Photoshop canvas renders images brighter than actual pixel data when GPU acceleration is enabled
With GPU acceleration enabled ("Use Graphics Processor"), Photoshop's canvas displays images brighter than the actual pixel data. Confirmed by comparing the canvas to the layer thumbnail (which shows the correct, darker image) and to the same file opened in Preview.app and Camera Raw. Disabling GPU acceleration and restarting Photoshop fixes it — canvas then matches thumbnail/Preview.
Steps to reproduce:
- Open a JPEG or ARW file (GPU acceleration on, default)
- Compare canvas to layer thumbnail — canvas is visibly brighter
- Photoshop > Settings > Performance > uncheck "Use Graphics Processor" > restart
- Reopen file — canvas now matches thumbnail
Expected: canvas matches actual pixel data. Actual: GPU rendering over-brightens display only (underlying data is correct).
Likely related to a broader shared GPU rendering issue — other users report the same artifact in Premiere Pro and After Effects. See related (closed) thread: community.adobe.com/topic/show?tid=1409325&fid=729
System: MacBook Pro, M4 Max, 128GB RAM, macOS Sequoia 15.7.7, Photoshop 2026
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