You are definitely not the only person with this problem and it is not new; I have raised several support cases about this very issue over the last few years, with no satisfactory resolution. The differences you see are due to the way that C1 Pro generates the preview files that you view in the Viewer window at any magnification other than 100%. Try comparing images at 100% view in both Photoshop and C1 Pro and I believe that you will no longer see a difference.
This issue was raised again recently on the Phase One forum:
http://forum.phaseone.com/En/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=20965&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=contrast&sid=3759bb50b7037a7f4b2f68698f3bead8My response, which can be found on page 2 of the thread is below:
"You are not alone in experiencing this problem and it is not a new issue. I have raised a number of support cases over the last few years regarding differences between the C1 preview and the processed file when opened in Photoshop; the problem was so bad on a couple of occasions that I ended up using a different raw convertor for certain files. I certainly do not trust the colours shown in C1, which is ridiculous considering that Phase markets it as THE professional raw conversion tool.
Robert is absolutely correct when he writes that you can only rely on the accuracy of the C1 preview at 100% and this, in the end,was the only solution that Phase support could offer. However, in my view, this is not very helpful as I do not see how it is possible to adjust overall colours and contrast within an image at 100% magnification. I really feel that Phase have buried their heads in the sand with regard to this particular problem.
I did do some testing comparing the preview in other raw convertors and Photoshop and must admit that they also showed some differences with certain images. But, having said that, I would say that the differences shown in C1 are the most pronounced and frequently occurring.
I'm afraid that, until Phase address the problem (which they have shown no willingness to do up to this point) with changes to the underlying preview generation, the issue will persist. I'm sorry I can't offer a solution."
I personally feel that Phase One either doesn't have the resources available to solve this issue or that fixing the problem would mean such huge changes to the C1 image processing and preview generation code that they are reluctant to open that can of worms.
I do hope that they get to the bottom of it one day because it really is not currently possible to trust that the files outputted from C1 Pro will look the same as the way they are previewed in the C1 Viewer.
Best
Liam
