I have a publication that will be done soon™. I have been preparing it for a while, but I keep finding edge cases to fix, and ways to make things even better that I keep changing things fast enough that I need to re-work the paper. The code to produce it will all be open source, and I am even working on making it an independent package you can install separately from the rest of our software stack, specifically so other places can easily install and use it in all sorts of environments.
It's funny you mention HDR, I am _just_ about finished with the HDR extension to the image processing code. What you see in the sky viewer is all standard SDR formats. As you suspect it makes a HUGE difference. Once this is all done we will be working on rolling out many different ways to experience it. The HDR code path will also be part of the package and is not much different to use than the standard stuff.
Reading your comment has gotten me a little more energized to make more progress on this this morning.