Hi, guys
First time posting here, but been reading the forums for few weeks. Great community.
I'm creating tutorials on color management and I have one big question mark.
Part of the tutorials is about
TRC (Tone Response Curve) and
Gamma values of the monitor and of the images. So one is what everybody keeps talking about and that is that when you view in image in color managed application like Photoshop. It adjusts the gamma of the image independently of the gamma of the monitor. I agree with that, but what confuses me is what people are saying is that basically Photoshop reads the gamma from the image profile and one from monitor and compensates for any deviation of the monitor gamma from that of image gamma.
Let me list you some of the articles that made me ask this question.
ISO 12646: Monitor Calibration: Theory and Practice for the Fine Arts"colour managed applications like Adobe Photoshop™ will automatically transform image data to the current monitor profile ensuring correct values are displayed on screen irrespective of the monitor’s gamma. The monitor’s gamma setting therefore only alters the appearance of non colour managed content and applications, and does not alter the monitor’s white or black points, only the relative brightness of the mid tones on screen. "
Spyder 3 Elite - Calibration Settings Help Manual"Calibrating to the expected gamma and white point for the type of work you do can make non-color managed applications display in a more reasonable manner. Color managed applications will compensate for your choice of gamma, so choosing a gamma setting close to the display's native gamma minimizes lost levels and increases smoothness.
...Color managed applications adjust for monitor gamma, showing similar results at a range of gamma choices. Gamma 2.2 also provides a perceptually uniform tone range to the observer"
Source: http://dpbestflow.org/node/266"Gamma is less important than white point and luminance for photographers because color managed image editing applications such as Photoshop automatically adjust for gamma and display all images the same, regardless of monitor gamma."
Photoshop and Your Monitor: Adapted from Real World Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers (Peachpit Press) By Conrad Chavez"Some beginners think they need to calibrate and profile a monitor to the same specs as the working space. That’s a mistake; the white point and gamma of your display are entirely independent of the white point and gamma of your working space. The color management system translates working space white point and gamma seamlessly to those of your display. The goal in setting white point and gamma for the display is simply to make the display behave as well as it can."
DigitalDog"The Gamma (actually TRC) of the display and the working space do not have to match. They share the same term but this tone curve is being described by two different beasts. So no, you absolutely do not need to calibrate a display to a TRC that matches a working space."
I did my research and it theory I understand but in practice I'm not sure and I'm looking for confirmation.
What confuses me is that my native gamma of my monitor is 1.9, way of from the typical gamma of 2.2 that is used in images. I have calibrated to gamma 2.2 so the TRC is bend to darken the display and match the Gamma 2.2. and when I deactivate my calibration profile it goes back to what I presume is my native gamma of the monitor that is 1.9 and naturally everything becomes lighter in screen. To my eyes it seems that the image opened in Photoshop goes lighter as well along with all the UI elements. But it could be that my eyes are simply effected by the surrounding UI elements becoming lighter all of a sudden and maybe the image brightness dosent change. I can't be sure and I don't know how to confirm it.
What I understand by reading this articles is that they are basically saying - Photoshop adjusts the gamma of the image based on the gamma found n the profile of the image and also takes the profile of the monitor whatever it is in order to compensate and display image like is should be gamma 2.2
I am not sure about that since to my eyes it seems like when I deacitve my monitor profile made by Spyder calibrator - it switches the monitor to gamma 1.9 (native for my monitor) and to my eyes it seems like the image and the UI of Photoshop goes lighter as well, and that would mean that PS is in fact effected primarily by the gamma of the display. Can some of you more techno savy users please help me find out what is really going on. I would like to make a tutorial with accurate information.
Thank you for the help.