Onscreen grayscale color cast

[Andprayforrain]

I set my Q2 Monochrom photo file format to DNG and JPEG. DNGs are in the gray gamma 2.2 working space. JPEGs are in the sRGB working space.

I calibrate my monitor using the i1Profiler device.

When I view DNGs and their corresponding JPEGs I see that the DNGs have a brownish cast while their JPEGs are convincingly neutral.

I’ve noticed this difference in general: regardless of working space, untoned black and white files appear noticeably brownish in the grayscale mode yet neutral in the RGB mode.

Shouldn’t all of my untoned black and white files look neutral?

 

[Bill Clark]

I don’t own your make of camera.

What I do is capture in RAW with Canon equipment. I use Bridge to process the RAW files then make jpegs.

I tried DNG format but saw no advantage with it.

All files are with sRGB color space. It works just fine for me. The lab I used for my business wanted all files in sRGB space. I believe when I make black and whites it is still in the sRGB color space. Matter of fact, black and white prints use the same paper as color unless they are made in a darkroom.


Adobe RGB doesn’t work for me. I understand what it’s about but I don’t use it. There are other color spaces that could be used like Pro Photo. But I get my best results with sRGB.

When I created products like albums, all pages were saved in psd format which preserved the layers. I would make jpegs by shrinking each psd file, use “save as” with photoshop which kept the original psd in case I needed to make changes contained in specific layers.

I enjoy this aspect of photography. There is quite a bit of creative expression that can be accomplished during the process stage with digital.

 

[Dwig]

I set my Q2 Monochrom photo file format to DNG and JPEG. DNGs are in the gray gamma 2.2 working space. JPEGs are in the sRGB working space.

I calibrate my monitor using the i1Profiler device.

When I view DNGs and their corresponding JPEGs I see that the DNGs have a brownish cast while their JPEGs are convincingly neutral.

I’ve noticed this difference in general: regardless of working space, untoned black and white files appear noticeably brownish in the grayscale mode yet neutral in the RGB mode.

Shouldn’t all of my untoned black and white files look neutral?

You don't state what software you are using to view the DNGs. As a result any info any post can give you is just a SWAG (Scientific Wild Ass Guess).

I'm guessing that you are "viewing" the DNGs in an app that is merely using the DNGs' JPEG preview and not actually processing the RAW data in the DNGs to generate a viewable image. That JPEG preview very likely does not have a defined profile. You should NEVER use any preview of any RAW files, DNG or otherwise, as a quality reference. Such previews are merely guick-and-dirty images for identification.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I don’t own your make of camera.

What I do is capture in RAW with Canon equipment. I use Bridge to process the RAW files then make jpegs.

I tried DNG format but saw no advantage with it.

All files are with sRGB color space. It works just fine for me. The lab I used for my business wanted all files in sRGB space. I believe when I make black and whites it is still in the sRGB color space. Matter of fact, black and white prints use the same paper as color unless they are made in a darkroom.

Adobe RGB doesn’t work for me. I understand what it’s about but I don’t use it. There are other color spaces that could be used like Pro Photo. But I get my best results with sRGB.

When I created products like albums, all pages were saved in psd format which preserved the layers. I would make jpegs by shrinking each psd file, use “save as” with photoshop which kept the original psd in case I needed to make changes contained in specific layers.

I enjoy this aspect of photography. There is quite a bit of creative expression that can be accomplished during the process stage with digital.

Bill, he used DNG because that is the RAW format used by Leica digital cameras. For a Canon user, you're right that DNG has no advantage; but the OP is not using Canon, so your answer was irrelevant to him.

As for the color space, a lot of labs have their equipment set up to give good results with sRGB files because they know most people are too lazy to use proper color management. That's too bad, because using sRGB means throwing away a lot of colors that simply cannot be reproduced by the sRGB color space. I use an Adobe RGB capable wide-gamut monitor and my Epson printer is capable of reproducing colors far outside the sRGB color space, so using Adobe RGB does give better color if you know how to use it and have the right equipment.

 

[Andprayforrain]

Thanks, guys.

Dwig: I use Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop to view DNGs and resulting files.

A Q2 Monochrom DNG starts in the Gray Gamma 2.2 working space in the grayscale mode. If I convert the file to the sRGB working space in the RGB mode, I notice a bit of gamma change (a bit more contrast) but no color shift. It is when I convert the file to the ProPhoto RGB space in the RGB mode that I notice a color shift to more neutral gray.

I calibrate my monitor to the D50 color temp (5000K), which is somewhat warm. I think that relatively warm temp causes the brownish grays in my display. Perhaps the ProPhoto RGB simply has a cooler white point.

My prints are reasonably neutral. I can't tell the difference between prints made using my Pro-1000's built-in black and white mode and those made using an i1Studio custom black and white profile. So, I don't think I really have a problem.