Why lighting calculations look blown-out and plastic without proper gamma correction:

• Monitors display colors using non-linear gamma ($V_{\text{display}} = V_{\text{linear}}^{2.2}$).
• Light calculations (Lambertian diffuse, Phong specular, PBR) must occur in Linear space ($1.0 + 1.0 = 2.0$).

The Solution:

1. Load color textures using sRGB formats (DXGI_FORMAT_R8G8B8A8_UNORM_SRGB / GL_SRGB8_ALPHA8) so hardware automatically linearizes inputs.
2. In post-processing shader, convert linear HDR result back to gamma space:vec3 finalColor = pow(linearColor, vec3(1.0 / 2.2));

Forgetting to linearize sRGB input textures is why amateur shaders have harsh, blown-out specular highlights.

Hardware sRGB render targets handle the gamma conversion on output automatically at zero shader cost.