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Emirena
Inspiring
June 7, 2022
Answered

what on earth does windows 10 do to color profiles?

  • June 7, 2022
  • 2 replies
  • 5727 views

I noticed this when trying to set night photos as deesktop backgrounds.

When I open JPGs in windows "photo" app they appear normal (brightness level as I wish). When I hit "edit" in this app, they darken significantly.

When I open them in photoshop, they appear normally (as I wish and as in windows preview).

Same phenomenon occurs when I try to set them as my desktop background: they appear much more dark than I wish, untrue to preview image (see screenshot comparisons).

Note, even when I open these screenshots after taking them, they appear much brighter when viewed as new JPG screenshot files than they did on screen when I took them.

I tried saving the original file (IMGP4677-* variants attached) with various assigned color profiles, and no difference is seen anywhere except within the windows photo preview.

Same darkening issue and untrue screenshot brightness phenomenon occurs.

I am using a microsoft surface laptop connected to a Dell ultrasharp monitor (displays "generic PNP monitor" under color profile in windows display settings?).

Can someone help me regain my sanity and tell me what's wrong with my color profiles?

I normally save every JPG as embedded - SRGB profile. I never noticed this before, and it doesn't seem to be occuring on photos from my old camera or that were edited in older versions of photoshop as opposed to new lightroom mobile and photoshop camera raw 14.3. (imgp4677.jpg contained LR custom masks and brightness edits to bring up the foreground significantly without killing the night sky black level totally).

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer D Fosse

    Convert the image to your monitor profile. Then the numbers will be in your monitor color space and it will display correctly on your monitor (but nowhere else!)

     

    That answers your question and the thread can be closed.

     

    I need to emphasize that this is not something you normally want to do. It breaks color management everytwhere else. But if it's important to have a desktop image correctly displayed, this is how you do it.

    2 replies

    Bob_Hallam
    Bob_Hallam
    Legend
    June 8, 2022

    Sadly Windows 10 and its previous iterations are not 100% color-managed like the Mac OS.  Sure it would be an average user's expectation, but the WCS team cannot do it all and have somewhat limited access to the entire OS. If your expectations haven't been managed by this comment and you want the whole OS to be color managed, then buy a Mac.  They are the best tools for color at present.  

    ICC programmer and developer, Photographer, artist and color management expert, Print standards and process expert.
    D Fosse
    Community Expert
    D FosseCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 8, 2022

    This discussion would be a lot more fruitful if people could refrain from ignorant statements like "Macs are the best tool for color". If you know what you're doing, you can argue that Windows is a much more reliable tool for accurate color.

     

    Yes, in Mac, profile conversions are called by the application but executed by the OS. In Windows, it's all executed by the application. That has never been a secret! We all know that.

     

    But that has one important implication: there's one less layer where bugs and problems can happen. The whole system is simpler and more reliable. As long as the application does it right, it will be right. It also means troubleshooting is a lot easier. If an application is not doing it right, you spot it immediately. The whole thing is more transparent.

     

    And make no mistake: it just works.

     

    So please, don't try to make us believe that Mac is "better", because it isn't. It's different. Some people prefer that, that's fine. But some of us, who really rely on accurate color, prefer Windows for that reason.

     

    So - can we stop this?

      Bob_Hallam
      Bob_Hallam
      Legend
      June 8, 2022

      Bob. That's the post I really have an issue with here, and it's not contributing to a constructive discussion.


      If you RE-read my post you will see that what I actually said is true.  The whole OS on Windows is not color managed and if that's what the OP requires them Mac is the solution.  If you are happy with WCS that has no bearing on the users issue (desktop image is very different) because your experience and workflow are in fact different.  I'm not speaking to that experience in my response. 

      ICC programmer and developer, Photographer, artist and color management expert, Print standards and process expert.
      D Fosse
      Community Expert
      D FosseCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      June 7, 2022

      The Windows desktop is not color managed. It ignores the embedded document profile, and it ignores your monitor profile. It just sends the RGB numbers straight to screen.

       

      Windows Photos recently (and silently) got full color management, and the new versions should display correctly and 100% identically to Photoshop.

       

      The difference is often very obvious in predominantly dark images. Most LCD displays have a native dip in the shadows, making shadows appear darker than they really are. The monitor profile accounts for this (since it's based on actual measurement), and a color managed application will display all shadows correctly and lighter.

        E
        EmirenaAuthor
        Inspiring
        June 11, 2022

        what's the best way for me to set a desktop background image with color as seen in photoshop or windows Photos, if possible at all, then? I've saved and re-saved with "do not color manage" and other settings and still no dice.

        I forgot that although straight bitmaps, JPGs still display differently depending on color profiles. I first encountered this when posting camera photos set to adobe RGB to instagram - they all appeared faded. I set my camera and photoshop export settings to sRGB and fixed that.

        Is there a way to save the correct appearance i want for desktop background images?

        D Fosse
        Community Expert
        D FosseCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
        Community Expert
        June 11, 2022

        Convert the image to your monitor profile. Then the numbers will be in your monitor color space and it will display correctly on your monitor (but nowhere else!)

         

        That answers your question and the thread can be closed.

         

        I need to emphasize that this is not something you normally want to do. It breaks color management everytwhere else. But if it's important to have a desktop image correctly displayed, this is how you do it.

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