Adobe Lightroom issues with DisplayCal

[Fazy]

Greetings,
I am really at wit’s end here, I am even considering setting a financial bounty for this.

Specs
I have a Dell U2718Q screen, running Windows 10,  Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 8.4.1 with Camera Raw 11.4.1, I edit photos in ARW in Lightroom.
I calibrated to 6500K, 2.2, 110cd2 using DisplayCal and i1 DisplayPro.
I use FastStone Image Viewer, ImageGlass or color management enabled IrfanView to open pictures.

The issue
My photo looks great in Lightroom. There is depth to the blacks, they are not oversaturated, they have this beautiful fade, same for greys.
That is the case even if I turn on Soft Proof for sRGB, it looks the same, no visible change at all.
When I grab a screenshot of that with Sniping Tool and open it in one of the color managed viewers, it still looks great.

If I export it to JPEG, be it sRGB, AdobeRGB (1998), ProPhotoRGB, Display P3, they all look bad, more contrast, more saturation, details lost in black.
No real difference between JPG sRGB, JPEG AdobeRGB, JPEG ProPhotoRGB, they look very similar to each other. But in comparison to that screen grab or Lightroom, they look bad.

PNG sRGB is same as JPG sRGB. However PNG ProPhoto, PNG AdobeRGB, PNG Display P3 – they all look different from each other, huge difference. All look bad, but in new ways, for example the AdobeRGB PNG is very green.

The only export that looks the same is PNG exported with the calibration profile the monitor is set to. And I don’t think that is going to look the same on other screens.

I have no fucking idea what is going on anymore.

Why do JPGs in different color spaces look the same, but PNGs look different?
Possible answer: I had this issue in FastStone Image Viewer but not Irfanview, I suppose that means FastStone ignores color profiles of JPGs but not PNGs? What?

How do I fix this?
I need a setup where what I see in Develop module (possibly with Soft Proof sRGB on) and what I export looks the same.
Do I need to calibrate differently? I would like to keep those detailed grays and blacks that are not oversatured and I would like those to be on my photos when others open them.
At least when I show them to my client who calibrated to 6500K, 2.2, 110cd2 using DisplayCal and i1 DisplayPro. How can I do this?

Thanks a lot, I am so done.

Calibrite Display Pro HL on Amazon  
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

[Vincent]

Why do JPGs in different color spaces look the same, but PNGs look different?
Possible answer: I had this issue in FastStone Image Viewer but not Irfanview, I suppose that means FastStone ignores color profiles of JPGs but not PNGs? What?

You answered yourself. Use reliable color managed viewers and make sure that yoour exports have embeded profile. For simple display profiles (single curve+matrix) you may use even some internet browsers as image viewers.

It’s “some” of your viewer’s issue, not LR’s or DisplayCAL’s.

[Fazy]

Thanks for your reply, Vincent. However that is not really the meat of my issue.

Why am I unable to replicate what I see in LR in any export? Why does the Soft Proof sRGB look different from exported sRGB?

[Vincent]

Did you check another softproof app, PS for example?

Also, are you using Print module (to printer or to JPG) or seeing image in develop with softproof active?

• This reply was modified 3 years, 9 months ago by Vincent.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 9 months ago by Vincent.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 9 months ago by Vincent.

[Fazy]

Thanks for all help, I have given up on using Lightroom for now, gonna do the proofing in PS.

[Moortgat Leo]

Hi,

This seems to be an old topic. But I’ve experienced the same.
I’m using displaycal and spyder5 for quite some time now and i frequently saw that my exports where darker than edited.

A lot of loss in the shades.

Did some research, and when you import the exported jpg into LR and compare it with the raw edit. They appear 100% identical.
So the export is fine, it just seems that LR displays the colors lighter.

When I disable DisplayCal profile loader and I use a default SRGB profile, and restart LR.

The photos now appear darker and look more at what I see on let’s say FB in a browser.

This is somehow ‘good’ because now i know my edit and export will be identical.

HOWEVER, why does my custom profile generated by displaycal and spyder 5 , seem ‘off’ ?

AND why does LR show more shadow detail on the same monitor with displaycal profile and NOT the colormanaged browser/photoviewer?

It’s only equal between all when i choose the generic SRGB profile.

[Vincent]

-Spyders are not an accurate devices

-LR is color managed. AFAIK LR behaves proverly. Other photo viewers may not, thay can even ignore parts or full display profile if it was not compatible with their color management engine (some types in Firefox, Apple color management… etc).
If Photoshop shows the same as LR, your “colormanaged browser/photoviewer” is faulty.
MacOS? MacOS color management engine is very limited and DisplayCAL warns you about it regarding profile types.

-Display’s ICC profile contains 3 TRC curves with let’s call it “gamma” (Tone response curves, TRC)

-sRGB profile TRC usually won’t match a custom display profile and does not need to (that’s the point of color management).

-Your ICC profile may be good (realistic) so what you see in LR may be real and be OK. There are several options to create unrealistic display profiles, it will store whatever you want as TRC instead of what is measured after calibration. The only way to check it is to use a better measurement device in low light patches like an i1d3.

[Moortgat Leo]

side question, i’ve got a chance to buy an i1d3 , but it’s from 2012 and almost never used.

will it be still accurate? do they age?

[Author]

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