Inspiring

Question

Color Management Windows 11

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
October 7, 2023
4 replies
13584 views

I am looking to upgrade my OS from Windows 10 to 11 and noticed there are some new features regarding color management. Specifically the new "Auto Color Management" ACM system. Does this system conflict at all with the Adobe color management system? Are there any settings or parameters that I need to be aware of/disable for a proper color-managed workflow?

I use a wide gamut hardware calibrated display (in native gamut).

Windows

P

POMara

Participant

This is an enlightening thread. I work in Lightroom Classic, I1 Display calibration, Windows 11 Home. Recently I have noticed that web output srgb has a color cast that does not appear in LR. I see it on my screen when I check them on my desktop. It is most glaring with white backgrounds.

Is this related to OS11? It's a new issue for me.

Thanks in advance

D Fosse

Community Expert

Are you embedding the profile? What application are you viewing these exported files in, and does it support color management?

Ricardo CGI

Inspiring

Hi guys,

I just got a wide-gamut monitor and would like to take advantage of it in Windows 11. The issue is that I don't see the ACM toggle over the advanced display settings, and as far as I know, my PC meets the requirements for this.

Do you have an idea why? Any help would be a good starting point in order to solve this.

Ricardo

NB, colourmanagement

Community Expert

@Ricardo CGI As long as your display has an accurate ICC profile the operating system and Photoshop will use it correctly.

I hope this helps
neil barstow, colourmanagement net - adobe forum volunteer - co-author: 'getting colour right'
google me "neil barstow colourmanagement" for lots of free articles on colour management
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Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here. "Upvote" is for useful posts.

Ricardo CGI

Inspiring

Hi,

Absolutely. PS always did a great job. The point is that all other apps which are not color-managed will look oversaturated in Windows 11. That's why I'm trying to find some user experience with the new ACM in Win 11 where for some reason, I don't have it available in mine.

D Fosse

Community Expert

I haven't taken the jump to 11 yet, despite nag screens on an almost daily basis 😉 My opinion is that Windows 10 is the perfect operating system and I have no desire to change anything about it. But one day I have to.

But I've been doing some quick reading, and ACM shouldn't affect Photoshop, or any other icc-based color managed application, in any practical way.

What it looks like to me, is that they're moving color managment execution away from the application and into the operating system. This is the Apple model, and I'm not sure I like it. Previously, Windows just managed profiles and made them available to the application as needed, and then the actual conversion was handled by the application.

The problem with having the OS do it is that it's more exposed to bugs, and much less transparent for troubleshooting if it fails. And if bugs do hit, there's nothing you can do. That's what we've been telling Mac users the whole time: "you just have to wait for an OS update". I don't want to sit around waiting. I want to know exactly where the problem is and find workarounds.

But I suppose they need to do this for HDR support. It should also be said that historically, Microsoft have been very good at fixing problems quickly. I just don't like to put everything into the hands of the guys in white lab coats.

R

romany36267645Author

Inspiring

I've also been quite happy with Windows 10. The OS isn't without issue however, and it's been brought to my attention that Windows can be a bit buggy with multi monitor color management. I've been told that Windows can "arbitrarily unload system profiles". I believe programs like ColorNavigator look out for issues like this, and reload the profiles as needed.

"ACM shouldn't affect Photoshop, or any other icc-based color managed application, in any practical way" This would be the case if it was implemented properly. I came across a post by another user that suggested this was not the case.
He claimed that Photoshop would no longer show colors outside of sRGB. He also has issues with 10 bit support. https://www.reddit.com/r/Monitors/comments/15e75xa/windows_11_acm_is_just_another_piece_of_trash_on/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

It's worth noting that he was using a preview version of windows. He does say however that the system has been atleast partially rolled out in official released versions. This was 2 months ago, and i'm unsure how things have changed since.

I saw in the dev blogs that there is an option to "use legacy display icc color management". I wonder if that is the solution for programs that are already color-managed such as Photoshop. Is it perhaps best to avoid Windows 11 altogether for the time being while they make this transition?

D Fosse

Community Expert

The difference in some images is subtle , others not so. But you don't actually need any document content to confirm that the monitors are using the wide gamut profile or are restricted to sRGB.

I use my monitors calibrated and profiled to three common targets (I have another couple for specialist use). The first is the native colour of the monitors i.e. as wide as the monitors can display, the second is Rec709 which I need for use with some video applications where the application allows you to set the monitor space but does not use the ICC profile at all. The third is sRGB for some application around 3D which again allow the user to set which monitor space is being used but do not use the profile set in the system.

If I have been using the monitors as Rec709 or sRGB and forget to switch the monitors back to the native , on opening Photoshop a quick glance at the swatch panel (which I have permanently open on my second screen) gives an immediate confirmation that the monitor is in a restricted gamut mode. Closing Photoshop, switching the monitors (which automatically loads the correct profile in the system), and re-opening Photoshop shows all is well again.

If you have your wide gamut monitor(s) set to native (i.e. wide gamut) and the associated monitor profile loaded in the system and used by Photoshop (which it picks up on opening) then you will see the RGB colours in the swatch panel change when you switch between an Adobe RGB document and sRGB document. If your monitors are set to a restricted sRGB space and you open Photoshop and repeat that test, i.e. switch between an sRGB document and an Adobe RGB document, you will see no difference in the swatch panel as both are being restricted to the narrow sRGB space.

So that is a long way of answering your question - yes I would know immediately if my displays were being restricted to sRGB

Dave

Yep 🙂

If this worries you, make a test file with some split patches: one side sRGB, the other corresponding side Adobe RGB outside sRGB.

Bojan Živković11378569

Community Expert

I will tag @D Fosse who may be able to help you.

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