Yeah, that is the different high value rolloff curves affecting clipping:
Here are some photos from my monitor to compare the differences.
First Cinema HDR that has least clipping. If you look closely you can see how you can discern the "shape" of the sun within the bloom:
Next Gaming HDR, now some of the "detail" is lost and you can only barely see slightly larger "sun shape" that is clipped to max brightness within the sun bloom:
And finally Console HDR now you can't see the sun shape itself at all, only the bloom effect because all the "detail" inside is clipped to max value:
Which one is best? I think that is all about preference, and also depends on different scenes. Clipped one definitely looks most strikingly bright, but you also lose all the detail within. For a sun it might not matter, but there can be other bright elements in games (neon signs, daylight shining in from open window in dark room) where there details turning into pure white can be more annoying.
Personally I'm leaning more towards Gaming HDR at the moment. It is nice compromise between hard clipping of Console HDR but still looks most stunning with the slightly brighter highlights than Cinema HDR.
I was just testing in Alan Wake 2 too.
Console HDR, when flashlight is close to objects at night all details are lost. You can't read the text anymore:
Gaming HDR, "Beware the dark" is still readable:
The more I test I prefer Gaming HDR over Cinema HDR. Clipping is mitigated enough to my liking, but highlights still look bright.
