Sharp estimates for Hübner’s upper bound function with applications

New better estimates, which are given in terms of elementary functions, for the function r → (2/π)(1 - r2)K(r)K (r) + log r appearing in Hübner's sharp upper bound for the Hersch-Pfluger distortion function are obtained. With these estimates, some known bounds for the Hersch-Pfluger distortion function in quasiconformal theory are improved, thus improving the explicit quasiconformal Schwarz lemma and some known estimates for the solutions to the Ramanujan modular equations.