Color rendering different according to when color profile is enabled....

[Giuseppe Covino]

Hi, I am experiencing a very weird issue that so far I cannot explain and didn't find an answer browsing in Internet.

I work with a Windows 7 platform and LR 6.8 (but the same with some previous versions). I have calibrated my monitor creating a dedicated profile, now the issue is the following: if I enable the calibrated color profile in windows color management (Use my settings for this device) and LATER I open Lightroom, the colors are not correct, faint and yellowish. Instead if I open Lightroom and THEN enable the calibrated profile, the colors are correct!

Infact comparing LR with other viewers using color profiles (like FastStone) that show colors correctly independent of the order of calibration activation, colors are the same only with the second procedure (first open LR and only then enable correction), while with the first procedure (first enable correction and then open LR) colors in LR are different than colors in FastStone which shows correct colors.

It is as if LR would check something during launch and change profile/space/I don't know..... but it's a real problem, since If I forget to disable color correction before launching LR and then re-enabling it, I make all wrong color corrections.....

any idea what is happening here? Also reinstalled Windows and LR but issue is the same.

thanks a lot

Giuse

[Per Berntsen]

To enable the profile, you also need to select it and click Set as default profile. (this happens automatically when you calibrate the monitor, and with a sound profile, there is no need to change any settings for LR to display correct colors)

If you're getting yellowish and faded colors after having done this, the profile is probably defective. A good indicator of a defective profile is that the neutral gray areas of the histogram also has a yellow cast.

As troubleshooting, and as a temporary fix, you can set the monitor profile to sRGB (Adobe RGB for a wide gamut monitor).

If this fixes the issue, recalibrate.

[Giuseppe Covino]

Hi, thanks but the issue is related to the ORDER of operation. The profile is perfectly fine when enabled after having opened Lightroom, while if enabled before opening Lightroom is not working correctly in Lightroom but wors fine in other apps as I described in my post.

The same happens with other profiles in Lightroom: different effect between enabling before and after having opened Lightroom. In other apps, the order of operation is not influent, as it must be.

Cheers

Giuse

[Per Berntsen]

You shouldn't have to enable (or disable) the profile. After you have run the calibration, color managed apps will use the profile automatically, apps that aren't color managed will ignore it.

Did you try setting the profile to sRGB or Adobe RGB?

And do you see a yellow cast in the histogram in Lightroom?

[DdeGannes]

Hint.!!  Adobe applications Photoshop and Lightroom will utilize the Operating System Default Monitor Profile you cannot choose a monitor profile from within Lightroom. Also, sRGB and AdobeRGB are not Monitor Profiles they are working color space profiles. If you select sRGB as a monitor profile it will show consistent color across applications since monitors can display sRGB colors but this will not necessarily be accurate, that is why it is critical that you use a hardware device to create a Monitor Profile that is accurate.

So if you wish it is possible to work with Lightroom and not have to utilize .xmp files. Just ensure thet you keep regular backups of your catalog file.​

With Lightroom its easy to KISS (keep it simple sweet) with no .xmp or DNG.

[Giuseppe Covino]

Thanks all for your reply but, please, read me post : I am saying that LR shows different colors when the calibrated profile is enabled before launching LR and after having launched LR. I know that the profile must come from a hardware calibration device (I have used XRite), that color profile and color space are two different things and so on.

When I say "enable the profile" I mean in the color management settings (Windows) set "Use my settings for this device" to YES and set the calibrated profile as default profile.

See here a comparison of how the same picture appears on the monitor when enabling the calibrated profile before opening LR (left) and enabling the profile after LR is open (right) - the correct colors are on the right.

This comparison is done taking a picture of the monitor in the two situations with fixed white balance to 5500 K so that there is no influence of camera auto white balance.

Cheers and thanks to whom can solve this enigma...

Giuse

[ssprengel]

I wouldn’t trust LR to work right if you start LR first then change your display profile, so you should be setting the display profile then starting LR; however, you see a yellowish cast. Can you show us a screen-shot of the set-profile-then-start-LR results using a screen-capture utility, not a camera photographing the screen?

If you set the display profile, then reboot, then start LR are things ok?

[Giuseppe Covino]

Hi, I made further tests with an external monitor with wide gamut and after its calibration and testing with also IrfanView:

• definitely LR shows different colors if the color profile is enabled before or after having opened the program.
• FastStone has an option to be color managed but actually it does not work (at least on Windows). IrfanView does as Microsoft Photo Viewer, while Microsoft Paint is not color managed. Then I decided to use IrfanView as a comparison with LR.
• Took a RAW picture of ColorChecker and exported to JPEG with no post process (zero vibrance/saturation, calibration set to Adobe standard or to camera profile obtained with colorChecker calibration of camera):
• setting the profile and then launching LR and IrfanView gives same results, that is good news. Color are less vibrant with respect to enabling the profile after opening LR or using IrfanView without color management. Actually it turns out that colors are very saturated without the monitor profile enabled, I'd say too much. That was what I saw in FastStone with color managed enabled (but it does not work perfectly!) and so in comparison colors in LR seemed dull.

Summing up:

1. LR seems to behave correctly when monitor profile is enabled before opening it, while enabling it later gives uncorrect results, like ssprenge says.
2. FastStone is not able to fully represent colors with wide gamut monitors: switching the monitor profile on/off makes colors change but not to the fully extent available with the monitor, so that results are not correct.
3. IrfanView with color management enabled shows properly corrected colors.
4. If a program does not fully support color management, in a wide gamut monitor, the differences between its representation and LR representation (or other fully color managed apps) can be quite strong.

I'll keep testing but I think this can be a good summary so far.

cheers and thanks

Giuse