GPU-accelerated rendering displays image brighter than actual pixel data (also reported in Premiere Pro, After Effects)

Question

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

Mr Hahn · Answer

THANK YOU for this bug report. I couldn’t get Photoshop to open any of my files correctly, they looked too bright and blown out, and I’m a Real Estate photographer trying to edit paid jobs. I was sending them over from Lightroom, and I also tried opening them directly, but this was the only fix. I’m on a M4 Max Mac Studio and I had to uncheck the“Use Graphics Processor” option in the “Performance” tab of the settings. I’m finally back to editing my last few jobs now.

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