I have read several times now that owners of a SC-P75xx like the prints better than from f.i. a SC-P5000 using the same paper. Better like more vibrant, better details, etc
This confused me, as i did not notice such differences, both in viewing and in measurements. But i use by default my own produced ICC profiles.
So my question was, knowing how one can shape behaviour of ICC profiles very easily with certain parameters, if there was something with the canned Epson profiles.
When soft-proofing with profiles of Epson, in this case for Legacy Baryta, i noticed quite strong changes in the histogram, much more pronounced that with my own profiles, or other canned profiles for similar papers.
Based on the file size i could tell which had CxF data enclosed.
So i decided to use Babelcolor Patchtool to extract data from the Epson provided and own profiles.
CxF data, in essence the recording of the profiling tool used, its settings, and measured spectral data.
Not all profiles have these included, but the Epson canned ICC profiles for Legacy Baryta for one do, both for the SC-P7000/9000 and for the SC-P75xx/95xx
The really interesting part is the Profile Settings section, see the two attached text files.
The really interesting parameters in that section are:
EPSON_SC-P9500_7500_LegacyBaryta:
<Saturation>90</Saturation>
<UseMediaSmoothness>0</UseMediaSmoothness>
<SmoothnessMedianOverall>-1</SmoothnessMedianOverall>
<Smoothness>50</Smoothness>
<Contrast>90</Contrast>
<NeutralizeGray>75</NeutralizeGray>
SC-P9000_P7000_Series_LLK LegacyBaryta_PK_v1:
<Saturation>55</Saturation>
<Smoothness>50</Smoothness>
<Contrast>50</Contrast>
<NeutralizeGray>0</NeutralizeGray>
So for the SC-P75xx/95xx Epson has seriously pushed Saturation, as is Contrast.
For me this could well be the cause why prints on Legacy Baryta with the SC-P74xx/95xx are more vibrant etc.
Hence my question: Is Epson cheating with their ICC profiles for the new SC-P75XX/95XX printers?
The other questions i have:
- Why does Epson use such different settings for these parameters?
- How can one measure the effects? (not all profiles have CxF data enclosed)
- What is the correct setting for these parameters? ( i use the default settings, say the neutral settings)