4 Replies Latest reply on Jan 7, 2012 2:06 PM by Hudechrome

    Monitor Color Profile Coming In With Windows Update

    Noel Carboni Level 8
    Noel Carboni Jan 7, 2012 10:43 AM

      I recently had to revisit the color-management logic in my software, owing to a monitor profile showing up and being installed on users' machines through Windows Update. 

       

      Specifically, for some reason a VMware virtual machine running 32 bit Windows 7 is now considered to have an Acer monitor, rather than a "Generic Plug n Play Monitor" (which actually made more sense).

       

      This is the specific Windows Update that brought it in:

       

      AcerUpdate.jpg

       

      Beyond the obvious problem (of a virtual machine not actually having a physical monitor, certainly not an Acer S271HL in this case), this Windows Update is installed with virtually no fanfare.  Though as a rule I set my own systems to notify me but not install updates, and I do actually read about the updates Microsoft is proposing installing on my system, most folks don't - they simply allow Windows Update to do its thing without much thought.

       

      This particular monitor profile wasn't bad per se, but it did have an attribute that I didn't anticipate in my color-management implementation.  Photoshop seemed to deal with it okay - in this case it was just my plug-ins that didn't (all fixed now).  But sometimes we see monitor profiles that aren't okay pushed on users, and they throw Photoshop and other color-managed applications off unexpectedly for users.  This profile was set active, overriding the Windows default that was previously set.  Would it have overridden a profile (e.g., made with a calibrator/profiler) that had been explicitly set on a system?  Not sure.  But if so that would have been bad!

       

      Does it seem that Microsoft may be trying to become more aggressive about pushing color-management out to users?  If that's the case, wouldn't you think they should fully implement color-management in their own software - e.g., in their browsers?  Conveniently, Internet Explorer wasn't affected by this update, because it ignores monitor profiles.

       

      Please excuse my little rant to let off a little frustration over unexpected system changes.  Thanks for reading.

       

      -Noel

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        • 1. Re: Monitor Color Profile Coming In With Windows Update
          D Fosse Adobe Community Professional & MVP
          D Fosse Jan 7, 2012 11:45 AM (in response to Noel Carboni)

          It's been like this for a long time. Same as with video card drivers. I assume Microsoft gets a request from the manufacturers and then they just put it out there. When it happened to me I checked "hide this update" and it never showed up again (same as I do with video driver updates). So I don't know if it will actually replace a custom profile made by a calibrator. But this is not good:

          This profile was set active, overriding the Windows default that was previously set.

           

          For the past year or two I've only used monitors from Dell and Eizo, and never seen any profiles from either. So it's probably just a few manufacturers.

          • 2. Re: Monitor Color Profile Coming In With Windows Update
            Hudechrome Level 2
            Hudechrome Jan 7, 2012 12:36 PM (in response to D Fosse)

            So, Noel, what you are saying is that, when one opened Advanced tab in Win7 Color Management the System Default has been changed from sRGB to something else?

             

            I've been thinking about that setting, in that the default sRGB and my calibrated one (on my new Dell) don't agree, but they are close. My first impulse was to select the calibrated. But I left it for the moment.

             

            While I'm at it, "Viewing conditions profile" throws me. I haven't run a Google search on that term but I think if I am playing with these choices, I should know one or two things about them.

            • 3. Re: Monitor Color Profile Coming In With Windows Update
              Noel Carboni Level 8
              Noel Carboni Jan 7, 2012 1:16 PM (in response to Hudechrome)

              No, actually the System Default stayed the same, but the ACER profile showed up in the Devices panel.  However, [ ] Use My Settings was NOT checked, implying they found some way to install the profile that's outside the normal configuration settings somewhere between the Advanced and Devices level configuration.

               

              ColorManagement.jpg

               

              The fix is to check the [ ] Use My Settings box, add the profile one wants to use in the Devices panel, and [Set as Default Profile].  This overrides the setting above.

               

              -Noel

              • 4. Re: Monitor Color Profile Coming In With Windows Update
                Hudechrome Level 2
                Hudechrome Jan 7, 2012 2:06 PM (in response to Noel Carboni)

                That is weird! It also makes me feel nervous.

                 

                That is where my i1 profiles show up and to think MS can simply add a profile to which the monitor responds in that menu w/o Use My Settings checked falsifies the security of that setting.

                 

                I had better revisit my Update settings.