Want to highlight a helpful answer? Upvote!

Did someone help you, or did an answer or User Tip resolve your issue? Upvote by selecting the upvote arrow. Your feedback helps others! Learn more about when to upvote >

Lifted and desatured blacks in Photoshop

Hey all! Last week I bought a Mac Studio M2 Max with a LG 27UP85NP-W.


Since then I have ONLY been trying to get Photoshop to work properly. After calibrating, doesn't matter if I use Spyder X Pro or Calibrite Display SL, Photoshop shows a different image than ACR.


I've tried everything regarding color spaces, they are both Display P3 in ACR as wel as in PS. Also tried turning GPU function in PS off, but makes no difference. I bought a new Spyder X Pro, contacted their customer support.


Then after that failed I bought the Calibrite Display SL, same problem. Although I must say after making tens of calibrations that the Calibrite has no variations while the Spyder X Pro wasn't accurate in hindsight.


Also did a full reset on my monitor and also a full reset on my Mac.


The only fix I've found after one week of almost throwing everything out of the window was switching the color conversion in photoshops Color Settings to Apple CMM instead of Adobe ACE. Now the colors look the same in ACR, Photoshop and Lightroom, with only extremely small differences in the deep blacks.


Is there somebody on the internet who knows what the heck is going? Because although I finally can resume my work in Photoshop, it still bugs me that I don't know what causes this weird behavior?


Hope to hear from somebody!


Mac Studio, macOS 14.4

Posted on Apr 26, 2024 2:50 PM

Reply
2 replies

Apr 28, 2024 4:25 PM in response to den.thed

Thanks for your reply!


  1. In the meantime I got a new monitor (2nd in a week) to see if that helps. It's a BenQ SW240 Adobe RGB monitor, still have the same problem. The connection is HDMI>HDMI
  2. Checked that, but it's both off and normal.



Concluded is a screenshot with PS on the left and ACR on the right, it's especially clear in dark areas where ACR seems to render more color and contrast in the shadows/blacks where Photoshop just makes a muddy mess.


Apr 26, 2024 3:28 PM in response to rvdknl

1) What cable connection are you using...? (USB-C to USB-C, USB-C to DisplayPort or HDMI to HDMI)

Please provide a detailed description and/or a web-link for the cable that you are using.


2) Go to Apple > System Settings > Accessibility > Display > Display > turn off Increase contrast and make sure that the Display contrast slider is set to Normal.


Lifted and desatured blacks in Photoshop

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.