Contrastbereik

Contrastbereik is the span of luminance or color values over which details can be distinguished in a scene or image. The term is commonly treated as synonymous with dynamic range, though it can be used to distinguish scene dynamic range from device dynamic range. In photography, video, and displays, the contrastbereik is determined by the brightest measurable value (full scale) and the darkest detectable value (black level).

The ratio between these values is expressed in stops (log base 2) or decibels and indicates how much light information can be captured or reproduced. A higher contrastbereik allows more detail to be preserved in highlights and shadows, but it can also demand more from the imaging pipeline, such as higher bit depth and effective tone mapping.

Cameras specify dynamic range in stops; digital sensors have noise that limits the effective dynamic range, and HDR imaging extends practical contrastbereik by combining multiple exposures. Displays have a contrast limit set by maximum luminance and minimum black-level performance; HDR displays and tone mapping aim to present scenes with an extended apparent range. The viewing environment and display characteristics influence how much of the contrastbereik is perceived.

In practice, contrastbereik affects image quality, tonal reproduction, and perceptual detail. It interacts with color gamut, gamma correction, and compression in the imaging chain, and it is a key consideration in photography, videography, and display design.