Firstly, I have to say X-Plane 10 night lighting is absolutely amazing.

 

After playing around with HDR and non-HDR, I have found non-HDR lighting to actually be superior to HDR. The immersion experienced with non-HDR lighting is something I have not experienced with a simulator up until now. Lining up on the runway, seeing the runway end lighting and looking down the runway, I think, is pretty much close to the real thing, quite unbelievable considering it's a simulator.

 

X-Plane 10 night lighting as (non-HDR), has resulted in me moving away from FSX for GA flying, that is until PMDG do something for X-Plane.

 

Some side notes, HDR is good  - looking down from up there, but when you are ground level it doesn't look that good, it also suffers from Anti-Aliasing issues, more prevlent with daylight. Non-HDR requries no tweaking, no adjustment, no special night lighting files, request to X-Plane, don't mess with it, leave it alone. Lastly, FPS with non-HDR is better.

 

All good!

 

 

Mark

 

 

FPS with non-HDR is better

 

Yes, you should get a significant FPS boost when HDR is off. The gap between on and off is not as large anymore, many people can now leave it on all the time. During daytime, the effects of HDR aren't as noticeable, so it's a good choice to leave it off and gain the extra FPS.

 

cheers