# Which pixel format is best for editing images?



## llre (Feb 13, 2017)

ycbcr 444
ycbcr 422
rgb limited
or full rgb?

Also which gives the best match when it comes to printing?
thanks
Robert

PS I have an Asus MX279H monitor.


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## Nelu (Feb 13, 2017)

The answer is "Yes!" 
...
I think you`re over-thinking it...Who`s gonna see the difference anyways?


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## llre (Feb 13, 2017)

Nelu said:


> The answer is "Yes!"
> ...
> I think you`re over-thinking it...Who`s gonna see the difference anyways?



I see a big difference between ycbcr 444 and full rgb. Most discussions online about the topic quickly turn to tv or video, nothing about still images that I can find. Also, recently my prints have turned out overly bright. Some look overexposed compared to what I see on the monitor. And yes my monitor is calibrated. My old monitor didn't have a pixel format option. Also, my prints were a decent match for what I saw on the monitor.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Feb 13, 2017)

I wrote up a long explanation, but, if you need to ask the question, you need to review the entire color management process. Set everything to SRGB and prints will match a calibrated monitor. Otherwise, it gets complex.

If you are editing Video, a 5D MK IV will output 442. Use that color space to edit a video for TV usage.

Before using Adobe RGB, you need a bit of study.

I refer people to Keith Cooper's site, because he occasionally posts here, and shares his expertise with us.

http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/commercial-photography/training/colour-management/


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## Zeidora (Feb 13, 2017)

Re calibrated monitor, you also need to do proper soft proofing set-up. Calibrated monitor by itself does not ensure screen-print match.

Re sRGB, that's pretty much the lowest common denominator. In my experience, stock agencies and printers generally request Adobe 98 RGB (or CMYK converted from Adobe 98 RGB). A bit of reading up will do the trick. Not that hard. For web, social media and other low-grade outlets, the downgraded sRGB is sufficient.

I never heard about ycbcr. Looked a bit into it, and seems to be a compression question, so a Lab-based video version of jpeg. But why use any flavor of jpeg if you can have lossless .tif/RAW, i.e. full RGB?


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## LDS (Feb 13, 2017)

llre said:


> ycbcr 444
> ycbcr 422
> rgb limited



Are usually used for video because they may reduce the storage/bandwidth required. YCbCr, unlike RGB, encodes a "luminance" (brightness value), and then two colors "differences". RGB stores the brightness data for each of the three primary colors separately. RGB limited is a TV standard which clips values above and below a threshold. 

The rationale is the human eye is more sensible to some information (brightness) than others (colors) - but that's true for video. Stills, where the eye has more time to assess and image, are different.



llre said:


> full rgb?



It's the minimum need for still images editing and display. ycbcr 444 is very similar, but with a different encoding. You should set your input to the image device output - so if, say, a video output is ycbcr 422 via HDMI, input has to be set to the same for proper display. Computer video cards usually output "full RGB", unless you change their settings - although some "video" outputs for TVs may default to a different setting.



llre said:


> Also which gives the best match when it comes to printing?



You'll need full color information. Then, a lot depends on the input image and output printer. RAW images have a wider gamut, as most photo printers, than sRGB. JPEGs are converted to sRGB or AdobeRGB depending on the camera settings.

A simple "sRGB workflow" using sRGB images, a calibrated sRGB monitor and a printer expecting sRGB data may work, although some images could show colors shifts from the original (but colors were already lost in the sRGB conversion).

To exploit fully the RAW and printer capabilities, a more complex workflow is needed, and a monitor going beyond sRGB is useful.


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## YuengLinger (Feb 13, 2017)

If you want great prints without going down a rabbit hole of theory and minutiae, read Jeff Schewe's THE DIGITAL PRINT. He recommends editing in Adobe ProPhoto, using the best printer you can afford, a correctly calibrated monitor, and LightRoom for printing. He also goes into detail explaining Photoshop for sending files to print shops.

https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Print-Preparing-Lightroom-Photoshop/dp/0321908457/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1486982639&sr=8-2&keywords=the+digital+print

If you follow his methods and still can't get your printer to behave, it might be an ink or hardware issue.

LightRoom has an uncanny accuracy in its soft proofing function when using correct paper ICC profiles and a properly calibrated monitor. You can save a ton of ink and paper simply trying different profiles to see how paper affects the final look of the image.

And, yes, as Mt Spokane suggests, Keith Cooper's site is a treasure.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Feb 13, 2017)

There is a lot of good snippets of information here, the trick is to string it all together into a full color managed workflow from capture to publishing / printing. Each step along the way can be a pitfall if the settings are wrong.


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## Rachael Alice (Aug 24, 2017)

You can go with full rgb format because with this format i can play with colors without any restriction.


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