Incorrect color management setting in 27.4.2

[doffen]

The setting for gfx.color_management.mode is default set to 2 in Palemoon, which often produces incorrect colors.
Please change the default setting to 0.

Those experiencing problems can modify the value in about:config, by setting it to 0.

Possible values and their effects
[edit]
0) Disable color management.
1) Enable color management for rendered graphics.
2) Enable color management for tagged graphics only. (Default)

Note: These values apply to Firefox 3.5 and SeaMonkey 2. In previous versions, color management was disabled by default via the boolean preference gfx.color_management.enabled set to "false".
Caveats
Without a properly calibrated monitor and a correct color profile, color management may actually make colors look worse.

[mr tribute]

Can you link to a page which displays incorrect colors in Pale Moon?
I want to see what it looks like.

[doffen]

Hi, the problem was reported here, see the links: http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=111420

[Moonchild]

Getting basic color calibration done should be part of the O.S. setup procedure if it's known to be often wildly incorrect.
If the O.S. supports color profiles (which it does if it displays color-managed images) then they should be set up properly in the O.S. when the O.S. is installed or a new monitor is detected -- that seems to be a defect of the O.S., not the browser (which just tries to use the capabilities presented to it).
If it's common enough, I can always disable it on Linux by default, of course, but I'd rather have this be a signal to distro managers to make sure their O.S. setup is done proper.

[doffen]

The scanned pages in the links that showed the incorrect result, are both .jpg, from the same site., published on the same day, but one is OK and the other is ...not! Some large files are compressed, and if applied, their compression level may be different, and that may have triggered the funny colors.
As you see, the value was set to 'false' in earlier versions.

Note: These values apply to Firefox 3.5 and SeaMonkey 2. In previous versions, color management was disabled by default via the boolean preference gfx.color_management.enabled set to "false".

[mr tribute]

My thoughts (or color calibration rant if you will):

My experience with color calibration sucks. On Windows 7 Samsung delivered a faulty profile for my monitor and never fixed it. I didn't notice anything before opening Windows Photo Viewer (which is/was a color calibrated environment). All my photos looked yellow so I had to disable the Samsung profile. This was a common problem for Samsung screens after the release of Windows 7.

On Linux color calibration is still a "new thing". Many Linux distros are too bare-bones to even consider including color calibration. I'm happy about this, because color calibration is something for professionals, not hobby computer users. I mean, how many would calibrate the TV in the living-room? And only very few professional users buy proper equipment to calibrate their monitor.

It's just overkill in my opinion. The most important aspect is this:
"Without a properly calibrated monitor and a correct color profile, color management may actually make colors look worse."

The few times I had really bad looking picture (that couldn't be adjusted on the monitor) have been when color calibration was involved. It's for professionals, those who buy the needed calibration equipment and take the time to do it properly. I have tried several monitors with and without icc/ict (whatever) profiles and my experience is that it didn't really matter except for the Samsung screen which became messed up with the profile active.

On Ubuntu MATE 14.04 I tried Pale Moon 27.4.0 and Firefox 52.2 ESR. Both are set to 2 by default. Pale Moon didn't display properly, but Firefox did. Setting it to 0 on Linux will save people trouble. Professionals can turn it on in about:config.

[Moonchild]

@doffen: Firefox 3.5 also used a different CMS entirely, and you're looking at something that is 7 years old. That is a very long time in computer terms.

As said, if Linux simply isn't mature enough to do this properly as standard, and the default color profile supplied for any monitor is wildly off, then it's simple enough to just disable it for Linux builds. I'll do that.

[Moonchild]

https://github.com/MoonchildProductions/Pale-Moon/commit/62d7396a7646f3e8a658387ab3ef9d7e5d2c70b7
RESOLVED FIXED

[doffen]

...you're looking at something that is 7 years old. That is a very long time in computer terms.

The time frame was not in my mind at all, sorry 'bout that. There was a post in the puppyforum today, mentioning the same problem in a recent version of Chrome.
Thank you for making a quick decision.