tonemapped

Tonemapped is the past participle and adjectival form used to describe an image that has undergone tone mapping. Tone mapping is the process of transforming the luminance values of a high dynamic range (HDR) image into a range suitable for display on standard dynamic range (SDR) devices. HDR images capture a scene's wide brightness range, from deep shadows to bright highlights; tone mapping compresses this range while attempting to preserve perceptual details and contrast.

Most tone-mapping methods are categorized as global or local. Global operators apply a single mapping curve to all pixels, providing consistent compression but limited retention of local detail. Local operators adapt the mapping based on neighboring pixels, better preserving textures and edges but potentially introducing artifacts such as halos. Well-known operators include Reinhard's global tone mapping, Durand's local decomposition, and gradient-domain and perceptual approaches by Fattal and Drago.

In practice, tonemapped images can look natural or stylized, depending on the operator and parameter choices and the scene content. Tonemapping is a standard step in HDR workflows for photography, computer graphics, film, and virtual reality, converting HDR scenes into images viewable on conventional displays or VR headsets. The term appears in software documentation, academic literature, and industry discussions whenever describing images produced after applying tone mapping.