Those features are in-camera options... they're applied when you take a jpeg image... and they take time to process... I think they slow the image cycling times, so in a fast (sports) situation may not be appropriate.
Either way... they use a pre-determined metric(by Nikon) of what/how much to do... <--speaking mostly about the D-Lighting here... whereas post processing gives you more control to achieve the same results...
I think one of the problems for new photographers to grasp is that you don't NEED all the whiz bang features in today's cameras... and they feel the manufacturer put it there, so they need to use it....
It's better to learn and understand the features, but more importantly, learn the basic functions reeeeally well before adding the whiz bang stuff...
I apologize if this seems preachy... I'm basically a minimalist that started with film, and not much more than a Brownie box camera... there seems to be a rush to compete by adding "features" by the manufactures and IMO, it hurts the new/young photographer by creating a distraction...