Applying color profile from x-rite across Windows 10 (image included!)

[CanonKen]

Hi,

Not even sure the exact question to ask, but I use the software that came with the calibration tool, and end up with a profile. I notice things look 'normal' in Chrome (the part of the screen shot on the right), but the desktop seems VERY over-saturated.

Did some Googling, and didn't find an easy answer.

Is there a way to tame the entire system so the same profile is shown everywhere?

The below image obviously doesn't show the reality, but the desktop is painfully over-saturated, and what I believe to be 'correct' (showed on Chrome, on the right) is good.

Thanks!

 

[Simon Garrett]

Hi,

Not even sure the exact question to ask, but I use the software that came with the calibration tool, and end up with a profile. I notice things look 'normal' in Chrome (the part of the screen shot on the right), but the desktop seems VERY over-saturated.

Did some Googling, and didn't find an easy answer.

Is there a way to tame the entire system so the same profile is shown everywhere?

The below image obviously doesn't show the reality, but the desktop is painfully over-saturated, and what I believe to be 'correct' (showed on Chrome, on the right) is good.

Thanks!

I guess you have a wide-gamut monitor?

Chrome is colour managed, and will show the correct colours for an image with an embedded profile.

The windows desktop isn't colour managed. If the image is sRGB and the monitor is wide-gamut, then desktop colours will be hyper-saturated.

The only way of getting round this with a wide-gamut screen would be to convert your images for your desktop wallpaper to your monitor colour space (using the monitor's profile). Or just live with it, which is what I do. Or perhaps export your images for your desktop to Adobe RGB, which is probably close to your monitor colour space, if it's wide-gamut.

You probably also notice that many images on the web are over-saturated in Chrome. This is for a similar reason: most images (other than on photo sites) do not contain embedded profiles, and Chrome refuses to colour-manage images or graphics that do not contain an embedded profile. However, there is a fix for this: use Firefox. Even than, colour-managing images without embedded profiles is not the default behaviour. You have to go to advanced settings by typing "about:config" (without the quotes) in the URL bar, search for gfx.color_management.mode, and set the value to 1 (it defaults to 2).

--
Simon

 

[CanonKen]

I am used to 'dealing with it', but if there was a fix, I'd be all over it.

 

[Simon Garrett]

I am used to 'dealing with it', but if there was a fix, I'd be all over it.

In fact, I've just followed my own advice. I have a selection of my images in a Lightroom collection called "Slideshow", and every time I change the selection, I export them all to a "Slideshow" folder, which is set as my desktop background. Up to now I've exported them as sRGB, so they're grossly over-saturated on my wide-gamut monitor. I've just re-exported them as Adobe RGB, which is close-ish to my monitor's colour spaces. Now they look roughly right. Why didn't I think of that before?

 

[digidog]

Not even sure the exact question to ask, but I use the software that came with the calibration tool, and end up with a profile. I notice things look 'normal' in Chrome (the part of the screen shot on the right), but the desktop seems VERY over-saturated.

The desktop on your OS doesn't sound like it's color managed.

Is there a way to tame the entire system so the same profile is shown everywhere?

Short of another OS? No.

The below image obviously doesn't show the reality, but the desktop is painfully over-saturated, and what I believe to be 'correct' (showed on Chrome, on the right) is good.

You can double check that you've got Chrome (which I don't use) setup for color management:

WEB BROWSER COLOR MANAGEMENT Tutorial - Test Page FireFox Safari Chrome Internet Explorer IE 10- FILES have embedded ICC profiles Photoshop ColorManagement

This internet Test page will determine if your web browser is color managed, PDI_Target JPEG have embedded profiles sRGB AppleRGB AdobeRGB, all photos will look the same IF browser is color managed, based on Photoshop color management Save For Web ImageReady

www.gballard.net

Is your system ICC Version 4 ready?

The International Color Consortium....promoting and encouraging the standardization of an open color management system

www.color.org

And I assume you have something like Photoshop, Elements, C1, Lightroom; all are color managed and all should match each other when you view images at 100% zoom. All would presumably NOT match your desktop, again indicating it isn't color managed.

 

[CanonKen]

My browser is good.

Thanks!

 

[boels069]

Let the OS do the color management, not the application(s).

 

[Simon Garrett]

Let the OS do the color management, not the application(s).

Trouble is, that's not what happens. Windows doesn't do colour management. It provides the WCS library that programs can call to do colour management, but Windows itself does nothing except provide that library and the framework for linking colour profiles to devices. (I'm less familiar with Mac OS, but I think it's similar.)

It would be nice if Windows did colour management, but without a redesign of libraries (and hence of programs) it would be difficult. In general, Windows doesn't know the colour space of data being sent to the monitor or printer, so it can't do colour management.

 

[boels069]

Let the OS do the color management, not the application(s).

Trouble is, that's not what happens. Windows doesn't do colour management. It provides the WCS library that programs can call to do colour management, but Windows itself does nothing except provide that library and the framework for linking colour profiles to devices. (I'm less familiar with Mac OS, but I think it's similar.)

It would be nice if Windows did colour management, but without a redesign of libraries (and hence of programs) it would be difficult. In general, Windows doesn't know the colour space of data being sent to the monitor or printer, so it can't do colour management.

AFAIK (it works here on W10) Windows has Color Management via Control Panel and profiles can be added.
Application should then instructed to use "Let the system Manage Colors" (or something like that).

 

[sankos]

I guess you have a wide-gamut monitor?

Chrome is colour managed, and will show the correct colours for an image with an embedded profile.

The windows desktop isn't colour managed. If the image is sRGB and the monitor is wide-gamut, then desktop colours will be hyper-saturated.

The only way of getting round this with a wide-gamut screen would be to convert your images for your desktop wallpaper to your monitor colour space (using the monitor's profile). Or just live with it, which is what I do. Or perhaps export your images for your desktop to Adobe RGB, which is probably close to your monitor colour space, if it's wide-gamut.

Good post.

You probably also notice that many images on the web are over-saturated in Chrome. This is for a similar reason: most images (other than on photo sites) do not contain embedded profiles, and Chrome refuses to colour-manage images or graphics that do not contain an embedded profile.

However, there is a fix for this: use Firefox.

Agreed.

Even than, colour-managing images without embedded profiles is not the default behaviour. You have to go to advanced settings by typing "about:config" (without the quotes) in the URL bar, search for gfx.color_management.mode, and set the value to 1 (it defaults to 2).

There's a simple add-on that you can use in Firefox instead of going to the about:config -- Color Management.

 

[Simon Garrett]

Let the OS do the color management, not the application(s).

Trouble is, that's not what happens. Windows doesn't do colour management. It provides the WCS library that programs can call to do colour management, but Windows itself does nothing except provide that library and the framework for linking colour profiles to devices. (I'm less familiar with Mac OS, but I think it's similar.)

It would be nice if Windows did colour management, but without a redesign of libraries (and hence of programs) it would be difficult. In general, Windows doesn't know the colour space of data being sent to the monitor or printer, so it can't do colour management.

AFAIK (it works here on W10) Windows has Color Management via Control Panel and profiles can be added.

All Windows does is to store a list of devices and profiles associated with each device. This means that a program writing to the monitor can ask Windows for the profile. That is all Windows does. Any colour management is done by programs, not Windows.

Are you thinking of the fact that when you calibrate and profile a monitor, the appearance changes in all programs? This is the calibration, not the profile.

Remember that calibration and profiling are two quite distinct processes, even though they're done at the same time by the software that comes with colormunki, Spyder etc (or Argyll s/w).

Calibration alters the state of the monitor by means of a Look Up Table, normally implemented in the display driver, which alters the white point and tone response curve (TRC) to some define state (e.g. D65 and gamma curve of 2.2, or whatever is chosen). Because this is implemented in the driver, it affects all programs (except games or video players, some of which bypass the driver). For most monitors, this doesn't affect the colour space.

Profiling, normally done immediately after calibration, measures the resulting white point and TRC, and measures the colour space of the monitor, and puts the resulting information in a profile, which is then set as the default profile for the monitor (in the list visible in Control Panel). Only colour-managed programs use the profile, and only colour-managed programs convert the image from image colour space to monitor colour space.

Application should then instructed to use "Let the system Manage Colors" (or something like that).

Perhaps, but this isn't what happens I'm afraid.

--
Simon

 

[Simon Garrett]

(snip)
There's a simple add-on that you can use in Firefox instead of going to the about:config -- Color Management.