What is color science and why does it matter?

09 November 2018
Photography's latest jargon explained.

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  • Hildr
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  • 13 Nov 2018

"Now that you know what color science generally refers to, which smartphone brand do you think has the best image processing right now and which do you think needs the most improvement?"

Well, not Huawei for me. I love everything about my Mate 10 pro, but the camera. I simply don't even take photos anymore, sharpness and contraste are really bad, can't even capture best family moments like birthday candles blow since faces become plain orange thing without any detail. RAW are good but lens do a lot of vignetting, wich is a pain to remove.
Windows Phone, Nokia and Msft were good for me, maybe I'll give a shot to the news Nokia phones.

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • MwH
    • 13 Nov 2018

    Zenon, 12 Nov 2018Ohh God your nothing but an Apple fan boy not a tech enthus... moreLCD is just a different display technology, it doesn't make images look ugly. Where did you come up with this kind of nonsense?

      • Z
      • Zenon
      • rx7
      • 12 Nov 2018

      Anonymous, 12 Nov 2018They are nice, but nowhere near Apple level. Still better t... moreOhh God your nothing but an Apple fan boy not a tech enthusiast so please don't give your opinion , no one wants an opinion from a fan boy .
      Don't you know anything at all, adding beauty mode to make the image look better is a party trick and no one likes it unless you want to look unreal (forgot your makeup boy?)

      Second they are using outdated displays in their so called budget phones to what make it look ugly?(speaking of displays) , and you talk about them having a level .loll.

      Listen boy this article is good on't include bs information in this post , go do some research about apple themselves and don't come n blabber here lol .

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        • Anonymous
        • m%5
        • 12 Nov 2018

        Vegetaholic, 12 Nov 2018I agree up to point there you talk about color accuracy of ... moreThey are nice, but nowhere near Apple level. Still better than the majority of other manufacturers though.
        Take any other brand and you will see decreased colour accuracy everywhere.

          Anonymous, 12 Nov 2018The display part was just a side mention to the thread. And... moreI agree up to point there you talk about color accuracy of oled displays. Samsung is second to none in color accuracy, yes Apple maybe makes it to prefesional level accuracy calibration, but Samsung does very good job for making acurate displays, check all Samsung, S8, S9 or Note 8, Note 9 screen reviews, they are top notch.

            Nice article, as always readibg gsm arena i lear nit only about phpnes but about photography too, (it is not a first informative article about cameras and post-progressing). Was good read, appreciate it

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              • Anonymous
              • MwH
              • 12 Nov 2018

              Cyril7, 12 Nov 2018What are you even talking bruh, Mr anonymous , this topic i... moreThe display part was just a side mention to the thread. And I did make that mention just to point out that most people ignore colour accuracy in displays and thus in photography as well, so if they don't care to invest in colour accurate displays, they definitely don't care enough to invest in proper photographic gear. That's why you see people giving high ratings to huawei cameras, LG cameras, Canon, Sony, etc.

              That's why you see the majority of people liking overly saturated photos instead of proper photos. That's why you see them rate jokes of photos higher than close-to-perfect photos. They don't know any better, and that's because they can't see any better - they don't invest in the displays required to see the difference. So all cameras and camera sensors are equally good to them.

              And yes, everyone knows that Apple uses samsung displays in their iPhones. But Apple takes them and calibrates them to be colour accurate. Whereas samsung does the bare minimum calibration when using displays on their phones. Apple makes better use of samsung's displays.

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                • Nzi97
                • tuf
                • 12 Nov 2018

                Well written article, kudos for the writer
                Some questions though, it say that color science won't effect RAW images, but i usually notice even a RAW images come out from 2 differently DSLR/M camera can have different color profile
                It might be how the sensor capture the luminance value or the camera image processor, but, it still contribute to the final color rendering in both camera jpeg and post processing(stuff like skin tone and whatnot), can someone give comment on this?

                  Anonymous, 12 Nov 2018That's why people who understand technology will buy Apple ... moreWhat are you even talking bruh, Mr anonymous , this topic isn't about the displays calibration dipsh*t , its about image processing by the sensor (i feel like abusing you to the core) .
                  FYI the so called calibrated display your talking about is made by SAMSUNG not apple , yeah thats right u heard me, its samsung's oled display that iphone uses!

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                    • Anonymous
                    • MwH
                    • 12 Nov 2018

                    EskeRahn, 12 Nov 2018And you also expect all car owners to be fully qualified me... moreNo, I didn't say that, and I would not expect car owners to know everything about their cars or even a decent amount of the mechanics and electronics in them. That would be ludicrous.

                    What I said is that I would not take their opinion on what a good car is and how a good car works. I would just disregard it. They don't have the knowledge and understanding of what a good car is. What matter most to them is that the car gets them from point A to point B safely, doesn't break down, and is cheap/affordable.

                    If I want to ask someone on what a good car is, I would ask a mechanic or an engineer. And probably a professional, non-commercial driver that works closely with the engineering and mechanics team.

                    Same with cameras - if someone is not a professional and doesn't understand and processes all the ins and outs of photography, why would I listen to their opinion on what they find "good enough"? It's their opinion, it's fine, but it ultimately doesn't matter.

                    Asking people who are not educated on the question matter, is like asking normal drivers with no knowledge of the car mechanics and workings what is the best engine and what are the prons and cons of an inline cylinder engine, V, H, boxer, X, radial, etc.

                      Anonymous, 12 Nov 2018That's why people who understand technology will buy Apple ... moreAnd you also expect all car owners to be fully qualified mechanics that would immediately pull over and adjust the motor on the slightest sound that the motor is not running 100.00% perfect right?

                      Get out of the aPple "Reality Distortion Field" an into the real world, please.

                      For (at the least) 90% a phone/phablet is a daily tool for communication and narcissistic media. And they/we KNOW that the so called cameras are very far from perfect. But might still be quite adequate to catch the memorable moment of a kid/dog/holiday.... We do not use these devices expecting the result to be on the front page of National Geographic or the like...

                      All that said, sure we would all like the devices to take as good images as possible. But it is not the end of the world to us if they do not seem perfect... We would use a real camera to get high quality images not a phone/phablet (any brand).

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • MwH
                        • 12 Nov 2018

                        coolcity, 12 Nov 2018Sorry but for me a lot of it is complete nonsense. As long ... moreThat's why people who understand technology will buy Apple laptops, phones, etc.
                        Because their displays are properly calibrated and show the exact same accurate colours all over the range.

                        People who don't care about colour accuracy and buy some inexpensive (or expensive) windows or android device which doesn't put emphasys on colour accuracy, - their voices should not be taken into account when talking about photography, cameras, and colours, for they do not know nor understand these things.
                        They just see an oversaturated photo, click 'like' and swipe to the next photo.

                        We don't need cameras that are "good enough" for those people, as their standards are not low. Their standards are inexistant.
                        We need cameras that are rated good/excellent/perfect by professionals and specialists, use them in all devices, and train the unknowledgeable users into seeing and experiencing proper photography.

                          coolcity, 12 Nov 2018Sorry but for me a lot of it is complete nonsense. As long ... moreAppreciate the article instead of criticizing it , if it doesn't make sense to you go wander off somewhere , its not for noobs when it comes to photography , it's certainly helpful for most people out there who doesn't want their image to look over processed or unnatural!

                            Sorry but for me a lot of it is complete nonsense. As long as the phone takes decent enough photos, which 99.9% of the time are only going to be used on social media and the like, little of the fuss over colour is relevant.

                            Most phones now take "good enough" shots and unless you're there at the scene comparing the photo with the actual subject matter you're almost certainly going to notice any difference anyway.

                            Add to the fact that every phone, tablet, laptop or monitor displays the colours differently and you soon realise how irrelevant the need for total accuracy is. Don't get me wrong, I know for some people and in professional situations it's important, but not for 99.9% of the general public. As long as it's good enough it's fine.

                              Anonymous, 11 Nov 2018Bayer filter causes 1/3 of the color to be assumed/interpol... moreI would be interesting to see someone experimenting with the opposite filters. That is BLOCKING R,G and B instead, as this would give the same amount of information BUT allowing 2/3 rather than 1/3 of the visible light to pass.
                              See the second part of this https://eskerahn.dk/wordpress/?p=756

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                                • Anonymous
                                • ib4
                                • 11 Nov 2018

                                Bayer filter causes 1/3 of the color to be assumed/interpolated.. That's why megapixel is king.. Why 808 pureview is king.. And why huawei needs 40MP.. 8 pixels downsampled to 1 will produce the most accurate color ever

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                                  • Anonymous
                                  • IW@
                                  • 11 Nov 2018

                                  Anonymous, 11 Nov 2018Talks about colour science --- shows pictures of Canon lens... more"Everyone knows that 'colour' and 'photography' means Leica, Zeiss, Voightlander, Nikon. Any other brand just means cutting corners and focusing on other aspects, all except colour, colour accuracy, and micro-contrast."

                                  Uhmm. No. 'color' and 'photography' DOES NOT, WILL NOT, AND WILL NEVER MEAN Leica, Voightlander or Nikon.

                                  And NO, there are many EXCELLENT lens brands and CAMERA brands apart from those you mentioned, and just because these manufacturers are not associated with 'LUXURY and PRESTIGE' brands (they price their products reasonably), doesn't mean these other manufacturers DO NOT CARE about "colour, colour accuracy, and micro-contrast."

                                    Nick Tagataka, 11 Nov 2018Well, if the OS doesn't support raw capture(=lacks Camera2A... moreAh! I have not bought a Sony device since the 2011 SonyEricsson Xperia (neo) Pro, so is not quite up to date on what they offer. :)

                                    There is a simple "Camera2 api probe", that might be helpful for those in doubt of their devices capabilities.

                                      EskeRahn, 11 Nov 2018For those wanting raw on mobile. Consider the app "Open Cam... moreWell, if the OS doesn't support raw capture(=lacks Camera2API) then you're out of luck no matter which app you use. Open camera is a great camera app though.

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                                        • Anonymous
                                        • m%5
                                        • 11 Nov 2018

                                        Talks about colour science --- shows pictures of Canon lenses = does not understand colour (unless bashing Canon with this article)

                                        Everyone knows that 'colour' and 'photography' means Leica, Zeiss, Voightlander, Nikon. Any other brand just means cutting corners and focusing on other aspects, all except colour, colour accuracy, and micro-contrast.

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