topic Re: IDC Colour Cast in Alpha & NEX interchangeable lens cameras

IDC Colour Cast

stevemecrow — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 16:03:10 GMT

Hi,

I have an Alpha 65 and what appears to be an issue with Image Data Convertor. When I shoot JPEG+RAW and view the images in PMB they look identical and with what appears to be a near normnal colour balance.. However when I open either image (RAW or JPEG) in IDC they are displayed with a pink colour cast.

Any ideas why that should be? Is there an adjustment that I'm not aware of in IDC?

Thanks for any feedback.

Steve

Re: IDC Colour Cast

Mick2011 — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 22:33:42 GMT

Hi Steve, welcome to the Sony Forums

Every RAW converter gives a different 'look' to your images, sometimes quite striking differences such as colour casts. If you correct that cast in IDC and save the correction value as a default setting, your stuff should open up looking right next time.

Worth remembering that converters interpret file data differently, so there's no innate 'right' or 'wrong' colour balance to the file; the corrections you make to achieve more neutral tones are just another step in that conversion. The images should remain neutral-looking if you export a TIFF or jpg to PMB, for example.

Cheers

Mick

Re: IDC Colour Cast

stevemecrow — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 17:44:35 GMT

Mick,

Many thanks for your reply.

The problem arises when I view the image in IDC where there is a pink cast. In PMB (JPEG and RAW) the image looks to be correctly balanced.

When I adjust the RAW file in IDC to correct the balance and then save the result as a JPEG file, it exhibits a blue cast when viewed using anything other than IDC. I've checked the IDC settings and everything seems to be OK - it is set to use the camera settings for colour space and white balance. I've also tried different monitor settings in IDC and there is no impact.

I can only assume that there is a problem with IDC! I'm using 5.8.00.09123.

Steve

Re: IDC Colour Cast

stevemecrow — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 17:52:08 GMT

Sorry, its IDC version 4!

Re: IDC Colour Cast

cmosse — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 13:50:58 GMT

please check if you have set an other monitor profile than sRGB in the color managment settings of the IDC.

I have compared a color test chart image (JPG) with IDC and PlayMemories (follow up from PMB) and there is no such difference. See screenshots attached (#1: settings / #2: IDC / #3: PlayMemories)

Re: IDC Colour Cast

stevemecrow — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 16:11:49 GMT

Hi, I've checked the colour management settings and they are as above. I suspect there is an installation error - even though I've reinstalled IDC and there was no change. I think the next step is to try another PC and see if it exhibits the same effect. Its strange as even JPEG images, which are displayed correctly in PMB and other viewers, exhibit the colour cast in IDC. So the problem is almost certainly IDC!

I'm away from my PC for a few days and will do some more investigating when I return.

Many thanks for the replies - at least I now know the IDC settings are correct.

Steve

Re: IDC Colour Cast

cmosse — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 12:41:56 GMT

I have done another test, a side by side screenhot (also done this with RAW files): I can see no color cast.

Could you post something similar when you are back?

Re: IDC Colour Cast

Mick2011 — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 19:50:59 GMT

This has to be a colour management issue & it's odd that Steve should have a cast at default settings when other users don't. It's usually a device profile that's awry (and I recall having magenta casts with some scanners back in the day..) so it might be an idea to check the camera settings.

Go to the A65's Menu > camera settings 2, select [colour space] and make sure it's set to AdobeRGB. Then in IDC change the default colour space for display to AdobeRGB too.

See if that works

Cheers

Mick

Re: IDC Colour Cast

stevemecrow — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 13:11:11 GMT

All,

I've returned from my travels and experimented with different colour management settings in IDC as suggested. I did this when the problem first arose, with no effect.

I switched to the AdobeRGB setting and changed the monitor colour space (from sRGB to one that seemed to be Adobe). I then returned to the original sRGB settings - the IDC defaults - and suprisingly the cast has disappeared! It seems the problem is solved!

I don't understand why it should have occurred in the first place - very odd! I suspect a gremlin at work in the depths of my PC - I think its time for a new one.

Many thanks for your suggestions and help,

Steve

Re: IDC Colour Cast

Mick2011 — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 22:26:28 GMT

That's typical profile behaviour, probably not your PC at all. I have no idea why it takes that sort of jiggling to work either, but it's usually a permanent fix.

Until you change something else, of course

Great to hear you got it resolved!

Mick