Is my PC nuts?

axl · 10-29-2008, 05:57 PM

Hi everybody,
sory for the title, but couldn't think of better.
My problem is basic. On my laptop (toshiba with Intel dual core) it pretty much doesn't matter if I open pic in windows browser, pentax browser or my old trusty (is it now?) ACDSee 5.1 they look the same.
BUT...
On my main (read as the one I use for editing of pics) PC which is Packard Bell (OK stop laughing) with AMD Athlon 64 I have great difficulties to judge what is right as I get 2 different results.
PS7 and Windows browser give me really nice view, but
ACDSee (the same as on laptop) and PPB give much less saturated one! It's driving me nuts, because I really don't know what is right and what is wrong!!
I finish editing/converting my shots and I'm happy with what I see in PS7 but then I want to show them to my girlfiriend and tadaaa... In both of my main viewers they look dull and undersaturated!
Any thoughts on this???
would really appreciate suggestions,
THANX

Peter

*k100d* · 10-29-2008, 06:12 PM

laptop screens are not exactly known for their colour accuracy
if you wanna get more serious into it, maybe consider some color calibration tools

*Wheatfield* · 10-29-2008, 07:05 PM

Originally Posted by axl

Hi everybody,
sory for the title, but couldn't think of better.
My problem is basic. On my laptop (toshiba with Intel dual core) it pretty much doesn't matter if I open pic in windows browser, pentax browser or my old trusty (is it now?) ACDSee 5.1 they look the same.
BUT...
On my main (read as the one I use for editing of pics) PC which is Packard Bell (OK stop laughing) with AMD Athlon 64 I have great difficulties to judge what is right as I get 2 different results.
PS7 and Windows browser give me really nice view, but
ACDSee (the same as on laptop) and PPB give much less saturated one! It's driving me nuts, because I really don't know what is right and what is wrong!!
I finish editing/converting my shots and I'm happy with what I see in PS7 but then I want to show them to my girlfiriend and tadaaa... In both of my main viewers they look dull and undersaturated!
Any thoughts on this???
would really appreciate suggestions,
THANX

Peter

Check to see if the colour aware software on your main box is altering the colour space when it opens the file. The Windows picture viewer isn't colour space sensitive, and ignores the tags, but Photoshop can be set in the preferences dialog to ignore, alter or not change colourspace when opening files. I'm not familiar with the other two programs you mentioned, but it wouldn't surprise me if they have the same sort of options.
Renering problems like this are almost always (I would say always, as I haven't run into a situation where it isn't) mismanagement of the colour profiles when opening the files.

stevebrot · 10-29-2008, 07:43 PM

Wheatfield's comments are a good place to start. I discovered something similar on my new computer and monitor. The monitor has a wide color gamut and has been calibrated using the manufacturer's calibration software. Lightroom uses the calibration profile, while my Web browsers do not. A few days ago I posted up several photos that looked great in Lightroom. When I looked at them in my browser, the color balance was much different as was the color saturation. Everything looked cooler and washed out.

As it turns out, the color profile is saved as meta data on the image file, but many image viewers do not use the profile information or have that feature turned off by default.

Having said this, it is important to also remember that there is a high level of variability between monitors. Gamma, contrast, saturation, and color fidelity all vary between models.

The bottom line is that our fine work may not look as we intended on all systems or with all viewing software.

Steve

axl · 10-31-2008, 02:23 AM

thanx for advices, I will check it out today, but to my surprise, two different programs running on two different PSs (with the same OS) behave differently! On laptop they render colours in the same way, on desktop they render them differently! I never changed any settings, so now I really don't know. Anyway, I'll chcek out those settings in the software and I'll see...
Thank you guys

**Damn Brit** · 10-31-2008, 02:56 AM

Peter I have an old version of Iphoto and Elements 6, I use Iphoto for organising because my wife uses it as well. They also render completely differently, Elements is much richer. Strange thing is, if I merely open a picture in Elements and then save it back to Iphoto, it retains the richness even when viewed on Iphoto.
I use a Macbook.

axl · 10-31-2008, 03:23 AM

Originally Posted by Damn Brit

Peter I have an old version of Iphoto and Elements 6, I use Iphoto for organising because my wife uses it as well. They also render completely differently, Elements is much richer. Strange thing is, if I merely open a picture in Elements and then save it back to Iphoto, it retains the richness even when viewed on Iphoto.
I use a Macbook.

Unfortunately that's not my case

here are exaples via print screen -
pics in order as seen with
ACDSee 5.0

Photoshop CS3

Pentax Photo Browser

Windows Picture Gallery

It' the same JPEG, processed from PEF RAW file in CS3 and saved on best quality.

Another confusing bit is: according to wheatfield the windows' picture browser is on defalut as "ignore colourspace settings" but so is Pentax's borowser but still they render differently!!!
It makes it very difficult because I edit my shots in CS3 and I'm happy with it. But when reviewing shots in ACDSee or PPB (updated to 3.51) they are dull and faded!!!
Any furhter insights on this issue??

**Damn Brit** · 10-31-2008, 03:27 AM

What quality do you save them as in CS3?

axl · 10-31-2008, 04:00 AM

Originally Posted by Damn Brit

What quality do you save them as in CS3?

JPEG Quality 12 Progressive with 5 scans

Does that affect rendering?!?

*séamuis* · 10-31-2008, 04:16 AM

for what reason have you chosen to use progressive over baseline or optimized?

axl · 10-31-2008, 04:47 AM

Originally Posted by séamuis

for what reason have you chosen to use progressive over baseline or optimized?

I have always done so, I don't know why exactly maybe it's me missunderstanding exact meaning of those words. How does it affect the pic and it's rendering?

PS: what is the best quality JPEG output from CS3?

*séamuis* · 10-31-2008, 05:34 AM

Originally Posted by axl

I have always done so, I don't know why exactly maybe it's me missunderstanding exact meaning of those words. How does it affect the pic and it's rendering?

PS: what is the best quality JPEG output from CS3?

it has no effect on quality, nor rendering quality, just the way it renders (for the web).

this is from Welcome | Web Page Design for Designers

'Baseline Optimized' gives a slightly smaller file size than 'Baseline' at the expense of compatibility with older browsers. I wouldn't worry too much about older browsers these days, always use 'Optimized'. It is ticked as default in more recent versions of PS.

'Progressive' isn't very relevant these days either. It builds the picture up in the browser as the data downloads. It's only really significant with slow connections or very large images. Seeing the image gradually build up in resolution gives the impression of a faster download to the viewer � but if you measure it with a stopwatch, actually takes longer. This is unchecked by default now.

The 'Save for Web' feature that was introduced in later versions, also includes a 'blur' control that reduces filesize further, although I've never found it particularly useful.

The only thing that really matters with a JPEG is the 'Quality' slider and the little extra effort involved in catching that 'sweet point' where compression artefacts just become unnoticable.

**Damn Brit** · 11-01-2008, 04:17 PM

Originally Posted by axl

JPEG Quality 12 Progressive with 5 scans

Does that affect rendering?!?

I guess the only way to find out is try saving them in different ways to see if that makes a difference.
There is a big difference in size saved between the differing qualities. Maybe maximum is too much for your other apps to handle.

axl · 11-01-2008, 05:50 PM

Originally Posted by Damn Brit

I guess the only way to find out is try saving them in different ways to see if that makes a difference.
There is a big difference in size saved between the differing qualities. Maybe maximum is too much for your other apps to handle.

?!?
Sorry Garry, but I don't get what do you mean. Could you elaborate?

**Damn Brit** · 11-01-2008, 06:02 PM

Well what happens when you save them in CS3 at lower qualities? How does that compare to viewing them on your other software?
Sorry, I've been over here too long, Americans understand me better than Brits most of the time now.