Should shaders be considered cheating?

Sharpen makes the game looks so good so nah.

I think giving PC users the same options within the game, instead of jumping through hoops, would be fine. Just like how they added the framerate and other options. Once they provide a basekit method, then I wouldn't have a problem with prohibiting those non-sanctioned changes. That being said I would only want a scratch mark color changer. I legit can't see scratch marks on Borgo and Ormond when there is any kind of pressure (aka not 4 baby Survs). If I could swap the scratch colors just for those 2 maps I'd be golden. It sucks having the match being nearly unplayable because of such egregious design flaws. I've even tested the colorblind settings with bots, and nothing helps on those maps, they are irredeemable.

I very much agree. However, I would like to point out, that there are some instances like Freddy's Dreamworld and Dredge's Nightfall, that can make your screen so dark, that it might as well turn pitch black. Have you seen how bad the Grim Pantry can be? It get's so dark down there, that even with the most optimal lighting (no light at all) you'll have trouble seeing anything (even scratch marks). And it gets worse with slightly unoptimal lighting. This is definitely an issue because it also causes eye strain.

Also, there is no denying, that some maps would look way better, if BHVR would just change the filters (looking at you, Haddonfield and Coldwinds).

I'm also pretty sure they can't actually detect filters. Because these filters don't alter your game files but they affect your screen.

Not really. I think most people use it primarily to adjust brightness. And brightness is not standardized from monitor to monitor (or TV). So is just having a monitor with better brightness settings cheating? That's ridiculous.

As others have pointed out, the game itself should provide more options for adjustments. But until then, if I don't use a shader to bring up the brightness a bit, there are maps where I literally can't see #########.

And beyond brightness, I don't see what advantage could be derived from any other shaders. Like some people just use them to make the game a bit more vibrant, because it's base look is a bit dull. I don't think that gives any realistic play advantage, so I don't see how it could be called cheating.

Most of the reshade stuff that got to do with colors could be done hardware side by changing the calibration of the display and for that reason alone it's problematic to ban reshade. (Granted, messing with color calibration to that degree would make a lot of other stuff look like sh* but that's besides the point.)

Personally, I used to use reshade for aesthetic purposes but been back to vanilla, safe for some gamma tweaks (so that I don't have to play in a pretty dark room and also won't be blinded the second I open word with its bright white page) and the sharpen (seriously, 2k texture maps ain't that bad, the blur can be toned done by a lot. ... But alas; blur it is...).

But as others have pointed out: similar to the fps and anti aliasing I would much rather they introduced native settings for gamma and contrast, along with an accessibility option for scratchmarks and the red stain for people who have trouble with the colour red in certain contexts.

I do see it as cheating.. But as the whitelisted or allowed kind of cheating, just like SWF using VOIP to call the killer's perks, position, add-ons, (....).

In other words, whether it should be or shouldn't be seen as cheating isn't or shouldn't be the question.

I don't mean to exclude console, but even Switch itself is a barely playable mess (as far as I understand), and adding these features might simply be impossible for weaker consoles. If it would work on consoles, I have no problem with them receiving nice tools also. I was just being more realistic as to who would mostly benefit from it. If console got the benefits of the recent frame rates and other stuff, then this might also be available for console as well.

Until BHVR give us ultimate customisation options in-game, no. You can already achieve a lot of what filters provide just through monitor settings alone (ie contrast, brightness, colour, etc). My monitor is broken, for instance, and has the brightness permanently set to 0, so I use filters in all my games to correct this (and I know that this is a very edge case, but it's just an example), along with a deuteranopia filter so I can distinguish between red, green, and yellow.

Moreover, BHVR have specifically whitelisted DBD for Nvidia Freestyle use, meaning that they've had to go yes, we would like players to be able to use your filter software in our games. Some people take it too far, and it makes their game look god awful, but most people do genuinely just use it to make their game look better.