Calibrated Monitor Gray vs. Adobe PS CS2 Gray

[jackg]

Calibrated Monitor Gray vs. Adobe Photoshop CS2 sRGB Gray what should I trust in?

I have a question to PC Color Management gurus. Please help me to understand this dilemma…

I have Sharp LCD LT-1820 LCD monitor (10-bit gamma), calibrated to 6500K, 2.2 connected using DVI port.
I’ve used GretagMacbeth Eye One Display package (hardware sensor and software) for calibration.
It seems that all grey scale test images I have look on screen just fine. Or at least I sad to my eyes - this is natural grey – trust your monitor and calibration equipment.

I use default Windows XP Picture and Fax Viewer utility or MS Internet Explorer. Grey scale images in both programs looks identical. And I know that Internet Explorer does not color manage.

OK now is the confusion part….

I have my Adobe Photoshop CS2 set to sRGB color space. Other settings are typical for digital photographers:
RGB: sRGB…
Gray Space: Grey Gamma 2.2.
Color Management Policies: Preserve Embedded Profiles
Profile missing and mismatches to: Ask when opening


Now when I have the same jpg image (no profile attached) opened in Internet Explorer and in Adobe Photoshop they look quite different
Natural Grey in Photoshop has green/cyan cast on it and it is really apparent.
(I have tried all missing profile options when opening the file)

As soon as I soft proof to Monitor RGB both images looks identical…

So what should I guess now? Correct natural grey is NOT that which is on the calibrated monitor… Correct grey is Adobe Photoshop sRGB grey?

What do I suppose to color match my prints to? Things with color management do not make any sense to me any more.

Thank you for reading this to the end.

[digitaldog]

-->Now when I have the same jpg image (no profile attached) opened in Internet Explorer and in Adobe Photoshop they look quite different

IE on Windows isn't color managed, Photoshop is. That's why. IE isn't recognizing the display profile what so ever (nor does it have a clue about the embedded profile in any document). No Windows browsers do.

[jackg]

Thanks, Andrew.
Actually I new IE on Windows is not color managed.

To my surprise I found a perfect solution to my LCD calibration problems. Thanks God and this forum!!!!

As Karl Lang recommended, I decided to disable all advanced settings on my SHARP LL-T1820 LCD back to default and using GretagMachbeth eye one display to calibrate my 10-bit gamma LCD in simple “Laptop Mode” using manufacturers provided profile as target settings. (Gamma, Color Temp, Luminosity are factory set)

This came out as shock to me… I’ve got a perfect match in neutral grey on my LCD to my ColorChecker GM Card.
And if I compare grey in IE Explorer and in Adobe PS CS2 – they both identical!!!!!

------------
2nd LCD surprise I’ve got the same day.

I have to SHARP LCDs side by side. One connected through DVI another through SVGA port (output from my ATI card)

That one which is SVGA connected easily pass Michael Reichmann’s Gamma monitor test.
(Square selection on the black background. Modify level of selection with 1 step increment).

Now I can clearly distinguish 0,0,0 between 1,1,1 colors and on the pure white side almost perfect  255,255,255 vs 253,253,253 is also distinguishable.  Amazing for LCD screen!
On DVI connected monitor 0,0,0 and 7,7,7 is the same...

Looks like SVGA is better for a smooth color transition then DVI.

[Serge Cashman]

What you've done with your DVI monitor is essentially set it to the factory defaults and measured the output. There's nothing wrong with this, obviously. You don't take advantage of the internal 10 bit LUTs (which exist to allow a lossless LCD adjustment to a certain target) - but if you don't need them why would you care.

So as a result colormanaged and non-colormanaged applications colors appear similar (in your case all of them are using sRGB color space; I suppose they actually look identical).

I am not sure about the VGA output issue. What have you done to calibrate it and which target have you set? Have you made sure the separate profiles are applied (this being an ATI I suppose they are)?

I think the ramps on a calibrated DVI monitor should look OK in a colormanaged application (PS). However I really don't have a firm understanding of how to use those visual aids appropriately. The statements from different experts are confusing at best.

Also the working space in PS should be not sRGB but either AdobeRGB or better yet ProPhoto RGB (Prophoto is another topic on which you'll see a lot of confusing and incorrect statements on the web).