[Application] Color Sustainer - ICC Profile Enforcer

yasamoka · *Last edited by yasamoka; 09-14-2014 at 21:12.*

What is Color Sustainer?

Color Sustainer is an application that allows you to associate color profiles with particular display modes. These profiles are loaded automatically for their respective modes as you:
-switch displays on and off
-add and remove displays
-change display modes - from Windows, games, media players, this application, or any other application
- load up full-screen applications (e.g. games) that reset and override (but not ignore) set color profiles.

Currently at version 1.05
Download - http://www.guru3d.com/files_details/..._download.html

This application requires the Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 redistributable to be installed.

Special thanks to eclap, NCX, and several friends of mine for testing out the application and giving me very helpful feedback.

Extra special thanks to imryno for providing the steps needed to parse ICC profiles. Starting from v1.05, all ICC profiles that have VCGT tags (i.e. have gamma ramps that can loaded into the Video Card LUT) are supported.

Thanks to NCX for suggesting a catchy title.

Feedback will be very appreciated, and questions are welcome of course!

Sister thread is up, keeping a list of games and what they do with respect to color profiles (override, ignore, brightness slider, etc...).

Tip for Intel graphics users (including muxless switchable graphics I believe):

The Intel Graphics application that stays in the Tray overrides your color profiles when certain applications, including games, are launched. The override is permanent and you can no longer change color profiles. The solution is to keep the tray application closed and disable its running on startup. Look for the terms "Intel" and "Tray" for the application.

Some aspects of Color Management
http://www.overclock.net/t/1384767/o...#post_22612393

hallryu · 02-03-2014, 22:00 | posts: 11,379 | Location: England

Stuck.

Veteran · 02-04-2014, 01:08 | posts: 11,986 | Location: United kingdom

Great stuff, ill try this out.

eclap · *Last edited by eclap; 02-04-2014 at 03:07.*

nice, finally it's out, you will have a lot of feedback. Great app, works a treat.

EDIT: you little legend, nice to see the startup and minimize to tray added!!!

hallryu · 02-04-2014, 21:19 | posts: 11,379 | Location: England

Wow, this is awesome. So sorry I didn't have time to test this out for you earlier.

I'm just setting up my profiles now. Brilliant.

Deathchild · *Last edited by hallryu; 02-04-2014 at 21:46.*

Nice, what profiles you got guys?

hallryu · 02-04-2014, 21:46 | posts: 11,379 | Location: England

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deathchild

Nice, what profiles you got guys?

I'm using the OP's at the moment.

http://rapidshare.com/share/92A7F889...26163134E51D86

-Tj- · 02-04-2014, 22:15 | posts: 12,843 | Location: Proxima \/82

Is this like Colour Profile keeper?

eclap · 02-04-2014, 22:25 | posts: 30,845 | Location: Hampshire, UK

Quote:

Originally Posted by -Tj-

Is this like Colour Profile keeper?

erm... not realy.

It will automatically load your pre-selected color profiles for different refresh rates. You set up your refresh rates, and associate the color profiles you want to run with them. this will then automatically apply the correct color profile when you change your refresh rate.

example.

you run your desktop at 60hz. you launch a game that is set to 110hz. normally, the game would just keep running 110hz with the color profile you have for 60hz. with this, it'll automatically apply the 110hz profile for you, making the colors/gamma remain more accurate. Without this, you'd have gamma shift, everything would be darker, less accurate, black crush can occur.

It's a great app, a real godsend for those with overclocked monitors. Especially now, with the GUI. I tested for Yasa when it had to be done via cmd, it was a bit painful, won't lie, but now it's super easy to get everything setup, takes less than a minute.

Deathchild, I'm using Yasa's profiles for 60/96/110/120 (use the 110hz one for 120hz, it's close enough).

Deathchild · *Last edited by Deathchild; 02-04-2014 at 22:33.*

Heh yeah, I'm using Yasas profiles too, they're the closest and best lol, imo.

Using 110hz profile for 116hz.

yasamoka · 02-04-2014, 22:30 | posts: 4,081 | Location: Lebanon

Glad you like it, guys.

eclap, good description but to add to that, it supports multi-monitor too, so let's say you have 3 monitors at home and you can only connect 2. You connect the first 2, detect, then associate their color profiles. You then substitute one of them for the third, detect, and associate its color profiles. Now, however you connect the monitors, each monitor will have the correct color profile applied for the respective display mode.

Deathchild · 02-04-2014, 22:33 | posts: 3,946 | Location: Estonia

Wow, just setup profiles, yasa, I gotta say, YOU'RE A GOD MAN!!

ROFL

The GUI rocks, really makes it easy for the user. Before we had to do all manually.

I highly recommend this program lol.

yasamoka · 02-04-2014, 22:53 | posts: 4,081 | Location: Lebanon

Guys, try out the LUT bit-depth option. Read more about it in the README if you want to get technical.

Deathchild · 02-04-2014, 22:56 | posts: 3,946 | Location: Estonia

What the heck is that lol. XD

eclap · 02-04-2014, 22:59 | posts: 30,845 | Location: Hampshire, UK

I'll leave that to someone else :p

Deathchild · 02-04-2014, 23:01 | posts: 3,946 | Location: Estonia

rofl

Oiiii! Add a donate button!

rofl, I'll donate you 5$.

I'm sure the others would like to too.

eclap · 02-04-2014, 23:05 | posts: 30,845 | Location: Hampshire, UK

yeah, donations wouldn't be a bad idea.

yasamoka · 02-04-2014, 23:07 | posts: 4,081 | Location: Lebanon

Haha, no PayPal support here

Will have to mooch off my friend's lol. Will try.

About the LUT bit-depth, check out the linked post in the README. Remember that? You guys got AMD cards, so setting LUT bit-depth to 8-bit should show you some banding in here: http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/gradient.php

Try it and tell me what you see.

Deathchild · 02-04-2014, 23:11 | posts: 3,946 | Location: Estonia

But what does it do like is is better to use it?

yasamoka · 02-04-2014, 23:13 | posts: 4,081 | Location: Lebanon

Nah, it looks worse, it's just to poke at Nvidia users and hopefully get Nvidia to do something about it. You'll see what I mean.

Deathchild · 02-04-2014, 23:17 | posts: 3,946 | Location: Estonia

Lol ok.

Slasher_Hajj · 02-05-2014, 02:07 | posts: 1

don't forget to send yasa the log if any bug turned up

Darkest · 02-05-2014, 22:45 | posts: 9,673

Very well done mate, a lot of hard work went into this.

yasamoka · 02-10-2014, 21:38 | posts: 4,081 | Location: Lebanon

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darkest

Very well done mate, a lot of hard work went into this.

Thanks!

Guys, for those who have read this post and took a look at the "LUT Bit Depth" part of the README (and I recommend it!): Today I found an HP workstation with a Core 2 Duo CPU, an Nvidia Quadro FX 580, and Windows XP. Upon applying a color profile, I was surprised to see no gradient banding whatsoever. So, I selected 8-bit LUT depth in Color Sustainer and WHOOP, banding! So this is an Nvidia card using 10-bit dithering on an 8-bit display!

Note that I tried a much more modern machine with an Intel Xeon (not sure which series though) and an Nvidia Quadro NVS series card (not sure of model number) on an 8-bit monitor previously and it did NOT use 10-bit dithering. The results of 8- and 10-bit LUT depth were identical; the card showed gradient banding upon applying a color profile.

Puzzles me, really.

Concerning a new version, it's coming soon with some good new features.

eclap · 02-10-2014, 21:41 | posts: 30,845 | Location: Hampshire, UK

What new features? Something to make my monitor 32"?