Color Picker wrong hex value

[nilvanlopes]

Microsoft PowerToys version

0.68.1

Installation method

Microsoft Store

Running as admin

Yes

Area(s) with issue?

ColorPicker

Steps to reproduce

Using win-shift-c

The color picker does not return the correct value when selecting the colors in hexadecimal, it always returns a lighter value. Anywhere in the system.

✔️ Expected Behavior

the correct value of the color

❌ Actual Behavior

returns a fainter color

Other Software

No response

[nilvanlopes]

I found that this only occurs on my main monitor. An AOC Agon 32, connected by displayport on an AMD RX6700XT.
I reset the monitor settings on Windows and on the monitor itself, with no results.
On my LG TV 4k the result goes as expected the hexadecimal value shown presents the value I wrote. Also on my secondary screen full hd.
I think something in the displayport is causing this result. Because the 2 secondary screens are connected in hdmi.

[Jay-o-Way]

I don't think it's a matter of the receiving hardware, but more likely: Do you have any kind of software on your device that could adjust the color? Like #11585

[nilvanlopes]

AMD Adrenalin Software, or Windows.
I checked the settings and the difference is only in this part


I switched to the same setting for all screens, but the colors are correct only on the secondary screen (which is connected in hdmi)

[Jay-o-Way]

Okay. I never use things like this, so I'm guessing here... Maybe it has something to do with the color format (RGB versus Ypbpr) or the bits per pixel (8 versus 10). If that is not it, I don't know. Maybe @martinchrzan ?

[nilvanlopes]

@Jay-o-Way The point is, even leaving the settings like the screen 2 (8 BPC and YCbCr 4:4:4), does not change anything, the color picker still returns the wrong value. And I can't imagine that another program could be affecting the colors of the screen. And only on a monitor.

[ghost]

I got the same problem. Windows 11 x64 latest build (same on Win 10 latest build), AMD Radeon 6600, hardware calibrated profile for my AOC monitor (which should not be relevant I guess). See screenshots. This really sucks, since I do a lot of stuff designing and editing ... I was glad to have that power toys feature, but if it's broken, well ...

[nilvanlopes]

I was trying to fix RX6700XT error of black screen and blue screen, computer crashing and etc. I took advantage that I bought a new ssd and formatted the pc, after much research I found that windows was overwriting the AMD video driver that I installed by adrenalin. I disabled windows update, in windows policies, following some tutorials that I do not remember anymore and oddly enough it seems the wrong color error by powertoys was fixed.

[AbhiMayadam]

Same issue here, but on V 0.70.0 and using intel Iris Xe integrated graphics on the latest driver. If I color-pick a website, the color does not match the actual hex code in the HTML file. (Edit: it fixed itself somehow) (Edit 2: it did not, lighter colors it has issue with, but deep colors it doesn't)

[Pandicon]

Still an issue on v0.72.0 and Windows 10. I wanted to convert a colour from the google colour picker to a custom format but noticed that the powertoys value is always darker and sometimes a different shade - in some instances all of the rbg values are lower, but in some other cases one of them is slighly higher than it should while the rest is lower. I don't think I've ever touched any colour settings on my screen.

[Jay-o-Way]

@Pandicon I don't know what the app you are using, but the two colored dots in each image: they have a different color. I think the bottom rainbow line is only to pick a base color, and the 2D area above that is to pick a specific shade. The values that are show are the colors of the dots in the rainbow row, not the actual picked color. I bet the app you are using is the problem here.

[Jay-o-Way]

@nilvanlopes Have you tried turning off FreeSync, and tried different color pickers/creators?

[Pandicon]

@Pandicon I don't know what the app you are using, but the two colored dots in each image: they have a different color. I think the bottom rainbow line is only to pick a base color, and the 2D area above that is to pick a specific shade. The values that are show are the colors of the dots in the rainbow row, not the actual picked color. I bet the app you are using is the problem here.

The base app used in the example is the colour picker that comes up when you Google "#000000". The big rectangle on the left actually shows the chosen colour, else it would be quite useless. And I launched the powertoys colour picker, hovered my mouse above the big rectangle, and the hex value shown from the powertoys tool was different from the one the Google tool was saying it was showing.
I tried it with multiple colour pickers but decided to post screenshots from the Google one because I felt it has the biggest authority out of the ones I tried (it is the one I would most expect to work correctly on a wide variety of devices).

[nilvanlopes]

@nilvanlopes Have you tried turning off FreeSync, and tried different color pickers/creators?

think it's a error related to windows update and amd drivers, i formatted the pc and the error not occur anymore.

[vexplained]

@nilvanlopes
I found that this only occurs on my main monitor. An AOC Agon 32

It seems like your main monitor is HDR-capable (at least from what I could find online since it seems like AOC no longer offers detailed information about that specific display).
Could it be possible that you have HDR enabled in your Windows settings and adjusted your SDR brightness balance?
Since I don't have an HDR monitor myself, could you try disabling HDR and check if that resolves the issue? To turn off HDR, navigate to Settings > System > Display and turn off HDR (see image below).

(Source: https://i.pcmag.com/imagery/articles/02nD3uGfHfM8RGbluOJc0c8-15.png
from article https://uk.pcmag.com/monitors/138652/in-windows-hdr-can-make-games-and-video-pop-heres-how-to-get-it-going)

Alternatively, follow the instructions from HDR settings in Windows - Microsoft Support.

[crutkas]

From #26170 (comment), @Pandicon reminded me of this issue as have the same color picker UX screenshots.
This could be Chrome

• Go to chrome://flags/
• Search for Force color profile
• Select scRGB linear (HDR where available)

MS Paint verified the hex code is correct for the purple. That is what the pixel color is.

does shifting those settings in chrome help? /needinfo

[Sash0l]

Having this issue too, bumping the issue so it doesn't get marked as requiring author feedback

[nilvanlopes]

@nilvanlopes
I found that this only occurs on my main monitor. An AOC Agon 32

It seems like your main monitor is HDR-capable (at least from what I could find online since it seems like AOC no longer offers detailed information about that specific display). Could it be possible that you have HDR enabled in your Windows settings and adjusted your SDR brightness balance? Since I don't have an HDR monitor myself, could you try disabling HDR and check if that resolves the issue? To turn off HDR, navigate to Settings > System > Display and turn off HDR (see image below).

Hi @vexplained. I never use HDR, at the time my tv and secondary monitor have HDR too, bove deactivated, and in them the color picker shows the correct value.

Like I say before, i reinstall windows and change my hardware many times after that so i can't reproduce this again.
I leave the issue open because i'm not the only one to have this error.

[e11world]

I've also had the same issue on multiple PCs and screens. Something about it just chooses wrong hex than what I can see on the website's css values for example. Anyone know of a fix?

[Jay-o-Way]

Anyone know of a fix?

@e11world depends on the cause.

[crutkas]

This is due to color profiles on the monitor. we leverage whatever the rendered pixel on the screen is. /dup #11585 would be the tracking issue to account for the color profile on the screen.

[microsoft-github-policy-service]

Hi! We've identified this issue as a duplicate of another one that already exists on this Issue Tracker. This specific instance is being closed in favor of tracking the concern over on the referenced thread. Thanks for your report!