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Posted on: May 3, 2006

I think for a point-point release, 1.9.1 is going to make a ginormous difference. Indeed, the way the graphics preferences have been restructured and simplified, e.g. Ripple Water is now included as a subset of the Vertex Shaders, in addition to the new eye candy, will make Second Life look noticeably better than it has before.

Preview Grid is pretty wild right now, with all sorts of experiments being run. During this time, some Lindens are so involved with it they hardly ever see the Main Grid! it's not hibernation tho, given the busyness!

I do still hope that PREFERENCES —> ADV. GRAPHICS —> GAMMA will someday only change SL's display. Currently, it affects things systemwide, which means that no matter what application you're in, if you adjust SL's gamma, other programs will be affected too. I'll of course update when this is the case.

Also, with the nice new visuals, I've noticed a distinct lack of contrast: this is already on a monitor which has been tweaked for even richer hues, mind you. This has been a long traditional problem of SL: the visuals are at times anemic and not bursting with color.

Let's compare.


LESS CONTRAST



 
MORE CONTRAST


Subtle but noticeable. The latter shot was postprocessed with a smidge of turning brightness down and contrast up. It adds to the depth, instead of having elements—noticeably the skyline and terrain—feeling washed-out and sad.

Click through to see bigger versions.

What do you think?

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