Linear — No Tone Mapping
The Linear mode is a passthrough: scene color is passed through unmodified (only Exposure Compensation is applied). No S-curve, no compression — what the renderer produces is what you get.
When to use Linear
HDR display output — If you're targeting an HDR display with UE's HDR output path, you may want no additional tone mapping curve.
External post-processing — If tone mapping is handled downstream (e.g., in a compositor, a video grading tool, or a custom post-process material), Linear lets you export clean linear data.
Debugging — Linear is the fastest way to verify that bright areas in your scene are actually linearly bright and not clipped by the tone curve. A scene that looks clearly overexposed in Linear but correct in other modes confirms the curve is working.
Without a tone curve, values above 1.0 are simply clamped to white by the display. This is expected behavior — you are bypassing all compression intentionally.
Settings
None. Only the global Exposure Compensation applies.
Relationship to "Disabled"
| Mode | Plugin pass active | UE tonemapper neutralized |
|---|---|---|
| Linear | Yes | Yes |
| Disabled | No | No |
Linear = the plugin runs but applies no curve. The UE tonemapper is still neutralized (flat).
Disabled = the plugin skips injection entirely. The default UE ACES tonemapper is fully active.
Use Linear when you want the plugin's exposure compensation without a curve. Use Disabled to revert completely to default UE behavior.