10.1.6 Color Gamut and Adjustment Outside of Gamut
There are some cases that exceed the presentable color range, when taking photograph of the high saturation color or when increasing "saturation" during development process.
The 'Highlight/Shadow/Outside of the Color Gamut Warnings' function gives a warning regarding the portion that exceeds the presentable color gamut.
This software can handle two colorspaces such as sRGB and Adobe RGB. In theses colorspaces, all of existing colors can not be expressed.
On the other hand, when taking a photograph with a RAW file, a camera can capture the colors accurately that are in the color gamut which is much wider than that of the case that these colorspaces can handle.
On this account, in a case of a flower etc. with high saturation, colors may exceed the color gamut (presentable color range) that these colorspaces can handle.
This software can handle the color gamut completely which a camera can capture and also this software can clip the color that exceeds the range at the final stage of the development processing.
The warning function for out of color gamut gives a warning to a portion with a clipped color.
Since the colors that are out of the color gamut are clipped and compressed into the color gamut of sRGB and Adobe RGB, details are compressed as if they are like being crashed.
Even as the over-saturation does not occur, if you feel that details of the highly saturated portion are lost, you need to check whether colors are out of the color gamut or not.
Even if the colors that are out of the color gamut become darkened by adjusting the "exposure bias", a warning is still given, not like the case of the over-saturation.
Describing with the values of R, G, and B, it is a highly saturated portion as if one or even two among R, G, and B takes a negative value.
For example, although a color with values as R=255, G=0 and B=0 is the most saturated red that can be represented in this RGB colorspace, a camera has captured red color with much higher saturation. When it is developed, it may have values like R=255, G=-20, and B=-20. Of course, such a color cannot be outputted, and it is clipped. So details with high saturation are looked like being crashed.
For example, even if an actual flower has subtle details of saturation between R=255, G=-20, B=-20 and R=255, G=-30, B=-30, its development result has exactly the same colors without gradation.
However, since this software keeps the colors that are out of the color gamut, the details can be restored by lowering their saturation.
You can try to lower the saturation until the warning disappears by using "saturation" parameter on the "Color" sub-control or by using the fine color controller.
The colors in such a range are difficult for printing devices such as a printer and so forth. Especially, bright magenta and blue-red colors between red and blue are the most difficult colors for printing devices.
In addition, a monitor for a PC can display bright colors with high saturation, however, these colors are difficult for a printer and other printing devices.
A monitor is a light-emitting device but printed materials display colors by absorbing light.
For this reason, when presenting colors with high saturation, the colors are darkened.
As a result of printing, if the colors are pressed as if they are like being crashed, lowering lightness might be effective.
