mynameismjp.wordpress.com/2010/04/30/a-closer-look-at-tone-mapping/

I wish I had more expert knowledge about this subject but maybe someone else could give advice for correcting Elite in the Rift towards how it look on a calibrated monitor.
 
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horizone

horizone
Raptoid said:
Strange that file for some reason does not contain this setting on mine just the Hud Colors.
Click to expand...

You'll have to add them yourself.
This is the GraphicsConfigurationOverride.xml file and a way to add your own custom settings in a way that gets preserved during updates.

To see what values you can use in this file, you can look in the file that it overrides, which can be viewed at:
[YOUR INSTALL LOCATION]\Frontier\EDLaunch\Products\elite-dangerous-64\GraphicsConfiguration.xml

It's a good idea not to edit this GraphicsConfiguration directly but to copy the variables you want to change to the override file.
 
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Raptoyd

Raptoyd
yeah I see it in the main file which is in my C:/ EDLAUNCH folder. Cool I will try and copy that to the override.
Thank you
 

Nebula109

N
This is excellent, it has made quite a difference for me. Space finally looks dark and the planets look great with just the sun facing side being visible, the cockpits look fine to me as well. My gamma slider is low (1/3 of the way) so I believe its below the default setting. Great find.
 

horizone

horizone
IMO, just using the general gamma curve setting also affects highlights to a degree while just changing at the toe, aim to only change the low end of the curve and that's where the Rift have too bright settings.

tw0303-4.gif

(just a illustration from unrelated site (google image search on: curve toe shoulder))

I can't give you any science in how successful my settings are, but I think it looks a lot better in the Rift. Can surely be tweaked to perfection but it's hard since you have to restart the game between every change.
 
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vic

V
I tried this using my DK2. Those values made everything unbearably bright so I had to bring the ingame gamma down to 0 and still very bright(but playable). I will play with the values to see if I can get the brightness where i want tonight.
Having said that, these adjustments definitely affect contrast which is fantastic and gives me hope! We all know this game is in dire need of contrast (and sharpness) adjustement tool. Space looks so much more alive now.
 
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Y2K

Y2K
Tried this over the last few days, excellent results. Blacks are black and doesnt make anything else over bright - rift cv1. Thanks for sharing. +rep
 

DaSucker

DaSucker
Thanks for sharing. I've tried your settings and i like the result very much! Space is now dark again!
 
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