sRGB vs Adobe RGB camera setting (when using LR editing software)?

[raphaels28255986]

Hi guys,

sRGB vs Adobe RGB camera setting (when using LR editing software)?

What do you think? Thanks a lot.

[Ian Lyons]

If shooting raw, then it makes zero difference. If shooting JPEG, then Adobe RGB is better than sRGB. 

[raphaels28255986]

Makes sense. Thank you.

[TheDigitalDog]

You can convert camera JPEGs to sRGB from Adobe RGB (1998), you really can't do the opposite. 

You can pour a cup of water into a pint container, you can't do the opposite. 

sRGB urban legend & myths Part 2

In this 17 minute video, I'll discuss some more sRGB misinformation and cover:
When to use sRGB and what to expect on the web and mobile devices
How sRGB doesn't insure a visual match without color management, how to check
The downsides of an all sRGB workflow sRGB's color gamut vs. "professional" output devices
The future of sRGB and wide gamut display technology
Photo print labs that demand sRGB for output
High resolution: http://digitaldog.net/files/sRGBMythsPart2.mp4
Low resolution on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyvVUL1gWVs

[raphaels28255986]

Thanks.

I understand that the in-camera setting determines the look-and-feel of the images I see on the camera monitor only. The camera, naturally, sends raw files to my Mac; so why worry Right?

[richardplondon]

Yes, with Raw there is no issue so far as processing the images, of setting AdobeRGB or sRGB in camera.

With AdobeRGB: the first character of filenames tends to change to an underscore - this is according to digital camera industry standards for JPG (the same filename pattern is then also used for camera Raw even if no camera JPG is being saved).

Also, some people have concluded that by setting AdobeRGB mode, the in camera histograms may be more indicative of the practical headroom you'll experience in Raw conversion. But some people are very full of theories of all kinds, this factor probably is not significant in practice, IMO.

[edit: meaning more precisely, the difference between sRGB or AdobeRGB is too little to change the representativeness or otherwise, of the in camera histogram]

[raphaels28255986]

In other words, a tempest in a teacup.

Thank you Richard.

[D Fosse · Accepted solution]

Also, some people have concluded that by setting AdobeRGB mode, the in camera histograms may be more indicative of the practical headroom you'll experience in Raw conversion. But some people are very full of theories of all kinds, this factor probably is not significant in practice, IMO.

By richardplondon

With sensors today capable of 14 bit dynamic range between saturation/noise floor, a gamma encoded RGB file will show clipping long before the sensor data.

In other words, neither an sRGB histogram nor an Adobe RGB histogram is a true indicator of the raw data available. Both should be treated as very rough guides.

I have absolutely no idea what any of my current cameras are set to, I've never even bothered to look.

[raphaels28255986]

Very interesting. Thank you. 

[D Fosse]

Correction: I meant 14 stops, not 14 bits, even though raw files today usually are 14 bits. But with linear data, the two are probably connected (doubling/halving the light = 1 extra bit).

[raphaels28255986]

14 stops is a ridiculously large amount of flexibility. Hard to wrap my head around that.