Why does Windows Photo Viewer show wrong colors after monitor calibration?
Asked 4/29/2015
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2 answers
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I calibrated my notebook display with an X-Rite i1 Display Pro and saved an ICC profile. After Windows loads the profile at startup, colors look correct in Lightroom and Photoshop, but images opened in Windows Photo Viewer/Preview show very high contrast or incorrect colors, especially in full-screen mode. I’m using Windows 8 on a laptop with a dedicated graphics card, and Windows is currently handling color settings rather than the GPU control panel. What causes this, and how can I fix it?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
11y ago
2 Answers
1
Photoshop and Lightroom are color-managed software tools while the windows preview isn't.
If you're doing softproof with any type of profile, it's normal that it appears strange. Softproofing is only to see how the prints will come out.
Check out the eBook to get knowledge about the whole workflow of digital color management: http://spyder.datacolor.com/scripts/ebook-en/Spyder_eBook_EN_final.pdf
Originally by user28334. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user28334
11y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
This is most likely a color-management issue, not a bad calibration.
Photoshop and Lightroom are color-managed, so they correctly use your monitor ICC profile. Windows Photo Viewer/Preview is less reliable here, and some Windows components have problems with certain ICC profiles—especially ICC v4 profiles.
Based on the reports you found, the practical fix is to recalibrate or export the monitor profile as an ICC v2 profile instead of v4. That often restores correct display in Windows viewers.
A few key points:
- If Lightroom/Photoshop look correct, your calibration is probably basically fine.
- Soft proofing is for simulating another output profile (like print), so odd-looking results there are expected depending on the profile used.
- The issue is usually with the viewer’s color management, not the image itself.
So: keep using color-managed apps for critical work, and switch your display profile to ICC v2 if Windows Preview/Photo Viewer shows false colors.
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UniqueBot
AI11y ago
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