Color Space / Display Mystery

[jesse_whittle_utter]

Hello,

 

I ran into a bit of a mystery today while trying to submit some photos

electronically to a contest. It's a bit convoluted, but any insight would be

appreciated:

 

 

I uploaded some photos to the popphoto.com annual contest website using their

upload tool. The images I chose all had vivid color when displayed with Mac's

Preview application and in iPhoto. They were saved in Adobe RGB.

 

I noticed once I was done uploading that the displayed image looked flat and

desaturated. I panicked. I sent the same images via email, thinking that might

solve the problem, but after doing some research I realized that I needed to

convert the color profile to sRGB for better web display. I did so and resent

the photos via email.

 

The guy I was corresponding with claimed that there was no difference between

the two files I sent - the Adobe RGB original and the converted sRGB. He sent

me a screenshot of the files viewed as attachments to prove it - and indeed, the

photos looked very similar. On MY monitor, however, the two files I sent, when

viewed as email attachments, look very DISsimilar: the sRGB was much more vivid

and closer to the way it looks when displayed by iPhoto.

 

What accounts for this?

 

Meanwhile, the image that the judges will actually see - taken from the very

first file I uploaded through their site - still looks desaturated (he sent me a

link to it.) But he claims there's no difference, even though there plainly is.

Is it possible that my monitor is creating these differences and his is not?

If so, what's all this talk about sRGB being necessary and standard for proper

web viewing?

 

I hope that made sense.

 

Jesse

[ellis_vener_photography]

"Is it possible that my monitor is creating these differences and his is not? "

 

It's possible your browser is causing the difference.

[geoff_portas]

It's probable he was viewing them with a color space aware application, in which case they would look very similar. The screen shots he sent you back would thus be after processing in his software.

 

When submitting photos for others to view, unless you are sure they will be viewed with color space aware software, it is best to convert them to sRGB which is the default standard.

[sandy_labana]

Jesse: Do you mean sRGB colors are more vivid? I think color space aware browser will show

Adobe RGB as more vivid color. Non color space browser and other software will show Adobe

RGB image as somewhat washed out color and therefore similar to sRGB color. After you

converted file from aRGB to sRGB, did the color as viewed on your monitor remained

unchanged? Also did you use Assign Profile or Convert to Profile commands in Photoshop.

They give different results. Sandy

[jesse_whittle_utter]

On my monitor, when viewing the pictures with Apple Preview, there was no difference. When viewed through my Firefox Browser, however, there was a difference - the sRGB was much more vivid than the Adobe RGB. What didn't make sense to me was why this difference was not present in his browser.