Difference between sRGB and Adobe RGB in Colorspace

[abhishekdg]

Hi friends,
Am just curious to know the difference between sRGB and ADOBE RGB ib Color Space seetings in my D90. Most ictures I tend to take it in RAW and am trying to learn post peocessing in Photoshop.All this time it has be set to sRGB.
Wonder what Adobe RGB does ? Is it much different to sRGB ? How do they both impact a landscape picture? And which format do you guys use in case of landscape photography?

 

[KmH]

Adobe RGB has a broader color gamut than sRGB has, particularly the greens - Color space - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In this illustration you can see the additional green tones Adobe RGB has in it's color gamut that sRGB lack. This illustration also shows the ProPhoto RGB color space's gamut which actually includes some colors humans cannot see. Many image editing experts recommend editing in the ProPhoto RGB color space, and then converting the image colorspace to a more appropriate color space based on image usage.

The Internet is sRGB.



If you shoot Raw files, they don't have a color space.

If you shoot JPEG, about 80% of the color data the image sensor recorded gets thrown out, so it doesn't matter a whole lot.

At issue between Raw image data files and JPEGs is bit depth. Raw files, when converted, have a 16-bit depth, while JPEG is limited to an 8-bit depth.

DSLR camera record either 12-bit depth or 14-bit depth color information. 12-bits can define 4096 gradations of tone. 14-bits can define 16,384 gradations of tone. The 8-bits of JPEG can only define 256 gradations of tone.

You might find this group of tutorials helpful - Tutorials on Color Management & Printing

 

[Big Mike]

In a nutshell, AdobeRGB is bigger (thus better) than sRGB but if you upload images to the internet or send them to a typical print lab, they will likely have to be (should be) converted to sRGB.
RAW files don't necessarily have a color space until they are converted, so when you process your files, that is when you can choose which color space to put them. If you are going to do further editing, the better option is a larger color space, but you have to remember to convert it to sRGB for web viewing etc.
If you are not going to do further editing (but are going to upload, send to lab etc.) then you may want to go straight to sRGB.

If the whole color space issue is confusing, then just stick with sRGB.

 

[justintkatz]

There are three RGB color spaces that are always used:

ProPhoto RGB, Adobe RGB (1998), and RGB, kind of like large, medium, and small.
Most DSLRs support Adobe RGB and SRGB,

On a RAW workflow, these settings do not matter.

Color spaces can be a little confusing depending on your output medium, whether it is for print, web, etc.

sRGB is the recommended color space to use when uploading to the web. This is because sRGB is closer to the color space seen on most current monitors. Adobe RGB for online use results in "washed-out or muted" on most monitors and browsers.

There is a related article that should answer all of your questions about Color Spaces: Understanding Color Spaces.

Hope this helps a little. Cheers!