Re: Default colors vs. gamma

[Alex Perez]

Fred Kiefer wrote:
> Alexander Malmberg wrote:
>
> > A common complaint about GNUstep is that it isn't pretty enough, and a 
> > common response in #GNUstep is "fix your gamma". Since it seems that 
> > most users don't set their gamma properly, I wrote the following patch:
> >
> > http://w1.423.telia.com/~u42308495/alex/systemColorGamma.patch
> >
> > which simply does gamma adjustments on the default system colors 
> > before using them. The GSSystemColorGamma default controls the gamma, 
> > and defaults to 1.6, which makes things bright and cheerful for 
> > non-gamma-adjusted users. (Users who have adjusted their gamma will 
> > want to set this default to 1.0 or things will be _very_ bright. :)
> >
> > So, do we want to do this? If so, what do we want the default value to 
> > be? 1.6 is nice for users who haven't set their gamma, but not so nice 
> > for users who have set it; I'm not really happy about forcing users 
> > who have set things up properly to set a default just to tell GNUstep 
> > that their system is set up properly, but if this makes GNUstep 
> > prettier to other users, it might be worthwhile.
>
> I am almost sure that this is the wrong solution to an important 
> problem. What you did is just hacked into the palce where the system 
> colour list is generated when it is not installed. If this is the only 
> thing that needs to be done, than why don't we provide a separate system 
> colour list for systems with wrong gamma settings?

I must say I agree strongly with Fred here. This solution is amazingly 
hackish, and is the wrong solution to this very real problem. You are 
fighting an uphill battle with this gamma issue, and you *will /never/ 
win it*. It's imperative that you come to terms with this reality, 
because if that doesn't happen, -GUI will always be a joke in many 
people's eyes. (which would be a shame, because it has so much potential).

No other toolkits insist on forcing proper gamma values, so why should 
GNUstep? You can insist on the hardline "it's the right thing to do" 
(which from a technical perspective I agree on, but pragmatically I 
disagree with you on) mantra, and you're welcome to stay in your ivory 
tower, but down here on the ground, we almost all use different 
applications which use different toolkits.

What really ought to happen is the default "dark" gray GNUstep 
appearance (which looks /proper/ with the gamma set correctly) should be 
lightened. A common complaint is that GNUstep is "too dark" and that's 
in large part because people aren't viewing it at the correct gamma 
setting. Frankly, when I look at images with a gamma of 1.6 set, I think 
they are disgustingly horrific. Most people, (the vast majority, I'd 
argue) instead of setting the gamma as they should, alter the brightness 
and contrast settings of their monitors to achieve proper appearances.

> What this patch does not fix is that any colour generated on such a 
> system will be a bit dark. This would require a fix in the backend and 
> thinking about it I would ratehr go for full CMS handling than just a 
> bit of gamma fiddling.

Agreed.