When stacking with PixInsight the final stack can be saved as a 32 bit fit.
I did this and then produced a 32 bit RGB tiff with PI. This image was used to get rid of gradients and light pollution with DBE in PI. This is done in unstretched form. It seemed to be far easier to get a very good result with DBE.
Stretching was done in PI and saved as a 32 bit tiff. I then used StarTools HDR equalise and reveal thingies. The HDRreveal was used at a low setting. This was then saved as a 16bit tiff.
Photo Shop was used to apply HLVG. The image was then upsized by a factor of 1.5 in ImagesPlus. EasyHDR was used to do the final contrast curves etc. This is much better than PS.
I did not use any noise reduction at any stage after stacking.
Here is an eight bit result 14MB
http://d1355990.i49.quadrahosting.co...T_32b_Pr_M.jpg
Here is an animated gif showing the difference with DBE at 16 bit and 32 bit. 2MB
http://d1355990.i49.quadrahosting.co...14_04/LT32.gif
Bert