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Most inkjet output for photos, especially on photo papers are capable of much more color than sRGB, so is the limitation within SmugMug for sRGB for status quo or based on limitations of the output services partnered with ?

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"Why limit" and "when are we going to get" are two separate questions. The Limitation I think is a valid question, the feature request portion is being vetted here: meta.smugmug.stackexchange.com/questions/11/… – dpollitt♦ Jan 26 '12 at 19:31
dpollitt. I see your point. thanks. – Larry Cohn Jan 26 '12 at 20:11

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up vote 4 down vote

Why sRGB? For consistency throughout.

Some web browsers are still not color-aware making it impossible to accurately represent photos in colorspaces outside of sRGB to all people. Browsers that are not color aware 'assume' images are in sRGB. Consistency, and accuracy of representation are extremely important to photographers.

Most commercial labs require sRGB. While Giclee output can mix colors to produce a wider gamut, digital labs use a type of chromogenic process for most products that most closely fits the sRGB colorspace. Submitting files in colorspaces other than sRGB would not result in a wider gamut, but force color substitutions to conform to the capabilities of their chromogenic processes, resulting in colors being less accurate without 'more' colors.

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Part of this is not correct. Browsers that are not color-aware are just dumb. They don't assume sRGB. They just dump the image colors from the image file directly to the screen without any mapping/manipulation to match anything. What they are actually assuming by default is that the image colorspace matches your video card/monitor's color space. If this happens to be true, you could get OK colors. If they were both sRGB or both adobeRGB or both proPhotoRGB, the images could display OK. Today's LCD panels often have some capabilities of sRGB and some of adobeRGB - matching neither. – jfriend00 Feb 9 '12 at 2:01
Perhaps my research is outdated, taken too far out of context, or my sources are just plain wrong. – Steve Mills Feb 9 '12 at 4:56
Assuming sRGB is a common misconception. The fact is the non-color-aware browsers just don't know anything about color spaces so they don't really assume anything. – jfriend00 Feb 9 '12 at 5:04
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My research suggests otherwise. There's not enough space to quote sources, so please see: img.skitch.com/20120209-bc9i8qsdnx8umyagxat6cuhthf.jpg In any event, the answer holds true; sRGB is the safest, most consistent bet. – Steve Mills Feb 9 '12 at 5:31
@SteveMills you should edit that set of backing info into your answer! – cabbey Feb 10 '12 at 0:28
up vote 6 down vote

Only a few browsers these days are color managed and actually recognize and respond to an image's color space. If you try to view an image that is not in sRGB (like AdobeRGB or ProPhotoRGB) in a non-color-aware browser, the colors will look absolutely horrible. So ... if you want decent display of images in non-color-aware browsers like IE and Chrome, then the image has to be in sRGB.

So, from this one can conclude that if you want decent color display across the popular browsers and you are displaying the same image to every browser, you have to display sRGB images. So, if you have to display sRGB images, the simplest scheme is to just require that all images that are uploaded be sRGB images.

There are more complicated schemes that allow upload of larger color space images and they are served up to browsers that are color managed, but sRGB conversions are served up to browsers that are not. With some complication, perhaps that could be done, but that isn't the way Smugmug works.

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Definitely from a browser perspective there are advantages. This also bringss up the issue of how many non professionals actually calibrate their monitors. The main point I'm looking toward is that of physical output besides the monitor; inkjet prints, laser photo devices, etc. – Larry Cohn Jan 27 '12 at 15:02
@LarryCohn - Smugmug could choose to work with print labs that allow other colorspaces besides sRGB (there certainly are such labs), but my point was that the requirement to display the image on the web across all browsers requires sRGB. Heck, the most advanced pro workflow delivers the print to the lab in the colorspace of the print device itself so it can be proofed in the profile of the actual colorspace that it will end up in and tweaked there if needed to manage borderline colors. But delivering a single image to Smugmug that can also be used for web display is not compatible with that. – jfriend00 Jan 27 '12 at 15:13

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