Transcript Windows Color Architecture Part 1

Windows Color Architecture
Part 1
Michael Bourgoin
Program Manager for Color
Windows Printing and Imaging
Microsoft Corporation
Session Goals
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Attendees should leave this session with
the following
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An understanding of the problems with
existing color management systems
An overview of the architecture of the new
Windows Color System (WCS) to be
delivered in Windows “Longhorn”
An understanding of the opportunities
enabled by the new color architecture
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Session Outline
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Why the new Windows Color System
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Color Market Segmentation
Color Market Forces
Color User Frustration
Inadequacy of existing color management system
(CMS) solutions
Requirements for Windows Color System
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Problem statement
Vision
Benefits
Features
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The Color Imaging Market
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Color Market Segmentation
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Color Professionals
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Prosumers
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Enthusiasts, early adopters
Characterized by digital single lens reflex cameras (SLRs)
Strongly influenced by Color Professionals
Knowledge Workers
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Professional Digital Photographers
Graphic Arts Professionals
Color Service Bureaus
Jobs require using a computer to collect, process, present, and apply
information. They are producing presentations, websites, and documents
with increasing color content in networked environments with increasing
numbers of color devices
Home Users
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Primarily printing and sharing digital snapshots
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Digital Imaging Chain Of Influence
Professionals
Leading edge adopters, advanced digital workflow
Enthusiasts and “Prosumers”
Reads magazines, takes classes, buysprofessional gear
Mass Market Consumers
’
“What
camera should I buy?”
“What is the best photo printer?”
“So should I get a new computer?”
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Color Market Forces
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Dynamic growth of digital camera market
Proliferation of consumer color printers
Proliferation of office workgroup color printers
Enterprise in-sourcing of short-run color print jobs
Emergence of high dynamic range (HDR) and
large gamut color devices
Adoption of Camera RAW imaging workflows by
professional digital photographers
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Color Source Applications
Color Quality Requirements
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Print Matches Monitor
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Consistent Color
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WYSIWYG across an arbitrarily large set of devices
Again not necessarily accurate, but a good appearance match
Critical Color
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WYSIWYG between a pair of devices
Not necessarily accurate color, but a good appearance match
Color must be both consistent across devices, and meet more
stringent requirements for quality
Contract Color
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Where color accuracy and quality are contractual obligations:
e.g., the contract proof/acceptance scenario
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Color Expertise And Quality Criteria
Color
Professional
Prosumer
Knowledge
Worker
Home User
al C
act
ntr
Co olor
C
tic
Cri
r
olo
t
en
ist
ns
Co olor
C
nt
Pri hes
tc
Ma nitor
Mo
Color Expertise
None
Low
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Moderate
High
Color Problems
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Common Color Problems
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Display doesn’t match printer output – what to do?
OS, application, driver, or device – who’s doing the color
management?
Color user interfaces (UI) are to complex, confusing, and inconsistent
– even from the same vendor
Color device configuration and calibration is too difficult
No consistent color management across applications
No consistent color management across devices
Color errors and rework to correct them is a major cost issue
Too much color expertise is required to produce acceptable results
Color problems are difficult to debug and correct: in commercial color
workflows it is often difficult to assign responsibility for incorrect color
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Problems With Windows
Color Today
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No consistent color management across Windows applications
GDI\GDI+ effectively limits color to 8 bpc sRGB
sRGB’s limited gamut is a liability – unsuitable for HDR and wide
gamut devices
Color UI is difficult to find, hard to use, and confusing
Who’s doing the color management: operating system, application,
driver or device?
No operating system-supplied calibration tools
Poor developer documentation
Lack of good system-level CMS has driven IHVs toward
proprietary solutions
Poor system-level CMS has driven color professionals
to other platforms
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Shortcomings Of Current Color
Management Solutions
Attributes
Importance
Rated
Extremely
or Very
Performance
Rated
Extremely or
Very Effective
GAP
Trends and Issues in Adoption of Color Management in Graphic Arts, 2001 Study prepared for NPES by Nima Hunter Inc. Marketing Advisory Services, NY
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Systemic Problem With ICC CMS
Undefined PCS Gamut
Measurement Data
?
The ICC Profile
Connection Space
(PCS), an “idealized
reflection print” color
space, has no
specified gamut
boundary. Profile
creators are forced
to guess: different
guesses mean…
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Incompatible profiles
Poor interoperability
Vendor 1’s PCS gamut guess
Vendor 2’s PCS gamut guess
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The Windows Color System
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Vision
“Color you can trust and control”
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Integrates state of the art understanding of the human visual system
with a componentized and flexible infrastructure.
A color processing pipeline that supports high-dynamic-range, wide
gamut color
Bidirectional driver communication means that color devices/drivers
can self-configure
Well-designed default Color Policy rules ensure color out-of-boxexperience (OOBE)
A transparent, modular, color processing pipeline allows for easy color
troubleshooting
User defined policy settings provide fine-grained control of the entire
color processing pipeline for demanding, expert users
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Benefits
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For the vast majority, color that “just works”
Greatly improved OOBE
Solid baseline color processing pipeline ensures
predictable, consistent color across all Windows
applications and devices
Opportunity for third party innovation via plug-in Device
Models, Gamut Mapping Models
Support for high precision processing of “high, wide, and
deep” color
Enables Microsoft and third party vendors to introduce
new innovative products and solutions that solve real
world color workflow problems
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Features
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New Device Profile Format
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New Visual Model
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XML collection of objective intra-device measurements
Easy to edit, verify, understand and extend by third parties
State of the art Color Appearance Model built into platform
Enables better handling of different viewing conditions
Beyond rendering intents – selectable gamut
mapping models
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Subjective inter-device transforms
Perceptually uniform
Baseline set of gamut mapping models built into WCS
Third party plug-in gamut mapping models for proprietary
algorithms or improvements on baseline gamut mapping models
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Features
Continued
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Beyond profile classes – Device Models
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End-to-end scRGB Pipeline Integrated and Exposed
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Baseline set for common devices built into WCS
Plug-in device models allow easy support for new device classes, third party
enhanced models for baseline devices, or specialized models for high-end devices
scRGB Capture, Rendering and Output
Integration with color management services
Unequaled precision, dynamic range, and gamut volume
ICM2 and sRGB Support Continues and Improves
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Seamless interoperability with ICC-based workflows
ICM2 Gets ICC Version 4.x Support
Addressing key recorded ICM2 bugs
Implement new functionality in current ICM2 APIs
Old applications work with new profiles
New profile format is processed by current ICM2 APIs
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Color Gamut Comparison
Adobe RGB
Camera RAW
sRGB
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Solution By Innovation
“LONGHORN”
TODAY
scRGB…
sRGB
Allows addressing known issues with compositing, 3D, high quality, dynamic range, wide gamut
Device Model Profile (DMP)…
ICC Profile
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Enables quality control, device optimization (yellow is device yellow), end user control of
subjective aspects, multi-channel color, spot color handling.
Open XML description, simpler to explain and control
User-definable color policy settings…
Conflicts between Current App,
Driver, and OS color UIs
Resolves most current frustrations and conflicts and allows GDI apps to be color managed
Conflicting calibration tools
Single baseline calibration
wizard that can be extended…
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New Color Management Paradigm
DMP
ICC Profile
“Longhorn”
ICC
DMP
ICC Profile
Device Measurements
Device Measurements
Input Device Modeler
Output Device Modeler
Input CAM
Input Gamut Mapper
Input CAM to PCS
CAM
Gamut Mapper
CAM-1
Output CAM
Output Gamut Mapper
Output PCS to CAM
CMM Transform Processor
CAM = Color Appearance Model * PCS = Profile Connection Space
Device RGB
Device CMYK
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Pre-”Longhorn” Versus “Longhorn” WCS
Feature
Pre-”Longhorn”
WCS
8 bpc sRGB
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16 bpc sRGB
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16 and 32 bpc scRGB
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8 and 16 bpc CMYK
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8 and 16 bpc n-Channel Color
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Named Color
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ICC Profiles/CMM
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V. 4 ICC Profiles
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XML-based DMP Profiles
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Baseline Device Models & Gamut Mappers
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Extensible Device Models
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Extensible Gamut Mappers
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State-of-the-Art Color Appearance Model
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High, Wide, and Deep Color Processing Pipeline
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Windows Color System
Value Proposition
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Win32 applications will enjoy some benefits
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A color managed workflow: color management “On” by default
Improved default choices for color management over XP via more
granular default policies
Improved gamut mapping over ICC (when specified in
Color Policies)
Benefits for “Longhorn” applications
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All of the above
Support for higher precision, higher dynamic range and larger
gamut color spaces
Use of CMYK and support for n-colorant systems ( > 4 colorants)
Improved OOBE with auto color configuration for devices with
DCC/CI and NGPP drivers (using PrintTicket/PrintCapabilities)
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Color Market Satisfaction
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Color Professionals and Prosumers Get
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Knowledge Workers Get
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High precision “High, Wide, and Deep” color processing
No-compromise Camera-RAW processing
Consistent, reliable, seamless color interoperability
Richer, extensible gamut mapping repertoire
Easier device characterization
Color accountability
Consistent color from all Windows applications
Automatic color device configuration
Consistent, accurate color from all devices on the LAN
Simplified device administration
Home Users Get
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Color that just works, right out of the box.
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Call To Action
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Give us feedback!
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Understand the Avalon presentation subsystem
Understand “Longhorn” Print Architecture
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Identify strategic devices to exploit the NextGen Print Path
Identify extension scenarios
Investigate adoption of NextGen Print Path technologies
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Your comments, criticism, opinions matter to us! – We want to get this right!
Tell us what we are missing to satisfy your needs
Come to our “Ask The Experts” session: Windows Color Architecture AW04031
mailto:mscolor @ microsoft.com
Dual Mode Driver
Avalon presentation subsystem
Investigate DDC/CI drivers for displays
Prepare to develop NGPP drivers and RIPs starting later this year
Try writing an Avalon-based application that prints and displays managed color!
Review Documentation
Plan to attend upcoming conferences for more details
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References
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Email
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Image Color Matching (ICM) documentation
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SDK for Print Schema User Manual and Keywords
LDK for PT/PC interfaces:
Reference\Printer Driver and Spooler Component Interfaces\Printer Driver Functions and
Structures\Unidrv and Pscript Interfaces\Methods for Job Ticket Providers and Consumers
“Longhorn” SDK
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http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/icm/icmstart_5i91.asp
Print Schema
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Mscolor @ microsoft.com
http://longhorn.msdn.microsoft.com
Related Sessions
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Windows Color Architecture – Part 2
“Longhorn” Printing Architecture
“Longhorn” NextGen Print Path
“Longhorn” Printing: Processing the Payload
Web Services for Devices
Web Services for Printing and Imaging Devices Part 1 & 2
Ask the Experts – Windows Color Architecture
Ask the Experts – “Longhorn” Printing
Ask the Experts – Web Services for Printing and Imaging Devices
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References
Continued
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Web Resources
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MSDN Developer Community Chats:
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Printer Drivers – Ask the Experts Online
http://msdn.microsoft.com/chats/windows/windows_102402.asp
Windows Drivers: Printer Drivers
http://msdn.microsoft.com/chats/windows/windows_101602.asp
Windows Drivers Printing and Networking
http://msdn.microsoft.com/chats/windows/windows_022002.asp
WHDC:
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Image Color Management (ICM) Driver Support
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hwdev/tech/color/default.mspx
Printing - Architecture and Driver Support
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/print/default.mspx
Still Imaging / WIA Technologies
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/stillimage/default.mspx
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