Luminous Landscape Forum
Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Colour Management => Topic started by: raminolta on November 23, 2025, 02:08:32 pm
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I am having a problem with color calibrating my monitor and Photoshop under Windows 11 that I didn't have under Windows 10.
Settings:
Monitor: Dell UP3216PQ (this is a wide gamut 10bit monitor)
OS: Windows 11 Pro
Calibrating software and device: Xrite i1 Display Pro and its accompanying calibrating software
Software for color management under Windows: Dell Display Manager
With Xrite/Dell software, I have the option for two different calibration settings. Normally I do one based on sRGB and one based on Adobe RGB. Xrite/Dell Display Manger call them CAL 1 and CAL 2. So CAL 1 and CAL 2 are essentially sRGB and aRGB profiles created by the software. However, this monitor has hardware color calibration so it writes the tables into the monitor's memory (as far as I understand it).
I understand when I switch between from CAL 1 to CAL 2, the desktop and windows apps which generally which are not aware of the monitor's color settings, turn out quite saturated in their color appearance. However, I assume this should not be the case for Photoshop. Well, at least this was not the case under Windows 10 pro.
Under Windows 10 pro, when I was switching between CAL 1 and CAL 2, I could barely if any see any difference in an image (PSD file) opened in Photoshop.
Under Windows 11, Photoshop is acting like any other Windows app: colors become very saturated. Yellows tend towards orange and red, for example. This clearly shouldn't be the case.
I am wondering if I am doing something wrong here?
On another note: Windows in its Setting has a 'Color Management' Section, where I can see the color profile created by the Xrite/Dell software corresponding to CAL 1 and CAL 2: I have named them UP3216sRGB.icm and UP3216aRGB.icm. When I use Dell Display Manager software to switch between CAL 1 and CAL 2, Windows is not aware of that. In its settings, I see it does not switch from UP3216sRGB.icm to UP3216aRGB.icm and vice versa. For testing, I manually make the switch there. It does not make any difference. Colors still seems saturated in Photoshop under CAL 2 and UP3216aRGB.icm set as profile under Windows color settings.
Like I said, I didn't have this problem under Windows 10.
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Since you're using ICC color management in general, there's no reason to have two calibrations like this. You should calibrate once for your desired white point and gamma (likely 6500K and 2.2) and set the gamut to "native". Then as long as the dell software is generating an accompanying ICC to go along with the hardware calibration, all your color management aware applications will know how to translate from your working color space (sRGB, AdobeRGB, whatever) to your monitor's full gamut.
This is the workflow I use with all color management aware apps-- most video apps have an option to use monitor profiles these days also (I think even Davinci now has a windows version of the "use mac system color profiles for viewers" which makes the viewers color management aware). The only time you're going to have problems is if some software you use is NOT color management aware, in which case things will look very saturated. In that case, you may actually still want to keep an sRGB profile around, but I feel like if you dig into whatever program it is, there's usually a way to enable color management, even for web browsers and 3D design programs.
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Thanks for the response. Actually initially I calibrated the monitor to its native and I observed the same saturation problem when switching to the native color mode in DDM (Dell Display Manager). I thought, perhaps calibrating to aRGB, would resolve the problem but it did not.
The problem I have is that Photoshop is supposed to be color management aware but it is not. This has nothing to do with having two color calibrations. Discarding the sRGB calibrated mode and sticking to aRGB or 'native' RGB does not solve my problem. Even if I have one single 'native' calibration, colors still appear over saturated in that mode everywhere even in Photoshop.
Now, if I can have other apps being color management aware, I would be more than happy but for now, let's say if we can resolve the problem for Photoshop alone, I would be more than happy.
Since you're using ICC color management in general, there's no reason to have two calibrations like this. You should calibrate once for your desired white point and gamma (likely 6500K and 2.2) and set the gamut to "native". Then as long as the dell software is generating an accompanying ICC to go along with the hardware calibration, all your color management aware applications will know how to translate from your working color space (sRGB, AdobeRGB, whatever) to your monitor's full gamut.
This is the workflow I use with all color management aware apps-- most video apps have an option to use monitor profiles these days also (I think even Davinci now has a windows version of the "use mac system color profiles for viewers" which makes the viewers color management aware). The only time you're going to have problems is if some software you use is NOT color management aware, in which case things will look very saturated. In that case, you may actually still want to keep an sRGB profile around, but I feel like if you dig into whatever program it is, there's usually a way to enable color management, even for web browsers and 3D design programs.
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The problem I have is that Photoshop is supposed to be color management aware but it is not.
It absolutely is color managed and has been for decades. Now, what it might assume for untagged data is your burden, as it can only guess based on the color settings. Display calibration targets is entirely up to you, and, of course, Photoshop uses that data to produce a preview (right or wrong). If you see 'oversaturated' colors in Photoshop but not elsewhere, it's the 'elsewhere' that is wrong, or the assumption of untagged data. Correctly tagged data in Photoshop, with ideal display calibration, is previewing correctly.
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I know it sounds strange because and it is puzzle-some to me. My problem is NOT that images in Photoshop look different than in other apps. The problem is that they do look the same! In other words, when I am in CAL1 mode, the images look the same in Photoshop like in all other apps and when I switch to CAL2 (Adobe RGB), everything become saturated in color in Photoshop like in all other apps. All the documents I am testing are tagged. My PSD files are generally tagged as ProPhoto RGB. I have also tested some jpg files tagged as sRGB and same problem.
Second problem: forget about other applications. Why do tagged images look different in Photoshop under different monitor's color modes (CAL1 and CAL@)? Shouldn't they appear the same? Attached are two pictures. Both pictures show a PSD file (tagged ProPHoto) opened in Photoshop. In the first picture, the monitor is set to CAL1 (see DDM in the lower right corner), the monitor's color profile in Windows settings is set to UP3216sRGB (the profile that was created when I calibrated the monitor to sRGB). In the second picture, the monitor is set to CAL2 (see DDM in the lower right corner) and the monitor's color profile in Windows settings is set to UP3216aRGB (the profile that was created when I calibrated the monitor to Adobe RGB).
Note the the colors of the leaves in CAL2 are more saturated. It's not just the saturation. The yellows have shifted toward orange. I used my mobile to take these photos. In fact, in real life, the difference is quite more noticeable: leaves under CAL1 looks more yellowish but under CAL2, they looks more orangish.
It absolutely is color managed and has been for decades. Now, what it might assume for untagged data is your burden, as it can only guess based on the color settings. Display calibration targets is entirely up to you, and, of course, Photoshop uses that data to produce a preview (right or wrong). If you see 'oversaturated' colors in Photoshop but not elsewhere, it's the 'elsewhere' that is wrong, or the assumption of untagged data. Correctly tagged data in Photoshop, with ideal display calibration, is previewing correctly.
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I know it sounds strange because and it is puzzle-some to me. My problem is NOT that images in Photoshop look different than in other apps. The problem is that they do look the same!
Photoshop is right if the conditions outlined are met. That's the bottom line. That's not a problem.
Why do tagged images look different in Photoshop under different monitors' color modes (CAL1 and CAL@)? Shouldn't they appear the same?
No! The display calibration is independent of Photoshop. If you calibrate and profile the display to D50 vs. D65, they should look different due to the display calibration, the display profile, and how Photoshop displays the RGB values. D50 will appear 'more yellow' than D65; nothing at all unusual about that. A setting of 95 Cd/m2 will appear less bright than a setting of 150 Cd/m2, as expected.
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So you indicate that I must have calibrated the sRGB and aRGB differently to D50 and D65, right? Thanks for the tip. I'll redo my calibration, this time making sure they are calibrated to the same color temperature. I remember I set the brightness to 100Cd/m2 for both cases but maybe I neglected it for a moment. I double check that as well.
Photoshop is right if the conditions outlined are met. That's the bottom line. That's not a problem. No! The display calibration is independent of Photoshop. If you calibrate and profile the display to D50 vs. D65, they should look different due to the display calibration, the display profile, and how Photoshop displays the RGB values. D50 will appear 'more yellow' than D65; nothing at all unusual about that. A setting of 95 Cd/m2 will appear less bright than a setting of 150 Cd/m2, as expected.
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So you indicate that I must have calibrated the sRGB and aRGB differently to D50 and D65, right?
I did not. I provided the concept that differing calibration aimpoints produce different previews during calibration. I think it best you start here:
Why are my prints too dark?
Why doesn’t my display match my prints?
A video update to a written piece on subject from 2013
In this 24 minute video, I'll cover:
Are your prints really too dark?
Display calibration and WYSIWYG
Proper print viewing conditions
Trouble shooting to get a match
Avoiding kludges that don't solve the problem
High resolution: http://digitaldog.net/files/Why_are_my_prints_too_dark.mp4
Low resolution: https://youtu.be/iS6sjZmxjY4
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Considering that I print my photos (at home), do you recommend to calibrate to D50 (or D65)? I read online, for general use, D65 is better but for those who use their monitor for printing, it is better to calibrate to D50. A bit uncertain since I use my monitor for both usage cases.
I did not have this problem under Windows 10. It started since I switched to Windows 11. It's reasonable to assume something might have gone wrong during the calibration (like D50/D65 discrepancy). I did have dark prints long time ago but I was able to tackle the problem to some good degree before.
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I recommend you watch the video and pick the best settings to produce a match. The other numbers otherwise are meaningless.
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My problem is NOT that images in Photoshop look different than in other apps. The problem is that they do look the same!
It sure sounds to me like you're having a classic issue of the OS not having a proper ICC profile assigned for the system. Windows 11 goes to great lengths to complicate the process further than windows 10 did-- you now have a few more extra functions that can screw things up.
First off, you should turn off HDR if it enabled-- not only do you not want this for photo/printing workflows, but it has a separate place where ICCs can be assigned specifically for HDR. Then you'll want to go into displays control panel, color management, and make sure you click on the "advanced" button. Once you're in the section where you can look at a drop down or pick an ICC profile from the explorer you'll want to assign that as the default for your monitor. This should ideally be something that DUCS created (hopefully dated, or sort by date modified) that will then allow the OS to sync up with the calibration loaded in ONE of your CAL slots. After you find this things should look back to normal in photoshop.
As far as what color temperature to calibrate to, if you need a general all-purpose display because you do photography and video work, for example, use D65. If you're almost exclusively using your monitor to view images that will ultimately be printed, then you should pick the paper that you use most often and do a visual match to the white point of the display with the white of the paper under the lights you will be viewing it with. If you use multiple papers, you're kind of never gonna get a great match-- I've found I can get excellent visual matches with a single paper, and almost always the CCT ends up somewhere in the 6000-6200K range.
See if this helps. Windows 11 also has an "Auto Color Management" feature that can get in the way also-- unfortunately I don't have a win 11 machine near me to look at exactly what I've had to do to calibrate in the past, but I know that on my more recent windows laptop turning off HDR was the first key move.
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Under Windows 10 pro, when I was switching between CAL 1 and CAL 2, I could barely if any see any difference in an image (PSD file) opened in Photoshop.
Under Windows 11, Photoshop is acting like any other Windows app: colors become very saturated. Yellows tend towards orange and red, for example. This clearly shouldn't be the case.
Quick question, immediately after you change the active profile on your monitor and you see the Photoshop appearance change, if you then switch to another open application and back (ALT-Tab or whatever), does it change again?
Asking because I noted that behaviour recently on my Win 10 setup. After doing the ALT-Tab and back Photoshop was displaying as it should. I don't recall it behaving like that before, but I haven't used it much for colour-crit stuff in the past few years because life.
I haven't had time to investigate, but in any case I dismantled that PC build last week and have built up a new one, now Win 11. It is -- or was -- a "legacy" 14-yr old PC build that saw a lot of OS updates, app and monitor changes, etc. It'll be a while before I get my imaging ecosystem installed / configured again. I suspect tho that behaviour was caused by some recent faffing I did with assorted CM software (Eizo, NEC, and HP) while debugging some unrelated printer issues, and their various ICC desktop settings / loaders likely conflicted with each other and I didn't take time to examine because other priorities.
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For the information and updates, as possible remedies, I did the following: I reset my monitor to factory default settings in OSD. Then I ran the calibration once again: one aimed at sRGB (CAL1) and one at native RGB (CAL2). When calibrating for sRGB (and Adobe RGB), the only parameter I am allowed to change is luminance. For native RGB, I am given more options: white point and Tone Response Curve / Gamma. I set the white point to D65 and leave TRC to Standard (default) and gamma at 2.2. The same issue is still present between CAL1 and Cal2.
It is a question for me now that for sRGB calibration, what white point the software picks up by itself (which does not announces it to me, the user).
Switching back and forth to another application (alt + tab) makes no difference. Restarting Photoshop or even the computer makes no difference as said before.
Any Windows setting that may alter color has been set to off. Windows color management in the Windows Settings has been off from the beginning; same for HDR. Changing color profiles in the Settings between calibrated ICC profiles in Window's settings makes no difference in the color appearance of things.
If I turn on the Windows color management, everything changes. The same image looks even more yellowish and somewhat washed out in comparison. There is still a difference in the image when switching between CAL1 and CAL2. So I keep it off.
I made changes in the Nvidia color settings according to the recommendations I found online. It did not make a difference. The attachments show my current settings in the Nvidia control panel.
Someone in another forum reported that Windows 11 can be the possible culprit as even if its color management is turned off, it may still intervene in the color settings behind the scene. Could this be the Windows AI interference? Possible.
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Maybe another silly question but my brain doesn't conjure much on a Friday... 🥴 I think you mentioned the example image above is in ProPhoto. Not knowing the gamut of that image, what if you instead open an sRGB image (and with an sRGB workspace). I gather you're still seeing a significant difference when switching the monitor cal between sRGB and native RGB? 🤔
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It is a question for me now that for sRGB calibration, what white point the software picks up by itself (which does not announces it to me, the user).
sRGB tagerts are sRGB targets, period. IF you pick sRGB, all the parameters are set for that target; sRGB specification for luminance is 80 cd/m² and anything else set wouldn't produce sRGB. Ditto for all other RGB Working Spaces. The targets: https://www.color.org/chardata/rgb/srgb.xalter
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Any Windows setting that may alter color has been set to off. Windows color management in the Windows Settings has been off from the beginning; same for HDR. Changing color profiles in the Settings between calibrated ICC profiles in Window's settings makes no difference in the color appearance of things.
If I turn on the Windows color management, everything changes. The same image looks even more yellowish and somewhat washed out in comparison. There is still a difference in the image when switching between CAL1 and CAL2. So I keep it off.
I can't tell if I'm being ignored here, or if you are deciding to go about doing this in a way that inherently doesn't work because you want to use these different CAL modes, so I'm only going to say this one last time. If you want your color management aware applications to be able to make the proper conversions to the image you're looking at, you HAVE to assign the appropriate profile in windows color management. The profile tells the OS and any color managed applications within it what is going on with your monitor calibrations. If you keep windows color management turned off, then you're sending numbers straight through to the monitor-- only images in sRGB will look correct when you use an sRGB CAL slot. Nothing will ever look correct with a native CAL slot. It is critical that you apply a color profile generated by DUCS to windows color management if you want your system to be able to be color managed. Otherwise you're working in a video-type workflow where everything you are looking at is always assumed to be in the correct color space, and your GUI elements as well as web browsers are always going to look wrong. This has not changed from windows 10 to 11, it's just more likely that in windows 10 your calibration application (DUCS) was changing the windows profile for you, and now, for whatever reason, it's not.
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I apologize if I sounded like I am ignoring your messages. I actually thought I considered and tried all suggestions and my previous message meant to reflect them (even though I didn't quote any specific response).
However, I think the first time, I didn't probably fully understand what you said. So I decided to repeat things. I have now turned on Windows color management once again and every time, I switch between CAL1 and CAL2, I switch to the corresponding color profile in Windows setting right away. (UP3216Q_sRGB.icm and UP3216Q_nRGB.icm). It seems there is now no change in the color appearance of the file I have been having at hand. I took two screen shots with corresponding DDM and Windows color settings. Screenshots show identical images. So perhaps this is the solution though I need to make more tests before jumping to the final conclusion.
These screenshots are png files. They are untagged though searching online suggests they are sRGB even though untagged. When I open them in PS, they look over saturated which rises this question: How does PS show untagged files (my working color space in PS is ProPhoto)? In XnView, they look normal to me. In order to make them look normal in PS: should I tag them as sRGB or should I convert them to SRGB?
PS. I assigned sRGB color profile to these png screenshots. They now they appear exactly like what I see on my monitor. So this particular problem solved.
I do need to make a print of this image and see if it also resembles the output. I am planning to set up my printer under Windows 11 very soon. I think that's the ultimate test here.
I can't tell if I'm being ignored here, or if you are deciding to go about doing this in a way that inherently doesn't work because you want to use these different CAL modes, so I'm only going to say this one last time. If you want your color management aware applications to be able to make the proper conversions to the image you're looking at, you HAVE to assign the appropriate profile in windows color management. The profile tells the OS and any color managed applications within it what is going on with your monitor calibrations. If you keep windows color management turned off, then you're sending numbers straight through to the monitor-- only images in sRGB will look correct when you use an sRGB CAL slot. Nothing will ever look correct with a native CAL slot. It is critical that you apply a color profile generated by DUCS to windows color management if you want your system to be able to be color managed. Otherwise you're working in a video-type workflow where everything you are looking at is always assumed to be in the correct color space, and your GUI elements as well as web browsers are always going to look wrong. This has not changed from windows 10 to 11, it's just more likely that in windows 10 your calibration application (DUCS) was changing the windows profile for you, and now, for whatever reason, it's not.
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How does PS show untagged files (my working color space in PS is ProPhoto)?
How? Based on your color settings, which you appear to need to study.
See: http://digitaldog.net/files/PhotoshopColorSettings.mp4
Photoshop CC Color Settings and Assign/Convert to Profile video
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question: How does PS show untagged files (my working color space in PS is ProPhoto)? In XnView, they look normal to me. In order to make them look normal in PS: should I tag them as sRGB or should I convert them to SRGB?
XnView is probably (smartly) using sRGB by default for untagged files. If your working space is ProPhoto, photoshop is going to assume any untagged images are in ProPhoto, therefore serious oversaturation. I always keep my working space set to sRGB and turn on all of the "warn when..." toggles in the color settings in photoshop, just to avoid issues like this. I almost never actually work in sRGB, but because it gives me a dialog any time I open something with a different tagged space I can always choose what I want to use. That said, I'm pretty much always editing image files that have tags, I almost never go to "File > New" and create a blank document-- if I had to do that a lot I might actually set my working space to AdobeRGB, but I personally don't like prophoto at all-- I don't want my images potentially encoded with color information outside of the human perceptible gamut, and in 8 bit you're at a greater risk of introducing banding because of how physically far apart the colors are that correspond with a single tick in numerical value.
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Maybe, I jumped a bit too early on assuming the problem is solved! One question I had before was how I could figure out what PS sees as monitor's color profile (system's profile). Thanks to Andrew's video (6:45), I learned where to look for it: in PS, in color settings under Working Spaces, among the options for RBG, one is the monitor profile. This is the profile the system has announced to PS. Here is the new dilemma: If I turn off Windows color management (under Windows settings), PS spots the monitor profile as the profile selected in DDM (Dell display manager) depending on if CAL1 or Cal 2 and the corresponding profile in the System settings are chosen. However, if I turn on the Windows color management, Apparently, the system announces sRGB as the monitor profile to PS. To me this suggests I must turn off the Windows color management or otherwise, I cannot benefit from calibrating my monitor as Windows enforces sRGB as the monitor's profile regardless of my settings in DDM.
This is in contrast to what Lessbones suggested (turning on the Windows color management). I guess the reason it worked for him was because he works in sRGB. If the monitor is calibrated to SRGB, probably the difference between the system sRGB and the monitor sRGB is minimal. When I calibrate to native RGB, the difference is huge.
I am attaching the three screenshots corresponding to the different scenarios. Please note my working RGB has always been ProPhoto RGB. In the attached screenshots I switched to monitor RGB only to illustrate all settings simultaneously in one image.
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in PS, in color settings under Working Spaces, among the options for RBG, one is the monitor profile. This is the profile the system has announced to PS.
I don't believe that's correct. Your Working Space profile is just that. It shouldn't care what monitor profile the OS is using or if a monitor is even connected at all.
In my ancient Photoshop CS5 my working space is set to ProPhoto RGB regardless of which monitor cal profile is active. I don't know why yours changes, that seems bizarre.
Was this a fresh install of Win 11 and apps, or did you do an upgrade-in-place from Win 10? If the latter, I wonder if your Dell CM software got buggered up during the Win update. You could try un/reinstalling it.
I don't even have that Colour Management toggle in my Win 11 Settings (see screenshot).
I just finished building this PC to replace my old Win 10 PC and it has a fresh install of Win 11 Pro. Multiple monitors but at the moment I only set up colour management for the Eizo CS2740, using their Colour Navigator software. I haven't touched any colour-related settings in Win 11. When I change monitor cal profiles using either the monitor's buttons / on-screen display, or by using the menu in the Colour Navigator software, the active colour profile in Win 11 Settings changes automatically. So it appears Colour Navigator is doing what I paid it to do lol.
I haven't decided yet if I'll reinstall SpectraView for the old NEC PA271W monitor. But I expect it to behave similarly, like it did in Win 10.
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I don't believe that's correct. Your Working Space profile is just that. It shouldn't care what monitor profile the OS is using or if a monitor is even connected at all.
Yes, PS does care. He is referring to the "Monitor RGB" profile listed, which is the profile Photoshop recognizes as the system profile for the display and what Photoshop uses for part of the preview mechanism. It MUST show the actual/correct display profile as seen here using my custom PA271Q display profile. It should NOT be selected as a Working Space, but it must show correctly in this location.
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Yes, PS does care. He is referring to the "Monitor RGB" profile listed, which is the profile Photoshop recognizes as the system profile for the display and what Photoshop uses for part of the preview mechanism. It MUST show the actual/correct display profile as seen here using my custom PA271Q display profile. It should NOT be selected as a Working Space, but it must show correctly in this location.
Yeah I remarked about their Working Space being set to a monitor profile (and it changing based on monitor cal profile) only because I missed reading their footnote:
Please note my working RGB has always been ProPhoto RGB. In the attached screenshots I switched to monitor RGB only to illustrate all settings simultaneously in one image.
That confusion sorted, if this was an upgrade-in-place from Win 10 to 11, they still might wish to try reinstalling their monitor CM software if they feel something isn't working correctly.
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Yes, I formatted and wiped the disk entirely and did a fresh installation of Windows 11 pro. Initially, I had used the Windows upgrade tool, installing Windows 11 over 10 but I ran into some problem (frequent blue screens and system crashes). So I decided to start over from ground zero.
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Yes, I formatted and wiped the disk entirely and did a fresh installation of Windows 11 pro. Initially, I had used the Windows upgrade tool, installing Windows 11 over 10 but I ran into some problem (frequent blue screens and system crashes). So I decided to start over from ground zero.
I initially planned to upgrade in place too, and if that didn't work out I'd just start over with a fresh Win 11 install. I ended up just doing the latter. It's a lottttt of work tho to rebuild all the custom app settings etc (but I've been able to shortcut some by copying over some User AppData files/folder from the Win 10 system). I almost gave up a few times, tempted to revert to upgrading on top of Win 10, but I eventually got over the hurdles with reinstalling my legacy Photoshop software so I've stayed with the clean Win 11 install. I can still boot my old Win 10 setup if needed.
I'm still puzzled why yours shows the option to enable / disable CM in Windows Settings and mine does not. I've noticed the Win 11 Settings UI is full of mystery meat, where additional "hidden" options sometimes magically appear. For now I'm assuming it's enabled by default, and maybe my Eizo Colour Navigator software "hides" it. I have to uninstall / reinstall that software to fix an unrelated issue so I'll check what Win Settings shows while it's removed. Mainly just curiosity.
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I'm still puzzled why yours shows the option to enable / disable CM in Windows Settings and mine does not. I've noticed the Win 11 Settings UI is full of mystery meat, where additional "hidden" options sometimes magically appear. For now I'm assuming it's enabled by default, and maybe my Eizo Colour Navigator software "hides" it. I have to uninstall / reinstall that software to fix an unrelated issue so I'll check what Win Settings shows while it's removed. Mainly just curiosity.
Can you check in Windows settings > About > Windows Specifications that you have installed Windows 11 pro? I am asking because it may be possible that by some mistake, Windows installed the non Pro version (they all come in one package).
Next, I suggest updating your GPU driver to the latest version, following these steps:
- Download DDU from https://www.wagnardsoft.com/content/Download-Display-Driver-Uninstaller-DDU-18139.
- Download the latest driver for your GPU. If it is an Nvidia, I highly recommend downloading the 'Studio' driver version.
- Disconnect from the Internet (so that WIndows does not automatically install GPU driver on your system.
- Do a clean uninstall of the current GPU driver and software using DDU.
"For that, you need to boot into safe mode and run DDM in the safe mode."
- Reboot in normal mode while still disconnected from the internet.
- Install the downloaded GPU driver.
- Reconnect to the Internet.
This is the procedure I go through every time I update my GPU drivers.
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On another note, I noted you mentioned you had not installed SpectraView for your monitor (NEC PA271W). It is possible that since you have not calibrated your monitor, the option is missing as Windows has simply activated the option for you automatically.
This is a good introduction to the Windows Color Management option and how it affects the display of colors on the monitor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QD_l0xmvMEU
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It's Win 11 Pro build 25H2 and drivers are up-to-date.
I have 3 displays. The Eizo CS2740 is primary and is fully set up with Colour Navigator.
The NEC PA271W is no longer usable for colour-critical work (CCFL backlight degradation). It's for general desktop use now, so I didn't bother reinstalling the NEC SpectraView software for it.
There's also a Samsung TV connected sometime for gaming etc. But the Eizo is my main display for colour crit tasks so that's the only one that matters.
Quick googling shows some other users also don't have that Win 11 ACM option (incl one with same Eizo monitor/software). Also comments that no option = disabled. And it seems disabled is best.
In any case my Eizo profile switching seems to be working as expected. I was mainly just curious why I don't have that Win 11 ACM option at all, but I won't lose sleep over it (unless/until there is an actual problem).