Color profile mismatch

[Jonas30518788gdux]

I made a file with Rec. 2020 in photoshop. I then tried to paste a section from a picture .heic which came from the S23 Ultra. It says:

Paste Profile Mismatch:
Are you sure you want to convert colors to a destination document with a color profile that does not match the current RGB working space?

Source: DCI-P3 D65 Gamut with sRGB Transfer
Destination: Rec. ITU-R BT.2020-1
Working: sRGB IEC61966-2.1

I would like to paste parts of an image from the iphone 14 pro as well, which uses DCI-P3. What should I do? I would like to have the highest possible quality from both phones in one file/document. It's for a youtube video which will be exported at 8K ProRes 4444xq.

[Jonas30518788gdux]

Should I convert the images from 14 Pro and S23 Ultra to rec.2020 or will that introduce other issues?

[D Fosse]

The message itself tells you nothing useful and my general advice is to disable it permanently. As long as there is an embedded profile, it will be correctly converted in the paste. The working space has no relevance to any of it.

I don't know why you want to use Rec.2020. There are no display devices made today capable of representing all of it. DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB cover about half of it - so you will in any case not lose anything.

[Jonas30518788gdux]

Thanks for the reply. I just want to make sure that no data from the images of the iPhone 14 Pro and the S23 Ultra is lost. You mean I can use DCI-P3 and not lose any information?

[D Fosse]

For video output today, P3 is the practical limit. Of course, there is proofing for future technology - but I think that's an illusory argument. Creators have always used the technology available at the time. Their work doesn't get invalidated just because new technologies appear later. And even if you do future-proof, chances are you won't use in a way that is applicable when that day comes.

In short, DCI-P3 will be fine.

In any case,  P3 is what you get from your phones, so anything bigger is wasted.

[Conrad C]

Source: DCI-P3 D65 Gamut with sRGB Transfer
Destination: Rec. ITU-R BT.2020-1

By @Jonas30518788gdux

It will be fine to allow the conversion from P3 to Rec.2020. Because Rec.2020 is much larger than P3 in almost all dimensions, little to no color data should be lost, and the profiles will be used to preserve color appearance. When using a gamut as large as Rec.2020 there may be a higher risk of stepping or banding in gradients and transitions, but that risk is reduced if editing at a higher bit depth, such as a 16 bits per channel document.

It's for a youtube video which will be exported at 8K ProRes 4444xq.

By @Jonas30518788gdux

What color gamut will you select for the final video, is this an HDR video, and how future-proof does it need to be?

If it’s for a current topic, it’s an SDR video, and there will be little interest in watching it 5 years from now, then mastering in DCI-P3 is certainly good enough.

Mastering and submitting to YouTube as  Rec.2020 appears to be required if it’s an HDR video. If it isn’t HDR, then there is much less reason to master in Rec.2020 unless the video is expected to be viewed well into the future and possibly viewed on future displays with wider color gamuts than DCI-P3.

Because this topic is ultimately about YouTube video delivery and this is a Photoshop forum (mostly focused on still images), you may get better answers asking in a YouTube forum or in a forum for the software you will use to edit the video.

[Jonas30518788gdux]

Hi. I'm doing a comparison video between iPhone 14 Pro and S23 Ultra. These images contains HDR metadata and I would like to offer anybody with an HDR capable display to watch these images in HDR. Will that require me to use Rec.2020?

[Conrad C]

That’s why my earlier reply contains a link to a YouTube web page (Upload High Dynamic Range (HDR) videos). That YouTube page says:

Upload HDR videos
HDR videos must have HDR metadata in the codec or container to be played back properly on YouTube. The most reliable way to properly record the metadata is to export from a supported app…

…If you're grading your video, grade in Rec. 2020 with PQ or HLG. Using a different configuration, including DCI P3, will produce incorrect results.

At this point we’ve reached the limit of what I know, because I don’t really know much about editing for HDR. That’s why if you have more questions about that, you should ask in a YouTube forum, or in a forum for the application you use to edit HDR video (e.g. Adobe Premiere Pro or one of its competitors).

[D Fosse]

So I'll be carrying the dunce hat here 😉

But anyway, converting from a small color space to a larger one is never a problem. You don't gain anything, but you don't lose anything either.

And yes, take this to the Premiere Pro forum, or DaVinci resolve, etc.

[Conrad C]

It’s not just you 🙂 . I also did not know the answer right away. Not until I started asking “Where is this going?” Just like print, once the delivery requirements are clearly identified, all of the production requirements fall into place.

I hope this is an accurate analogy. I see editing video in Rec.2020 as similar to why some photographers edit in ProPhoto RGB. Even though no output devices can reproduce the entire gamut, the reasons for working in such a large gamut are the same: Preserving as much of the original sensor data as possible to create a full range high bit master, so all that original data is available for high quality conversion to any of the varying color gamuts of today’s print and screen delivery media, as well as the wider color gamuts of future delivery media.

In the case of video, one reason Rec.2020 is used for HDR might be that because HDR can use an extreme range of luminance, there may be colors at higher luminances that can be reproduced only with a larger than typical color gamut. But I could be wrong, again I’m at my limit of knowledge here.

[D Fosse]

In the case of video, one reason Rec.2020 is used for HDR might be that because HDR can use an extreme range of luminance, there may be colors at higher luminances that can be reproduced only with a larger than typical color gamut. But I could be wrong, again I’m at my limit of knowledge here.

By @Conrad C

Yes, seems reasonable.

[NB, colourmanagement net]

@Jonas30518788gdux  Yes, convert the incoming image files to the destination colour space.

Personally I recommend users to keep the "profile mismatch" warning checked - because I want them to understand what's happening. In your case a conversion is needed and you see that in the warning. 

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

[Test Screen Name]

It's a normal message, not an error. Just choose what you want to do, and continue. Most of the time, converting is the right thing to do, unless you know an image has the wrong profile.