Viewer colors brighter when paused vs playing. Which is correct?

[Evan Ingersoll]

Possibly an old question, but I've noticed that the image in my composition viewer is brighter when playback is stopped than when preview is running. So if I stop playback and apply a color adjustment to a specific frame, and then play, the view is darker than I'd intended.

My basic question is, am I using it wrong? Is the color "correct" when playback is stopped, or "correct" only when playing?

I'm working with color management on in 32bpc and simulating Rec.709 output (I'm on a P3 display). It's possible to screen-grab the difference (see attached), but that doesn't tell me which color is right...

[RobShultz]

The paused color is probably correct. The playback color might be slightly off because the computer may not be completely keeping up.