Colour Space & Mobile Devices

[davidc]

Based on angry feedback from another forum, if you want the short version - make sure you only shoot in sRGB if you publish images online.

A more detailed precis would be that I looked into just how much your choice of colour space can affect how your image is viewed by other people on their mobile devices and how Photoshop/Lightroom can sometimes mean what you get is not what you wanted.

http://davidcandlish.photography/news/2 ... le-devices

[Mike Farley]

I did see this on your blog and secretly hoped that you would not post it here so that I would not be tempted to respond to the various inaccuracies and misconceptions it contains. My initial reaction was "Oh dear". The second was that it put me in mind of this cartoon from XKCD.



I am not sure that I am prepared to spend the time that sorting this little lot out would require. It is a long article which requires a bit of thought to address all the issues, although I would be surprised if the information is not already available elsewhere on the Internet if you look hard enough. Incidentally, the "advice" you have been given on the other forum is incorrect as well. As least in her comment on your blog Penny has put you on the right track when it comes to exporting images from Lightroom into Photoshop.

[Mike Farley]

Having given the matter a little bit of thought, here are some things you might want to consider when you undertake your research.

1. The problem is almost certainly due to the viewing device, which will only be displaying the sRGB colour space anyway, not being calibrated. Delta-E and gamma setting will both also have an effect.

2. The monitor on your computer where you prepared the image probably only displays sRGB. That will definitely be the case if you are using a laptop screen, which I do not recommend. Even the best I have seen fall short of what I consider acceptable. If you are processing on a laptop, hook it up to a decent external monitor, preferably on which can display Adobe RGB and has a matte screen, and calibrate that.

3. The colour space setting on your camera only applies to JPEGs.

4. When you shoot Raw, colour space is not a concern until you render the image out of Lightroom. Contrary to popular belief, Lightroom does not use the ProPhoto colour space, but in effect has its own which is similar. I have not investigated, but I would imagine much the same applies to other Raw converters.

5. The colour gamut which digital cameras are capable of recording approximates Adobe RGB. Some colours will fall within its boundaries, others might be just outside. The main benefit of using ProPhoto is that there will be no clipping of any out of gamut colours. How much clipping actually occurs will depend on the medium to which you output. Leaving the image set to ProPhoto avoids the need to have multiple versions.

6. One of the appendices in Martin Evening's excellent Lightroom reference book gives a good explanation of how colour is handled in Lightroom and is a good place to start reading.

Seeing CMYK described as a colour space and rendered on a RGB display certainly made me smile.

[davidc]

The article has already been updated with a preface after a very comprehensive discussion with someone very knowledgable about the matter & some of what you mention is applicable. I've corrected the worst errors but left the trial & error process I followed anyway, as well as the sample images which support the conclusion.

Like I was saying when you were hunting around, it is possible to get PC panels on a laptop that display more than sRGB It's also calibrated. As the article says the problem wasn't with the monitor, it's how images were being rendered on the internet.

What's interesting is that in spite of a few snarky posts around the internet, most people have emailed expressing thanks & that they didn't know they should be outputing in sRGB. That it helped one person who had the same issues I did makes it worth the effort, even if it means people slagged me off a bit.

[Mike Farley]

The article has already been updated with a preface after a very comprehensive discussion with someone very knowledgable about the matter & some of what you mention is applicable. I've corrected the worst errors but left the trial & error process I followed anyway, as well as the sample images which support the conclusion.

Your chat with Mark Wycherley has certainly paid off and the article is much improved. Part of the problem for me was not knowing where your knowledge was lacking and I did not fancy writing a long article about colour management to cover all possible options.

Like I was saying when you were hunting around, it is possible to get PC panels on a laptop that display more than sRGB It's also calibrated. As the article says the problem wasn't with the monitor, it's how images were being rendered on the internet.

There is only one laptop I know of which can display Adobe RGB. It has a 17" screen which restricts portability and costs more than most desktops. See this link for further details - http://www.notebookcheck.net/The-Best-N ... 541.0.html.

The Internet is a network and does not render anything. As I said previously, it is the capabilities of the viewing device which matter.

What's interesting is that in spite of a few snarky posts around the internet, most people have emailed expressing thanks & that they didn't know they should be outputing in sRGB. That it helped one person who had the same issues I did makes it worth the effort, even if it means people slagged me off a bit.

A positive outcome from a bruising experience, although some of your own responses to others can be on the robust side as well.