Publication and ICC sRGB export profile

[Lars Hansen]

This might have a wider interest so I created this topic.
 
A while ago I purchased a Dell 4K monitor that is sRGB factory calibrated. My old monitor was calibrated manually with a Color Spyder.

The new Dell monitor was a bit of a revelation color wise, and I became aware of the differences in how the images look on my monitor and when I post on NG.

What ICC profile is the current reference for sharing images on a color managed browser like Chrome? So far I've used the sRGB IEC61966-2.1 profile, but it seems a more recent update from 20214 is the reference according to color.org: https://www.color.org/srgbprofiles.xalter#v2           

What do people use for exporting their images here on NG? 

[Birna Rørslett]

Whatever sRGB profile the PS on the local machine in use can provide.

I agree that the [unattainable] ideal would be everyone viewing web images on a properly calibrated monitor. However in reality most viewers will never see all the colour glory a posted image has to offer, and worse, the image will tend to look either flat or washed out, or be too dark. The first scenario usually is caused by using a wide-gamut colour space, and the latter by adjusting your image to a very bright monitor.

[Lars Hansen]

Whatever sRGB profile the PS on the local machine in use can provide.

I agree that the [unattainable] ideal would be everyone viewing web images on a properly calibrated monitor. However in reality most viewers will never see all the colour glory a posted image has to offer, and worse, the image will tend to look either flat or washed out, or be too dark. The first scenario usually is caused by using a wide-gamut colour space, and the latter by adjusting your image to a very bright monitor.

Many thanks, Birna. I get your point, so I'll rephrase it to:  What do people , (with sRGB calibrated monitor?) that use a standardised sRGB color reference profile for web publication of their photos, use for exporting their images here on NG?

I remember that you once replied to a post of mine and said something like: "get rid of that boring and flat profile in your image"

I appreciate that it won't be ideal - not my intention - but people that do have a color workflow and want to post their images using a standardised sRGB ICC profile as reference (for "likeminded"), it would at least provide a common ground and higher chance of showing their intended output?     

[Birna Rørslett]

Absolutely. Web images should be posted as sRGB. They will never look perfect, but most viewers will have a good idea of what the image looks like.

Never assume that viewers can use, or even understand,  colour-managed software, or that such software, even if in use, works well enough. In particular, avoid using ProPhotoRGB or similar wide gamut profiles because they more often than not will lead to bad web renditions for the majority of viewers.

Colour management becomes paramount when you publish images to books, or magazines, or want the best quality for exhibition prints. Always communicate with the guys who do the pre-press stuff to ensure your image will end up as you intended.

[pluton]

Using my usual Adobe Lightroom Classic software, it exports in sRGB IEC61966-2.1.  When I see the post later at Nikongear or elsewhere on either computer (laptop or desktop/2 monitors) the color looks "as intended".  No surprises, color and tones are as I expected.  Once in a while, I look at my posted image on NG and decide to modify the color saturation or overall brightness, usually by a small amount.

I bought an inexpensive Asus 27" 1440x2650 (QHD) monitor in 2021 (3.5 years ago) that claimed to be "Calman factory calibrated" for S-RGB.  Colors looked perfectly normal, until I turned on my NEC wide-gamut monitor next to it on the desk.  At that point, the Asus was revealed to have a observable green color cast.  I was bothered by the obvious green tint, so I draped a sheet of CC magenta (Lee 1/8 Minus Green) over the monitor.  That killed most of the excess green. It seems strange that the Asus monitor was simultaneously "calibrated" and had a distinct green color cast.