I have had this problem with two computers running both Windows Vista and Windows 7.
All seem to be when I am using my Samsung monitors through DVI port.
The reason is because Photo Viewer uses a color profile that is not properly calibrated. The easy fix is to switch the color profile to the standard IE color Profile…
Step 1: Go to your “Color Management”
Easiest way to find “Color Management” is the start menu search box.
Step 2: Select your monitor
Step 3: Check “Use my settings for this device”
Step 4: Click “Add” and select “sRGB IEC61966-2.1”
Step 5: Set as “Default” and close out
Your photo viewer should look normal now.
Thanks for posting about this, I would like to read more about this topic.
hey thanks i’ve been looking for this fix for a while now.
Quite useful thankyou. I’ve always wondered why it’s all wrong.
Glad I could help you guys.
Awesome! good job youve put the instructions on here or i wouldnt have figured it out..
Why cant they just use sRGB as default in the first place? or is it just a problem with Samsung monitors?
Thank you so MUCH! this helped me alot :) much appreciate
Are all of you using Samsung monitors?
thank you thank you thank you that yellow background was driving me crazy
Thank you…this fixed the problem and was very easy to follow. BTW, I have 2 Samsung monitors and it appears to be unique to this manufacturer.
I am also using a Samsung monitor (2033SW Plus) and I had this problem as well… But luckily your fix worked for me, thanks! :)
I was having the same issue with my Acer monitor (p241w), so it’s not just Samsung. The same fix worked for me. It’s been bugging me for quite a while.
Thanks!!!
Hello. I just noticed this problem today, did a web search, found this page, and fixed the problem. Thanks.
By the way, my monitor is a Dell ST2310, which was using “Dell ST2310 Color Profile”, so it’s not just Samsung monitors that have a default screwy color profile. I still wonder why it seemed only Windows Photo Viewer is affected. I guess my other apps ignore the color profile.
Also, I could swear that I didn’t have the problem until today. Today was the first time that I used my scanner, maybe that altered the color settings somehow.
Thanks! Works great! now I can look at with Windows 7 and not picasa all the time.
thank you!helped me a lot
Thank you for this! A nice, simple solution to an otherwise frustrating problem
I discovered your blog site on google and checked out a few of your earlier posts. Continue to keep up the work. I just added your RSS feed to my MSN News Reader. looking forward to reading more from you later on!
Thank you so much. What a pain! Damn samsung!
this thing bug me since I moved all my files from the XP to this idiotic windows 7 few weeks ago, through the easy transfer files.
no one knew the answer in Microsoft, HP or anywhere else, beside you, you are GREAT! and everyone else who think they are tech support are more incompetent than they think they are.
how did you come to this solution, and why there is a problem with this?
I use samsung monitor, but before I use this stupid easy transfer files, I didn’t have any issues at all.
my question to you please is, what about the rest of those profiles, is this permanent solution, and is it going to interfere with AutoCAD, revit or photoshop software’s?
THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
Many, many thanks for this useful, googlesearcheable post! It fixed it right away!
Thanks so much for posting this fix. I just recently migrated to Win7 64-bit on my computer. After exporting some photos from Lightroom and then burning them to CD, I noticed this weird color cast in the photos as I was reviewing the CD to make sure the photos burned correctly. I noticed the photos looked great in Lightroom but not in Win Photo Viewer. I then tried the CD on several other computers and they looked fine. I then opened the same photos using other photo viewing software on the same computer. They always looked fine except when using Win Photo Viewer. That’s when I did a search for this problem and found this page. Can’t say how much I thank you for this fix. It was driving me crazy. By the way, my monitor is an Acer H243H.
I can’t thank you enough for this. I’ve been searching for an answer to this problem for the past few months. Not only was my Windows Photo Viewer (Windows 7 64 Bit) colors messed up, but it also was affecting colors in Lightroom. I’m working on an HP HDX 16 Laptop and the correction fixed both the Windows Photo Viewer and Lightroom. Thank you!!!
What the fix does is CANCELLING the color profile of the monitor, resulting in inaccurate/random color rendering. A proper profile can be downloaded by your manufacturer (not usually good) by certain sites/reviews that have calibrated the exact same model (better) or using an -owned or borrowed- monitor calibrator (spyder, x-rite), which is the best solution. The problem is that stupid Microsoft left Windows Photo Viewer color-profile-blind (it ignores the profile), WHEREAS the slideshow feauture inside photo viewer (central round button) display the correct colors anyway (provided the above calibration/download is done) For your information:
https://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/ start here
https://www.gballard.net/psd/go_live_page_profile/embeddedJPEGprofiles.html follow here
https://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/icc_profiles.htm download profiles from here (or search .icc profiles download)
https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/color-spaces.htm (trully, end, start, and whatever here, excellent site don’t miss ALL the tutorial section, for amateur to professional photographers and all the rest)
Every monitor has its faults and more than that huge differences in the quality and spectrum, in terms of tone and color rendering, every device that captures (video-photos) the same, our eyes are even worse and required the creation of certain profiles for the images to even look bearable on a screen.
Use the fix if you are not into image editing AT ALL.
Hope to have helped some of you, check the links ;)