Photoshop not showing correct colors. Update after 3 weeks of troubleshooting.

[riccknl]

Hey PS community!

For those with the same problem; having Photoshop lifting black levels. As shown here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izYDPxoH-QM (Also happens with the default Adobe RGB 1998 profile)

Together with other artists we found out this only happens on Mac M2 chips, we tested with three different monitors (sRGB, DCI-P3, AdobeRGB), three different calibration tools (Spyder5, SpyderX, Calibrite Display SL) and three different Macs (M2 Studio Max 32, M2 Studio Max 64 and a M2 Mini Pro 16)

Which leaves us at the conclusion that the M2 chips and Photoshop causing this bug. Adobe Customer Service only thought that turning PS on/off without a monitor attached could fix the problem, but as this is quite hard to do with a M2 Max/Mini I am waiting until they fix this and considering other software in the meantime.

[TheBeatnikHimself]

To see this issue more clearly, i suggest taking the monitor calibration out of the equation for just one moment.

When I set my display, Lightroom export settings, and Photoshop color space to sRGB the images look as expected and consistent across all platforms including the final export and viewing on multiple devices. When I set these same settings to AdobeRGB or ANY other colorspace the images are flat in the shadows with lifted blacks. When testing this I restarted LR and PS each time the setting were changed. 

[TheBeatnikHimself]

For me, this does not happen in sRGB, but it does in all other color profiles.

[TheBeatnikHimself]

The issue is undoubtedly present in Photoshop. When I export an image from Lightroom into Luminar Neo using the AdobeRGB(1998) color space, the result is as expected. However, this does not occur in Photoshop regardless of my attempts to resolve the problem.

It is important to note that this issue is not related to the GPU in Mac computers. If someone tell you it is ask for proof. Rather, it is a specific problem with Adobe Photoshop.

[D Fosse]

It is important to note that this issue is not related to the GPU in Mac computers. Rather, it is a specific problem with Adobe Photoshop.

By @TheBeatnikHimself

I demonstrated correct behavior, further up, on a Windows machine. It does not occur on Windows.

[TheBeatnikHimself]

Just hard the GPU physically tested at an apple store. Seems that everything is running fine. I also ran my computer at their store and used a different monitor. Same results.

This is 100% an issue with the adobe software!

Noone at Adobe will conceded this fact even though I have proven it repeatedly.

This is a horrible situation.

[Aytaç]

You need a calibration icc profile to test it and photoshop. 

Apple or Adobe, it doesn’t really matter. In the end, it doesn’t work properly on macOS anyway. If we also consider the gamma issues that video editors have been facing on macOS for years, and the fact that Photoshop ACE works properly on Windows, it seems more like a macOS problem.

Of course, this is just a guess. There’s nothing we can do about it.

As someone who switched to macOS to get away from Windows issues, I lasted two years. At its core, macOS is a much more problematic system., starting with mouse lag and scaling issiues.  It doesn’t matter much for regular users, though.

[TheBeatnikHimself]

Just tested this on a widows computer.

It is happening there too.

[davescm]

No issues with ICC colour management here using Photoshop and Lightroom on Windows 11, using dual Eizo monitors calibrated and profiled with Color Navigator. I use documents in Prophoto, Adobe RGB, sRGB as well as 3D renders in 32 bit linear spaces. All display correctly.

Dave

[TheBeatnikHimself]

Nice for you…

Are you trying to invalidate the results I've had by stating across 3 platforms your specs? Do I need to tell you all the different monitors and calibration hardware I've been; using to get you to either go away or offer substantial help or insight into this situation? 

I've been out doing cross platformmyestong and speaking with the reps from all companies involved. But If your just restating your own confirmation bias I would ask you leave this forum.

[TheBeatnikHimself]

Nice for you…

Are you trying to invalidate the results I've had across 3 platforms by your specs? Do I need to tell you all the different monitors and calibration hardware I've been using to get you to either go away or offer substantial help or insight into this situation? 

I've been out doing cross platform testing and speaking with the reps from all companies involved. But If your just restating your own confirmation bias I would ask you leave this forum.

[davescm]

No, I can't invalidate your testing as you have not posted any details of it, outside of setting your display and document to sRGB which, if done by using and sRGB profile as a monitor profile, would turn off colour management. If this is done by restricting the monitor to sRGB, using calibration, and using a profile matching that restriction then colour management will operate as designed. 

I can only state what I see here, which appears to support the findings of Aytac and D Fosse. I am of course happy to test any repeatable process that shows an issue. 

I won't be leaving the forum.

Dave

[D Fosse]

We haven't seen any documented cases on Windows. Besides, switching to Apple color engine appears to "correct" it, or at least reduce the problem significantly. That in itself points to Apple and excludes Windows systems.

I think it's time to calm down, not jump to any automatic conclusions, and step back a bit. How widespread is this? 

I'd like to see more people chime in, and run the simple procedure I outlined*. It's absolutely conclusive, because you don't have to compare impressions of images, you just need to compare histograms. The problem will be clearly identified. It takes two minutes max. So:

• take a screenshot from an Adobe RGB file that has dark values but no clipping
• assign the monitor profile, then convert it back to Adobe RGB
• the two histograms should now be identical
• Adobe RGB has a different tone curve than sRGB/Display P3, so is perfect for the test. All these tone curves should normally be seamlessly remapped, but in this case apparently aren't.

It should be an external monitor using dedicated profiling software, because that aligns the parameters to an external standard.

*this procedure works for both Photoshop and ACR set to open as Adobe RGB, because the ACR histogram reflects the output color space. It's a bit more complicated in Lightroom. But as the processing engines are the same, the result applies to both.