I've been trying to refine my digital editing skills over the last months or so, and while I've made some improvements, I still don't quite understand a few things. My current concern is why when I save an image converted to sRGB space (in Windows), it doesn't look right unless I first change the gamma from 2.2 to 1.5. As I understand things, the default color space on Windows is sRGB with a monitor gamma of 2.2. When in my editor, this all works out beautifully for nice images using profiles for my monitor, a Chrome 2000 D65 workspace color, etc. I have found I can retain most of the original Chrome working space colors by saving my jpegs to the sRGB IEC61966-2.1 color space. But leaving the gamma at 2.2 results in a image in IE5 (or other non-color space corrected viewing program) that is way too dark compared to what I edited. Through experimentation, the best match is made by first converting to a gamma of 1.5, then saving. I've tried gammas ranging from 1.2 to 1.8, and 1.5 is the best match. I've calibrated my monitor (a Viewsonic PS790) as best as possible at 6500K using on screen test patterns for brightness and contrast, and this seems to give the best viewing of other images on the web. I have the Viewsonic ICM files for my monitor loaded, so I think everything on my system is setup properly. This gamma change problem exists in both PhotoShop 5.0 LE without color space profiles, and Picture Windows Pro 3.0 where color space profiles are enabled. Does anyone know why I have to save my images at a gamma of 1.5, when Windows is supposed to have a gamma of 2.2? Thanks, Gerald - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
