Bug 509198

Summary:	Wallpaper color different from source image
Product:	[Plasma] plasmashell	Reporter:	Florian <flo.christ>
Component:	Image & Slideshow wallpaper plugins	Assignee:	Plasma Bugs List <plasma-bugs-null>
Status:	RESOLVED DOWNSTREAM
Severity:	normal	CC:	kdedev, nate, notmart, postix, qydwhotmail, uhhadd
Priority:	NOR
Version First Reported In:	6.4.4
Target Milestone:	1.0
Platform:	CachyOS
OS:	Linux
Latest Commit:		Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:
Attachments:	Image to use as wallpaper Show different colors between desktop and gwenview show correct colors in wallpaper selection screen

Description Florian 2025-09-06 16:16:35 UTC

Created attachment 184771 [details]
Image to use as wallpaper

SUMMARY

Hello I've been on cachyOS KDE since 1 day and when I set this photo as wallpaper : https://s3.amazonaws.com/speedhunters-wp-production/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/06180035/DC_0013_RWB-993-Carrera-2_1920.jpg the colors are wrong
The colors are correct everywhere even on the wallpaper config screen but on my desktop they are not


I only noticed it with this image, other are fine or at least I don't notice anything
Current theme is North (cachyOS)

Specs :
Nvidia 1660 TI
16 GB RAM
i5 6600K

Thanks

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Set the image as wallpaper via right click->desktop and wallpaper or directly from image viewer

OBSERVED RESULT

Wallpaper is set with incorrect colors

EXPECTED RESULT

Wallpaper is set with correct colors

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS

Linux/KDE Plasma: CachyOS x86_64
KDE Plasma Version: 6.4.4
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.17.0
Qt Version: 6.9.2

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Comment 1 Florian 2025-09-06 16:17:37 UTC

Created attachment 184772 [details]
Show different colors between desktop and gwenview

Comment 2 Florian 2025-09-06 16:18:02 UTC

Created attachment 184773 [details]
show correct colors in wallpaper selection screen

Comment 3 Nate Graham 2025-09-25 16:15:39 UTC

Do you have an ICC profile or HDR mode active?

If so, what I think is going on here is that Gwenview knows about those things, but the desktop doesn't.

Comment 4 TraceyC 2025-09-30 19:37:24 UTC

I can reproduce this on Plasma 6.4.5 as well as git-master
HDR and SDR displays affected
With or without color profile, built-in or ICC
With prefer color accuracy or efficiency
Regardless of sRGB color intensity, EDR on or off

The image in on the desktop wallpaper looks like it has less saturated colors than in Gwenview on the same display
The difference is much smaller in HDR than SDR, but still visible
Also, the image color difference is visible comparing the image displayed in Firefox vs the desktop

Notably, the image in Firefox displays very little difference on an HDR screen vs SDR, whereas the wallpaper is much less saturated vs the image in Firefox on the same  SDR display

Comment 5 Florian 2025-10-20 10:29:09 UTC

Actually I don't think it's KDE related. On the Speedhunters website it shows the washed out colors too, something must be wrong with the image itself

Comment 6 TraceyC 2025-10-21 20:51:12 UTC

I think you're right. I tested with few of other images (default and downloaded), which looked exactly the same on the desktop, in the wallpaper chooser, and in Gwenview. I tested with SDR and HDR displays.

I'll close this out for now. If you find anything that indicates KDE code is involved, feel free to reopen this report. Thanks!