This demonstration will make more sense using a color-managed Web browsers like SAFARI 6 for Mac OS-X , newer versions of Firefox for Windows 8 7 Vista XP and OSX will also work, including Microsoft Internet Explorer IE 9 IE10, but Safari is my favorite color-managed teaching browser because it seems to work for everyone with no special configuration or settings.

If untagged sRGB is not displaying correctly here, this tutorial will help you understand why and how to troubleshoot color on the Internet  by explaining the basic color theories in simple lay terms.

Most people will be able to compare the top, most popular color spaces side-by-side and clearly see the untagged sRGB displays most closely to the 'True Color' (in the left box).

Above, all three un-tagged files are in one box to evaluate them together. (These are the same exact files as in the left box except these files have NO embedded ICC profile).

The above un-tagged files will look very differently in all Web browsers  this is BECAUSE your browser is (in essence) applying* the same default profile to each of the three untagged files. Your Web browser is most likely sending the RGB 'numbers' straight to the monitor unchanged.

In a NON-MANAGED browser, all three above tagged files (normal/over/click) will display very differently  exactly the same as in the right box  because the UN-MANAGED BROWSER is ignoring the profiles and (wrongly) applying* the same default profile to all six pics in both sets.

Above, all three tagged files are in one box to evaluate them together. (These are the same exact files as in the right box except these files have embedded ICC profiles, and the other files do not have profiles attached).

If the above three rollovers look virtually identical, your Web browser is color managed  this is happening BECAUSE your color-managed browser is reading each file's embedded profile and Converting or Mapping the colors to your monitor profile for a theoretical display of 'True Color.'

If the above three rollovers shift color-brightness-gamma, your Web browser is NOT color managed.

While my "Apply-Assume-Assign" terminology has the same end effect  a more accurate theory for this phenomenon is the unmanaged application, HTML and System colors are simply being "passed through" to the display unaltered. For more detailed information, please review my white paper on BASIC COLOR MANAGEMENT THEORY for my terminology and meaning , and my ASSIGN-CONVERT TUTORIAL for the nuts & bolts of this phenomenon.

PLEASE stop and think about this if you don't quite understand it yet...it is the critical first step in understanding how color spaces and ICC profiles interact with digital imaging systems.

ALL WEB BROWSERS and applications will display the above Untagged set very differently because unmanaged browsers are assigning/assuming/applying* the same default profile to all three above Untagged photos. They are most likely sending the RGB 'numbers' straight to the monitor unchanged.

UNMANAGED BROWSERS and apps will display all three above Tagged photos very differently, and each Tagged-Untagged pair the same because they are assigning/assuming/applying* the same default profile to all six above test images. They are most likely sending the RGB 'numbers' straight to the monitor unchanged.

Software updates and user settings may change how my reference images display so be sure to perform your own tests to prove or disprove my theories on your devices.

WINDOWS "HALF" COLOR MANAGEMENT DISCLAIMER (Source> sRGB) : Take notice some Windows color-managed Web browsers (and applications) only Convert tagged elements to sRGB (not the monitor profile). My tests (late 2012) included so-called "color-managed" Windows versions of Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer IE, which all displayed the PDI tagged reference images with oversaturated reds on a wide gamut monitor . Firefox with its Value1 enabled was the only Windows browser that displayed with "Full Color Management" (Source> Monitor).

FULLY COLOR-MANAGED BROWSERS (Source> Monitor RGB) and applications HONOR (read) the embedded ICC profiles and display all three above Tagged photos the same  they correct the source colors to the computer's monitor profile for a theoretical 'True Color' display.

Professional color-managment article by Gary G. Ballard, San Diego, CA - Firefox® and Mozilla® are registered trademarks of Mozilla Foundation, Safari® is registered a trademark of Apple Computers, Inc.

This isn't hype  it's easily proven in my: BEST FIREFOX COLOR TEST PAGE TUTORIAL (includes simple directions and screenshots how to set up about:config "Full Color Management" Value 1 .

In essence, Firefox's "Full Color Management" standard gives us a free real-world, high-performance professional color-managed viewing environment on our desktops that is every bit as equal to Adobe® Photoshop's monitor proofing capabilities in this example, IMHO. Just drag your image icon into an open Firefox window to use Firefox as a color-managed picture viewer  untagged sRGB and tagged RGB images should all display correctly.

What this Firefox standard means for color-critical webmasters (like me) is, I do not even have to embed profiles on the Internet BECAUSE Firefox will Assign the sRGB profile correctly to my un-tagged and un-managed color by Default, and Convert it to my monitor profile for both accuracy and consistency even on so-called wide-gamut Adobe RGB monitors .

I do not believe any other top Web browser does that  Defaults to sRGB AND Converts to Monitor RGB  but it certainly makes the best logic given Windows® and Mac OS-X® (10.7 10.8) operating systems and the Internet are all based on the sRGB color standard, and probably more than 99% of the Internet does not use embedded ICC profiles, and most Web surfers are using sRGB-compliant display monitors.

What Firefox does best is  besides reading embedded profiles and converting them to my monitor profile (like OS-X Safari and Photoshop do)  Firefox goes two very intelligent steps further: 1) Firefox "Assigns" (Assumes) sRGB to untagged elements (including HTML CSS Hex colors), and 2) Firefox then Converts them (along with my tagged images) to my monitor profile for a theoretical "True Color" display.

As a steadfast student of color management theory, I do not think embedding ICC profiles in Web images will be the norm anytime in the near future  moreover  I think Mozilla Firefox FF 11 (since FF3.6) "Full Color Management" (Value 1) gets the theory exactly correct on the World Wide Web today without even using embedded profiles.

If you are troubleshooting why color shifts, changes or looks bad on the Web , be sure to first Convert your color to sRGB before uploading  I generally recommend un-tagging (stripping the profiles from) photos and graphics on the Internet, but please check out that link for more information about how, where, when to embed or strip ICC profiles  it may be worth your time now to find and install a color-managed browser and study this color evaluation tutorial until my basic points are fully understood.

Hopefully this tutorial helps you quickly answer the question: Is my Web browser color managed?

My color image examples have been professional setup to effectively demonstrate and troubleshoot color differences between the world's top Web browsers like Internet Explorer IE, Safari, Firefox FF, Chrome, Opera, OmniWeb, Camino, including popular operating systems like Mac OS-X, Lion 10.7, Snow Leopard 10.6, 10.5, 10.4, Windows 8 7, Windows Vista and XP.