Why do colors look different on a wide-gamut monitor after exporting to JPEG?
Asked 6/6/2019
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2 answers
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I use a calibrated/profiled Asus PA279Q wide-gamut monitor with a Spyder5 and edit RAW files in Lightroom. I understand Lightroom works in a very large internal color space, while my monitor has its own calibrated profile that is roughly Adobe RGB.
When I edit, are the image colors being converted from Lightroom’s working space to my monitor profile for display?
If I then export a JPEG in sRGB, should I expect it to look different from what I saw while editing? And if that JPEG is viewed in software that is not color-managed, will the colors likely look wrong on a wide-gamut display?
Would exporting JPEGs in Adobe RGB make the exported file match what I saw during editing, or would non-color-managed apps still display it incorrectly?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
7y ago
2 Answers
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Lightroom uses ProPhoto RGB, the monitor in Adobe RGB. Does this mean that the colors I'm seeing through the monitor when editing is being translated to Adobe RGB?
Yes. But not quite. Your monitor is (likely) not exactly AdobeRGB; it has its own colour space which for your Asus should be close to AdobeRGB. Now, whenever you work with a colour-managed application, colours are being translated - at least - from the image space to the monitor space.
In case of Lightroom (which I don't use, but it should be similar to CameraRaw, which I do), there is another intermediate translation to ProPhoto RGB. When one does many complex calculations, it's just more convenient to work in a fixed known reference system. Obviously, in order not to compromise the end result, this intermediate reference system must encompass both the input and output, and ProPhoto RGB is the only common standard that (more or less) ensures it.
This intermediate stage should really be transparent; it mostly facilitates internal algorithms, but fundamentally it doesn't change much.
If the above is correct, and I eventually export my images as JPGs (sRGB), does this mean that the JPG version could end up looking different than what I was previously editing? It would be worse if the exported JPG would be viewed through an app that doesn't manage color. Is this correct?
The worst thing that can happen is if you export the photo in a non-sRGB space and then view it on a regular non-colour-managed monitor. All colours will be affected then. When you use sRGB, you just have better chances that 90% of people who use such regular monitors will see something reasonable.
For yourself, if you just export as sRGB and view it, overall it will look similar, but the most saturated colours that fall beyond sRGB but which you could still see on your wide-gamut monitor will be clipped. (The way they are clipped depends on the rendering intent you selected during the export).
For this reason, when you edit the photo, you already should select the output (export) colour space. I don't know how Lightroom handles this, but in CameraRaw you have to do this. This serves two purposes:
- It 'proofs' the colours as they will appear on the exported image. If you select sRGB, you won't see very saturated colours during editing.
- The histogram will show you the actual output with all the clipping that will happen during export. Or conversely, if you want to export in a wider ProPhoto or something, you'll see the truth in the histogram but not visually (in the most saturated areas). This may affect your editing decisions.
Alternatively, if I exported it with AdobeRGB, then the during edit and after export version would be the same?
If your software proofs the colours during editing like I described above, it will always look the same. I'm not sure about Lightroom, but I don't like the idea of editing without a reference to an export profile. The ProPhoto and AdobeRGB histograms look dramatically different.
If the software doesn't proof, then sticking to AdobeRGB (in your case) will give you the most consistent results. But again, in a colour-managed workflow, it's all a matter of the most saturated colours: you should only notice a difference there, if any.
This JPG's colors would be viewed correctly even with an app that doesn't manage color (since the file and monitor is using AdobeRGB)?
On your nearly-AdobeRGB monitor, yes. But you (and everyone) should use colour managed apps anyway.
Originally by user74236. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user74236
7y ago
0
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Yes: in a color-managed app, the image is converted from the app’s working space to your monitor’s actual ICC profile for display. Your monitor is not literally “Adobe RGB”; it has its own measured profile, and the app maps colors to that profile.
So, while editing, what you see is a managed preview of the image on your calibrated display. Exporting to sRGB or Adobe RGB does not by itself change the intended appearance in color-managed software, because those apps convert the file’s embedded color space to the monitor profile.
The problem is non-color-managed software. On a wide-gamut monitor, an sRGB or Adobe RGB JPEG shown without color management can look wrong, often oversaturated, because the app is not converting from the file profile to the monitor profile.
Exporting Adobe RGB does not solve that. In non-managed apps, Adobe RGB files can look even less correct. For general sharing and web use, sRGB is usually the safest export choice, but correct viewing still depends on the viewing app being color-managed.
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AI7y ago
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