Srgb Color Profile

The abbreviation sRGB stands for “Standard Red Green Blue”, which is the most widely-used color space. Generally, color space determines the colors which you can see on a screen or in print. SRGB gamut is so common, as it is compatible with most operating systems, various programs, monitors, and all-in-one photo printers. I understand that C1 changes color display based on monitor profile, so I eventually went to Windows color management and switched my display color profile from 'SRGB,' the default profile, to SRGB IEC 61966-2.1, which is a hidden profile, not the default Surface screen profile. Now consider that your Input Image is not in sRGB colorspace, but using some another RGB color profile. OpenGL doesn't give much other texture formats save linear RGB and sRGB, so that a proper conversion of such image into sRGB colorspace should be done by image reader or via special GLSL program performing colorspace conversion on-the-fly. Apparently AMD GPUs have a secret sRGB mode called 'Color Temperature Control' which sets it to sRGB based on gamut information (similar to a generic icc profile), but too bad I'm on Nvidia. SRGB is a standard2 RGB (red, green, blue) color space that HP and Microsoft created cooperatively in 1996 to use on monitors, printers, and the Web. It was subsequently standardized by the IEC as IEC 61966-2-1:1999.1 Its predecessor NIF RGB was used in FlashPix and was almost the same.3 It is often the 'default' color space for images that contain no color space information, especially.

There is plenty of occasion to publish images on the web, including corporate websites, e-commerce websites, blogs, and social media sites. Are the images of products, merchandise, designs, etc. that you publish presented to readers in the colors you intended?
In this article, we will cover several important points on what to check before publishing images on the web, based on results verified by EIZO.

Chapter 1: Web Browser Color Management Chapter 2: ICC Profile Color ManagementChapter 3: Mobile Device Color ManagementChapter 4: Color Management for Web – Summary

As we covered in another article, Color Management for Creators – Web Browser Edition, it is important to embed color profiles in image data to ensure that colors are displayed as the creator intended. Creators must also keep differences between color profile versions in mind, so that colors are displayed properly, regardless of the web browser used. In this article, we will introduce the two different versions of ICC profiles (version 2 and version 4) and discuss ICC profile compatibility with different web browsers.

Table of Contents
What are ICC Profiles?
ICC Profile Versions
How to Check the Color Profile in Photoshop
How to Check the ICC Profile Version
Summary

What are ICC Profiles?

ICC profiles are files that describe color characteristics on a per-device basis, in a format established by the International Color Consortium (ICC), an international standards organization. ICC profiles include both color profiles and monitor profiles. Color profiles define color characteristics for devices and image data. Monitor profiles are data files that communicate what colors the monitor displays to the system. By using these ICC files, it is possible to correctly display colors through a standardized color space, regardless of an individual devices’ color characteristics.

ICC Profile Versions

There are two versions of ICC profiles.

  • Version 2: offers high compatibility and has been around for longer
  • Version 4: a backward-compatible revised version with clearer definitions, which enable greater display precision

Versions Used by Common Color Profiles

Color Profile Adobe RGB (1998) sRGB IEC 61966-2.1 Display P3
ICC Profile Version 2 (2.1.0) 2 (2.1.0) 4 (4.0.0)


As you can see from the table above, sRGB and Adobe RGB use v2, while Display P3 uses v4 — each color profile relies on a specific version. Web creators should keep in mind that ICC profile version compatibility may vary by web browser. For instance, if a web browser that only supports v2 tries to display image data that has an embedded v4 color profile, the colors may not display as the creator intended.
The table below shows ICC profile version compatibility by web browser. Web creators should consider that colors may be displayed in both v2 and v4 environments; we recommend embedding the sRGB profile into image data, because sRGB is built on the v2 ICC profile, which all web browsers support.

ICC Profile Version Compatibility by Web Browser

Browser Name Chrome Firefox Internet Explorer Safari
Browser Version 78.0.3904.70 70.0 11.805.17763.0 13.0.2 (15608.2.30.1.1)
OS Windows 10 Windows 10 Windows 10 macOS mojave (10.14)
Compatible ICC Profile Version4244
  • Results of verifications performed for the latest web browsers as of October 2019. Actual compatibility may vary due to web browser updates.

You can use the following page on the official ICC website to check your web browser’s ICC profile version compatibility.
http://www.color.org/version4html.xalter

  • If the image displays with the proper colors, the browser supports v4.
  • If the image displays with the wrong colors, the browser is either incompatible with v4 or incompatible with both v2 and v4.

How to Check the Color Profile in Photoshop

Checking an Embedded Color Profile

Open the image data in Photoshop, click the arrow on the bottom left of the screen and select Document Profile. The color profile will display to the left of the arrow.

Changing an Embedded Profile

From the top menu, go to Edit then Convert to Profile…. Next, select the profile you want to use from the Profile drop-down menu.

Checking the ICC Profile Version

ICC profiles are stored on a computer’s operating system. To check the specific version on your computer, follow the instructions below.

For Windows 10

Go to SettingsSystemDisplayAdvanced Display SettingsDisplay Adapter PropertiesColor Management tabColor Management…→ and select the All Profiles tab. Then click the ICC profile you want to check, and the version will be displayed at the bottom.

For macOS Catalina 10.15.1

Go to System PreferencesDisplays → and select the Color tab. Then click the ICC profile you want to check and click the Open Profile button.

Summary

  • There are two different ICC profile versions (v2 and v4), and version compatibility varies by web browser.
  • The sRGB color profile uses ICC profile v2, which will display correctly in any browsers that supports either v2 or v4.
  • Before publishing images on the web, we recommend embedding the sRGB color profile, due to its versatility.



 


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Return to Color Management Resources

Chapter 1: Web Browser Color Management Chapter 2: ICC Profile Color ManagementChapter 3: Mobile Device Color ManagementChapter 4: Color Management for Web – Summary

sRGB profiles

On this page you will find several different types of sRGB profiles, with information about their intended use.

sRGB v4 Preference

The sRGB v4 ICC preference profile is a v4 replacement for commonly used v2 sRGB profiles. It gives better results in workflows that implement the ICC v4 specification. It is intended to be used in combination with other ICC v4 profiles.

The advantages of the new profile are:

Srgb Color Profile Missing

  1. More pleasing results for most images when combined with any correctly-constructed v4 output profile using the perceptual rendering intent.
  2. More consistently correct results among different CMMs using the ICC-absolute colorimetric rendering intent.
  3. Higher color accuracy using the media-relative colorimetric intent.
A typical use case would be to print sRGB images captured with a digital still camera. In this case a user could open the image in Adobe® Photoshop®, assign the sRGB v4 profile as shown in Figure 1. Adobe® Photoshop® is either a registered trademark or trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.

Figure 1. Assigning the sRGB v4 ICC preference profile. Adobe product screen shot reprinted with permission from Adobe Systems Incorporated.

The user would then convert the data to printer specific values with the sRGB v4 profile as source, the v4 printer profile as destination, and selecting the perceptual rendering intent, as shown in Fig 2.

Figure 2. Conversion from sRGB v4 ICC preference profile to v4 printer profile in Photoshop using the perceptual rendering intent. Adobe product screen shot reprinted with permission from Adobe Systems Incorporated.

The three available rendering intents of the sRGB v4 profile should normally be used as follows:

  • The ICC-absolute colorimetric rendering intent should be used when the goal is to maintain the colors of the original on the reproduction,
  • The media-relative colorimetric intent should be used when the goal is to map the source medium white to the destination medium,
  • The perceptual intent should be used when the goal is to re-optimize the source colors for the reproduction medium while maintaining the 'look' of the source image
The re-optimization performed by the perceptual rendering intent of the profile is a result of using the Perceptual Medium Reference Gamut defined in the ICC v4 specification as an intermediate rendering target. No perceptual reference medium is defined for v2 profiles.

Best Srgb Color Profile

Advice for caution

Ideally the ICC v4 profile should not be combined with ICC v2 profiles. If that is unavoidable, see the intermediate-level ICC White Paper 26 'Using the sRGB_v4_ICC_preference.icc profile' for additional information and recommendations.

The sRGB v4 profile will in some cases not produce the same results as would be obtained using an sRGB v2 profile. Differences will depend on the particular sRGB v2 profile and rendering intent used. See the intermediate level white paper for additional information and recommendations.

Summary Overall users can expect to get better and more consistent results using the sRGB v4 profile versus the sRGB v2 profiles. More details are available in White Paper 26.

Terms of use

To anyone who acknowledges that the file 'sRGB_v4_ICC_preference.icc' is provided 'AS IS' WITH NO EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY, permission to use, copy and distribute this file for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided that the file is not changed including the ICC copyright notice tag, and that the name of ICC shall not be used in advertising or publicity pertaining to distribution of the software without specific, written prior permission. ICC makes no representations about the suitability of this software for any purpose.
sRGB_v4_ICC_preference.icc
Feedback on the performance of the ICC sRGB Preference profile (whether positive or negative) would be greatly welcomed. Please send comments to ICC users (Subscribe to ICC users mailing list here.)

Display class version

Srgb color profile

The sRGB_v4_ICC_preference.icc profile is of the profile class 'colorspace'. While ICC recommends this version is used, some applications fail to recognize colorspace class profiles. A workaround for such cases is to use a 'display' class version (identical in all respects except for the profile class field in the header, and the profileID value). The display class version is subject to the same terms of use as the colorspace class version.

sRGB_v4_ICC_preference_displayclass.icc

sRGB v4 Appearance

Color

This profile aims to preserve the appearance of the sRGB display when transformed to other colour spaces. More information is available here, together with a link to download the profile.

Srgb Color Profile Windows 10

v2 profiles

Srgb Color Profile Download

An ICC v2 sRGB profile is provided below, with XYZ black point scaling to zero. This profile has the preferred rendering intent in the header set to 'perceptual'.

The profile contains the standard linearized Bradford D65 to D50 chromatic adaptation tag (this tag was often not present in older sRGB profiles), and the media white point tag is set to D50 (as is required for ICC v4 display profiles and recommended for v2 profiles). This avoids the inappropriate color casts that older sRGB v2 ICC profiles sometimes produced when the absolute colorimetric intent was used. This profile is subject to the general licensing terms for ICC profiles, which can be seen here.

sRGB2014.icc

NOTE: This profile was revised in February 2015 to bring the black point tag into alignment with current ISO and IEC recommendations. The previous version, which has a black point with greater luminance to reflect the viewing flare in practical use, is still available here.

iccMAX profiles

Gimp Srgb Color Profile

The iccMAX specification enables connection of colour encodings that are not based on the D50 PCS. Details and example profiles are available on the iccMAX sRGB profiles page.