Gamma chart looks different in Preview vs Safari

I downloaded a gamma chart from here: http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/gamma_calibration.php

I then opened it in the Preview App and also in Safari/Brave. The charts look different: In the Preview App I read a gamma value of 2.2 (what I would expect), however, in Safari/Brave i read a gamma value of 1.2. Shouldn't the charts look exactly the same since Safari and the Preview App are color managed? What is going on here?

Here is a screenshot (Preview App on the left... Browser on the right)

Mac mini (M1, 2020)

Posted on Feb 24, 2024 5:26 PM

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Posted on Feb 26, 2024 7:03 AM

Finally found the answer (https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/picture-looks-different-in-safari-vs-photoshop/m-p/14448600/thread-id/782095#M782100). The problem was with the monitor scalling (in Display preferences where you can select how the retina display gets scaled (Larger text / Defaul / ... / More Space). Using the native resolution fixed the problem.

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Feb 26, 2024 7:03 AM in response to woodmeister50

Finally found the answer (https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/picture-looks-different-in-safari-vs-photoshop/m-p/14448600/thread-id/782095#M782100). The problem was with the monitor scalling (in Display preferences where you can select how the retina display gets scaled (Larger text / Defaul / ... / More Space). Using the native resolution fixed the problem.

Feb 26, 2024 6:01 AM in response to althaus

I need to back up some as my test missed something critical. All methods of viewing that chart look pretty close when I set my display to view at the native 4K resolution. If I view them at my general use display settings (Settings->Displays) of 3008x1692 then I see the browser issue with the chart. When I viewed them in my apps I followed what the instructions said and set to native 4K but I did not do that with the browsers.


One thing that I saw in the page that the chart comes from is that the chart must be viewed at the native resolution of the display and assuming that also means that the image must be scaled precisely to 1:1 for that resolution, i.e. the 990x768 pixels of the chart must be viewed at exactly that many pixels on the the display. Are you sure Resolve is display at that exact pixel to pixel match? Also, the browser issue is still there when I view those charts when my display is set at its native 4K resolution.


So, If viewing at any other display resolution settings, all bets are off as far as the usefulness of the chart.






Feb 25, 2024 5:14 AM in response to althaus

I have verified the behavior you are seeing and I have an LG27UP600 which is a 4K display set for DCI-P3 with basic calibration (using the advanced mode in Apple's color calibrator to create a profile). Just to note, I have the HDR mode disabled in the Mac Display Settings.


I have also opened it in two of my photo apps and it shows the 2.2 gamma that I had calibrated for.


In addition, I opened the website in Microsoft Edge and saw the same results as Safari. So the issue is not just with Safari but how the images are being rendered in the browsers. I don't have a PC so I don't know if it is a browser rendering issue on Macs or a general browser issue.

Feb 25, 2024 6:32 AM in response to woodmeister50

@woodmeister50 Just wanted to confirm: You also don't get consistent gamma readings, right? What OS version are you on (I'm using Ventura)?


I just did some further testing: In Photoshop, I read 2.2 gamma as expected... in Davinci Resolve I read a much lower gamma (with apple color management turned on in the settings). Something is wrong here.....

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Gamma chart looks different in Preview vs Safari

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