Rawtherapee: wavelet contrast: Levels 4,5,6 non-functional

[ff2000]

I am on newlocallab2.

Version: 5.8-2065-g188f77804
Branch: 5.8-2065-g188f77804
Commit: 188f77804
Commit date: 2020-06-06
Compiler: gcc 10.1.0
Processor: x86_64
System: Linux
Bit depth: 64 bits
Gtkmm: V3.24.1
Lensfun: V0.3.2.0
Build type: RelWithDebInfo
Build flags:  -std=c++11 -fno-tree-loop-vectorize  -Werror=unused-label -Werror=delete-incomplete -fno-math-errno -Wall -Wuninitialized -Wcast-qual -Wno-deprecated-declarations -Wno-unused-result -Wunused-macros -fopenmp -Werror=unknown-pragmas -O2 -g -DNDEBUG -ftree-vectorize
Link flags:   
OpenMP support: ON
MMAP support: ON

Changing wavelet contrast levels 4,5,6 has no effect. RT-5.8 (and also a recent commit some time ago) had no issues.
I tested with different RAWs from different cameras (SIGMA fp, Sony A7II, Olympus EM-1, Panasonic G85, Fuji XT-20) and all show the same behaviour.
Note that it doesn't matter how many levels you select. 4 Levels selected and 1,2,3 work, 4 doesn't. 9 levels selected and 1,2,3,7,8,9 work, 4,5,6 don't.

RT5.8 is OK:

RT-git has issues:

[heckflosse]

@Desmis Jacques, shall I bisect this or do you already have an idea what causes that?

[Desmis]

Perhaps it is a bug, but I don't think so

First
Try : replace "selective luminance range" by "whole luminance range"...works

reselect : "selective luminance range"
and now move the double sliders "Finer luminance range" to the left....works (I think)
change "damper" and offset...works

go to the curve "Finer -Coarser levels" - move the 2 grrens point to the right... works

@TechXavAL is writting a documentation to explain

jacques

[ff2000]

All right, works.
I switched from Detail Level COntrast to Wavelet contrast recently and maybe I either didn't touch the 4,5,6 sliders or went back to Detail Level when I actually touched those sliders.
Still I find it somewhat weird that it is always 4,5,6. I thought the whole range of possible (or implamented) detail levels was mapped on the selected number of layers. Selecting "4" should map a really course level to level 4. But probably this is once more a misunderstanding on my side.

Feel free to close this issue if you think all is fine and works/is documented as expected.
Thx!

[ff2000]

No, it's not 100% bug-free (IMO) ;)
The upgrade doesn't work. Edit a file with RT-5.8 and reopen it with RT-dev - the effect of levels 4,5,6 is gone. I think RAWs edited with RT-5.8 should look the same when opened in RT-5.9.

RT-5.8

Opened in RT-5.9-dev

[TechXavAL]

@ff2000

Hi: I'm checking that behavior, and it seems that you're right.

On the other hand, most probably it's not a bug, but an unexpected behavior that must be fully explained in the documentation (or change it to what the user expects)

There is currently a curve in dev at the end of the Contrast module (the _Finer-Coarser levels_), which by default has this shape:

In that graph, all levels that have a flat curve along the axis (the abscissa) will not modify any contrast.

On the other hand, in that curve the level that is _gone_ most probably is only level 5, but levels 4 and 6 have a so little effect that it seems they are gone too.

Let's see how this will be solved (I won't say _fixed_, yet)

EDIT: by the way, given the upgrades made to the tool, the image won't look _the same_, but it should look a bit better, with less artifacts.

[Desmis]

@ff2000
Same answer as in PULL REQUEST

I think it will be almost impossible to ensure compatibility .... The operation is different...
To sum up, in 2014 I imagined an operation with the inverted "shadows threshold" slider...not intuitive at all

When @TechXavAL begin to write documentation, he showed the difficulties of understanding.

After several stages I had the wrong idea of the curve, which I fully assume.

All these difficulties come from the GUI and my weak knowledge in this field.

Since one week, I got down to the GUI and found this solution which seems to work properly and is intuitive.

In the first step, I take into account the position of "wavelet level"
This value this sets the maximum of the 2 sliders
Then, the current value of "Finer levels" is passed to "Coarser levels" to set the minimum value

Now to sum up:
for "finer levels" : Only levels beyond the chosen value will be affected by the highlight luminance range.
for "coarser levels": Only levels above the chosen value and selected 'wavelet levels' will be affected by the shadow luminance range.

[TechXavAL]

Correction:

• for "Finer levels" : Only levels below and including the chosen value will be affected by the Highlight luminance range

• for "Coarser levels": Only levels from the chosen value to the selected number of ‘wavelet levels’ will be affected by the Shadow luminance range