# Physically Based Rendering by Pharr, Jakob and Humphreys

7 Hacker News commenters recommended Physically Based Rendering by Pharr, Jakob and Humphreys and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as the standard reference on physically based rendering, and freely available online. Critics note it mainly covers offline ray and path tracing.

## Why people recommend it

- Standard reference often called the bible (2 comments): "The textbooks Real Time Rendering and Physically Based Rendering are far more deserving of such claims." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49028809)) "which is effectively the bible, and has been for years" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48542737))

## What people warn about

- Mainly covers offline ray and path tracing (1 comments): "The PBR book is much better in this regard, but it mainly focuses on offline ray tracing / path tracing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49031496))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Computer Graphics from Scratch by Gabriel Gambetta](https://hackerapproved.com/p/computer-graphics-from-scratch.md): 6 recommend
- [Real-Time Rendering by Akenine-Möller, Haines and Hoffman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/real-time-rendering.md): 5 recommend
- [Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice by Foley and van Dam](https://hackerapproved.com/p/computer-graphics-principles-and-practice.md): 4 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0262048027?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780262048026) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Physically Based Rendering by Pharr, Jakob and Humphreys", https://hackerapproved.com/p/physically-based-rendering/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).