ArcGIS Pro on my work laptop is has horrible color display. Is there anything I can do to fix it?

[MatthewBeal]

I apologize for the low quality picture. This is the only way I have to show what it looks like on my end. This is what the colors look like on my laptop:

This is what it looks like on my desktop:

As you can see, the colors are not even remotely close to what they should be on the laptop. Is there something that I can do in order to fix this? 

[Robert_LeClair]

First thing that comes to mind is video card differences - what is your laptop using and what is your desktop using?  You can go to Device Manager->Display Adapters to find those out.  Check to see if the video card drivers out of date and update.  Another item to check is the Color Management options for AGP that you can learn more about here.  There's a slider on the options UI here to "Enable Color Management" - maybe that will help?

[MatthewBeal]

So I'm actually remoted into another PC when I am using the laptop. The laptop itself does not have a video card but the PC I am remoting into does. All drivers are up to date. And it actually seems like it isn't just limited to ArcGIS Pro. Because if I take screenshot of the map and look at it in a photo viewer, the color issue still persists. So that actually means that the issue is with the laptop itself. I'm not sure what to do to correct it, however. I tinkered with the color management options in Pro as well and did not find any combination of settings that fixed the issue for me. 

[MarcoBoeringa]

Be aware that some laptops are still sold with poor 18-bit color TN panels as a price/performance compromise, and they aren't necessarily the cheapest ones, that can only display about 50% of the sRGB color space. E.g. my own Acer Aspire VX15 gaming laptop, which is mid to high range in terms of price and high on performance (runs Pro decently on 32 GB RAM and 4GB video card), has such a screen. In the shop it looked OK running some music video with bright colors.

However, for any color sensitive work, it just sucks, the colors are way off due to the 18-bit limitation, versus 24/32 bit color on proper screens. I plug it into a proper desktop screen for any real work regarding styling of maps.

E.g., see this review of a similar Acer laptop having such a screen:

Acer Aspire V15 V5-591G review - solid specs and great price, but... 

[MatthewBeal]

Marco, 

That may be the case here. I have attempted to find out what kind of panel this machine has, but was unsuccesful. When I searched the model (Dell Latitude E5570) a new model with a 1920x1080 screen come up. This is an older model that has 720p screen. Is there a way to find out what kind of color support the panel has in the system UI? I checked DX diag and computer properties but did not see anything. 

[MarcoBoeringa]

Hi Matthew Beal,

No, I don't think there is a really good way to look this up in Windows settings. You really need to find out the exact make of the panel, and then find specs or some online review mentioning it.

But as to the particular color shift you are seeing, it very much looks like what I experienced. I also noticed it first, and especially, in the subtle beige/greyish/light brown color range being distorted. I think they deliberately sacrificed the subtle colors in favor for bright saturated ones with these 18bit panels. So I really wouldn't be surprised if you have a similar type of panel on your laptop.

[MatthewBeal]

This is likely what the problem is. Sounds like it may be time to request a new laptop for the next budget cycle. Thank you!

[MarcoBoeringa]

Yes, just make sure that one of the requirements is at least 95% sRGB coverage for the screen of the laptop. sRGB is a color space based on the traditional kathode ray computer screen of the '90s and so, and pretty much the standard for anything that needs to display well on the internet or a screen.

Don't get mislead by resolution or IPS. My laptop actually has a slightly better screen than the TN panel with 50% sRGB coverage I linked. It is an IPS panel with wide viewing angle and 1920x1080 resolution, but still has a horrible 65% sRGB coverage or so, far to little for color sensitive design work.