Comments on: Adobe RGB vs sRGB

By: seriocomic

seriocomic — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 20:09:22 +0000

Thanks Narayan, fantastically helpful comment.

I have been using LAB color correction lately, and if I had the time, I wouldn’t be so ignorant when it comes to color spaces.

By: Narayan

Narayan — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 08:34:04 +0000

One reason the right side of this image might appear to have more depth, though, is because there are more darks on that side of the photo, but also because there are areas of the left side of the center flower which are completely clipped in the blue channel. I doubt this has anything to do with AdobeRGB–it has more to do with incorrect exposure. (Don’t get me wrong Mike–incorrect exposure doesn’t mean the image doesn’t look nice).

Conventional wisdom is best to work on images in the largest colorspace possible, then convert at output (be it to print or to web). AdobeRGB is a relatively large colorspace (though it has been eclipsed by Prophoto RGB), and is a native colorspace in most professional cameras. It’s ideal for everyday image processing, though I tend to favor LAB for certain types of color correction.

The problem is displaying AdobeRGB images on the web. AFAIK, only Safari (and probably OmniWeb) on the Mac are the only browsers which display AdobeRGB images correctly. Though sRGB flattens some images significantly, that is what makes it better for cross-browser/platform display. Keep in mind, though, that the difference between sRGB and AdobeRGB is pretty minimal when it comes to reds. The most flattening occurs when transforming an AdobeRGB image which contains a lot of greens and cyans.

I have a Photoshop action which basically preps and exports images for the web; the first step in that action is conversion to sRGB, and of course the “embed ICC profile” checkbox is selected on the save for web dialog. Colormatch is a reasonable alternative, but when everyone started using LCDs, I switched to sRGB.

Hopefully this wasn’t too pedantic. Good to see you back, Mike.

By: dalton

dalton — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 04:38:55 +0000

What really gets me is when I accidentally upload an image that I’ve processed in Adobe RGB. Your browser converts it to SRGB for you, creating a dull, less saturated image. The key I’ve found is to convert it from Adobe RGB to SRGB in Photoshop, then upload it. It will be pretty close to what you’re working on in Photoshop.

Sorry if that’s a newbie realization, but I just figured it out.

I prefer the right image, by the way. I shoot in Adobe RGB, which, from what I understand, ultimately results in better prints. Of course, I understand next to nothing, so take that with a grain of salt.

By: Paolo

Paolo — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 03:12:50 +0000

To me this is a no brainer.

You are quite bloody brilliant………both are wonderful images.

The ability to study two images side by side is wonderful but I would never have believed there could be such a diffence between the two.

By: seriocomic

seriocomic — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 07:06:51 +0000

If you look at the range (Shadow/Highlight) between the sides, the right side has more depth. The thing you can’t tell is that the right side also is more indicative of the color my eye saw on the day.

The funny thing was that I was working in Adobe RGB color profile on Potatoshop, even importing the two different color profile images.

It seems like an insurmountable subject to comprehend. I guess as long as the photos look purty, then that’s all that counts.

By: dave

dave — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 05:21:38 +0000

I’ve never understood the difference myself, even with lots of testing and fiddling. The problem is with your image above (which superbly illustrates the difference) I can’t tell with one I prefer. Both sides have their pros and cons.
I shoot AdobeRGB. I think I came to the conclusion that it as all too fricken complicated so stuck with that. I don’t even know if Potatshop is set the same.
But now that I’ve got to here, I prefer the left side myself.