Unified Color Technologies (www.unifiedcolor.com) has launched HDR Express 2 for Mac OS X (10.6.5 or higher) and Windows. The latest evolution of Unified Color’s true-color HDR software features its most streamlined workflow yet.


The new version also simplifies the HDR photography process to a point that promises users of any skill level first-time success when creating 32-bit color HDR images, according to Alfred Zee, CEO of Unified Color Technologies. With the new image stacking in HDR Express 2, the application automatically arranges, sorts and groups bracketed exposures.

A new visual browser allows users to identify images by thumbnails rather than filenames in images with moving subjects. The new de-ghosting algorithms in HDR Express 2 produces more realistic results, says Zee.
 
The upgrade's slideshow feature allows users to share JPEG, TIFF and 32-bit BEF files as a full-screen slideshow. New preset functionality combines tone mapping and style parameters in a single click
 
HDR Express 2 can be used as stand-alone HDR software or a plug-in for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Apple Aperture. It accepts r JPEG and TIFF files, as well as most of the major manufacturers’ RAW formats. Once the HDR image has been processed users can save the results as an 8-bit or 16-bit TIFF, JPEG, or Unified Color’s native 32-bit BEF format preserving the full dynamic range of the HDR image while maximizing storage compression.
 
HDR Express 2 is available immediately for a special introductory price of US$84 through Nov 12. After this it will be available for the regular price of $99. Current Unified Color customers can upgrade to HDR Express 2 for $59.