I created these pages to test whether websites built with Adobe Portfolio can properly display High Dynamic Range (HDR) images. Each of the photos on this site is encoded in a single JPG file with an embedded gain map. Currently, most devices will only display the base image of the file in Standard Dynamic Range (SDR). The photo will appear normal on those devices. But on a compatible system, the gain map scales the pixels into a larger and more lifelike brightness range, an HDR image. This requires compatible products at all levels of the processing chain: the image file format, operating system, application or website code, and the hardware (including the display). The photos on this site were edited and saved in Adobe Camera Raw 16.0. The Adobe Portfolio site was created in the “Sawdust” theme. Website configuration and testing were done on an M1 MacBook Pro, running macOS “Sonoma” 14.0, and Google Chrome 118.0.5993.70. The current version of Microsoft Edge is also HDR capable. The display on my MacBook Pro was run with the settings shown in the screenshot below. With the Brightness slider at about 50%, this setup provides 4 stops of headroom above paper white (the background color you are now viewing). For more information on HDR, gain maps, and compatible products, I recommend the excellent reports on the Greg Benz Photography website.

Summary of my testing: It appears that an Adobe Portfolio site can display HDR images, but with some restrictions. The files must be uploaded one at a time, as separate images on a page, and not into a “Photo Grid.” The image previews on a page will always appear in SDR. Clicking on a preview initiates “Lightbox Mode”, which brings up an HDR version of the image. You can then manually shift through a full-screen slide show. Hopefully, Adobe will eventually update the Portfolio code to enable HDR images in all areas of a site.

Click here to continue to the test pages.

Thanks for visiting. Comments or corrections? Send to Julian Vrieslander.

This site was last edited on 10/21/2023.