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While my old iPad mini photos say their color space is sRGB, my new iPhone 8 photos tell me their color space is "65535" ("unknown value"). Some sources say this value means "uncalibrated", but that information is of no help. Is there a better source which tells me the true color space of the photos? I want to embed them in a PDF file and for this specify the correct color space.

$ exif IMG_8995.JPG 
EXIF tags in 'IMG_8995.JPG' ('Motorola' byte order):
--------------------+----------------------------------------------------------
Tag                 |Value
--------------------+----------------------------------------------------------
Manufacturer        |Apple
Model               |iPhone 8
Orientation         |Top-left
X-Resolution        |72
Y-Resolution        |72
Resolution Unit     |Inch
Software            |11.3.1
Date and Time       |2018:05:12 07:58:51
YCbCr Positioning   |Centered
Compression         |JPEG compression
X-Resolution        |72
Y-Resolution        |72
Resolution Unit     |Inch
Exposure Time       |1/2404 sec.
F-Number            |f/1,8
Exposure Program    |Normal program
ISO Speed Ratings   |20
Exif Version        |Exif Version 2.21
Date and Time (Origi|2018:05:12 07:58:51
Date and Time (Digit|2018:05:12 07:58:51
Components Configura|Y Cb Cr -
Shutter Speed       |11,23 EV (1/2403 sec.)
Aperture            |1,70 EV (f/1,8)
Brightness          |10,62 EV (5394,70 cd/m^2)
Exposure Bias       |0,00 EV
Metering Mode       |Spot
Flash               |Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode
Focal Length        |4,0 mm
Subject Area        |Within rectangle (width 753, height 756) around (x,y) = (3
Maker Note          |926 bytes undefined data
Sub-second Time (Ori|700
Sub-second Time (Dig|700
FlashPixVersion     |FlashPix Version 1.0
Color Space         |Internal error (unknown value 65535)
Pixel X Dimension   |4032
Pixel Y Dimension   |3024
Sensing Method      |One-chip color area sensor
Scene Type          |Directly photographed
Exposure Mode       |Auto exposure
White Balance       |Auto white balance
Focal Length in 35mm|28
Scene Capture Type  |Standard
North or South Latit|N
Latitude            |47, 43, 40,97
East or West Longitu|E
Longitude           |13, 12, 25,38
Altitude Reference  |Sea level
Altitude            |989,768
GPS Time (Atomic Clo|05:58:51,00
Speed Unit          |K
Speed of GPS Receive|0,03549
GPS Image Direction |T
GPS Image Direction |221,05
Reference for Bearin|T
Bearing of Destinati|221,05
GPS Date            |2018:05:12
--------------------+----------------------------------------------------------
EXIF data contains a thumbnail (9560 bytes).

[UPDATE] Now, using exiftool (as suggested by mattdm):

$ exiftool IMG_8995.JPG
ExifTool Version Number         : 10.60
File Name                       : IMG_8995.JPG
Directory                       : .
File Size                       : 3.8 MB
File Modification Date/Time     : 2018:05:12 17:54:37+02:00
File Access Date/Time           : 2018:05:17 21:55:15+02:00
File Inode Change Date/Time     : 2018:05:12 17:54:37+02:00
File Permissions                : rw-r--r--
File Type                       : JPEG
File Type Extension             : jpg
MIME Type                       : image/jpeg
Exif Byte Order                 : Big-endian (Motorola, MM)
Make                            : Apple
Camera Model Name               : iPhone 8
Orientation                     : Horizontal (normal)
X Resolution                    : 72
Y Resolution                    : 72
Resolution Unit                 : inches
Software                        : 11.3.1
Modify Date                     : 2018:05:12 07:58:51
Y Cb Cr Positioning             : Centered
Exposure Time                   : 1/2404
F Number                        : 1.8
Exposure Program                : Program AE
ISO                             : 20
Exif Version                    : 0221
Date/Time Original              : 2018:05:12 07:58:51
Create Date                     : 2018:05:12 07:58:51
Components Configuration        : Y, Cb, Cr, -
Shutter Speed Value             : 1/2404
Aperture Value                  : 1.8
Brightness Value                : 10.62069397
Exposure Compensation           : 0
Metering Mode                   : Spot
Flash                           : Off, Did not fire
Focal Length                    : 4.0 mm
Subject Area                    : 3194 1215 753 756
Run Time Flags                  : Valid
Run Time Value                  : 95831447299500
Run Time Scale                  : 1000000000
Run Time Epoch                  : 0
Acceleration Vector             : -0.9967756794 0.02542742023 -0.03952735125
Sub Sec Time Original           : 700
Sub Sec Time Digitized          : 700
Flashpix Version                : 0100
Color Space                     : Uncalibrated
Exif Image Width                : 4032
Exif Image Height               : 3024
Sensing Method                  : One-chip color area
Scene Type                      : Directly photographed
Exposure Mode                   : Auto
White Balance                   : Auto
Focal Length In 35mm Format     : 28 mm
Scene Capture Type              : Standard
Lens Info                       : 3.99mm f/1.8
Lens Make                       : Apple
Lens Model                      : iPhone 8 back camera 3.99mm f/1.8
GPS Latitude Ref                : North
GPS Longitude Ref               : East
GPS Altitude Ref                : Above Sea Level
GPS Time Stamp                  : 05:58:51
GPS Speed Ref                   : km/h
GPS Speed                       : 0.03548649749
GPS Img Direction Ref           : True North
GPS Img Direction               : 221.0531915
GPS Dest Bearing Ref            : True North
GPS Dest Bearing                : 221.0531915
GPS Date Stamp                  : 2018:05:12
GPS Horizontal Positioning Error: 4 m
Compression                     : JPEG (old-style)
Thumbnail Offset                : 2114
Thumbnail Length                : 9560
Profile CMM Type                : appl
Profile Version                 : 4.0.0
Profile Class                   : Display Device Profile
Color Space Data                : RGB
Profile Connection Space        : XYZ
Profile Date Time               : 2017:07:07 13:22:32
Profile File Signature          : acsp
Primary Platform                : Apple Computer Inc.
CMM Flags                       : Not Embedded, Independent
Device Manufacturer             : APPL
Device Model                    : 
Device Attributes               : Reflective, Glossy, Positive, Color
Rendering Intent                : Perceptual
Connection Space Illuminant     : 0.9642 1 0.82491
Profile Creator                 : appl
Profile ID                      : ca1a9582257f104d389913d5d1ea1582
Profile Description             : Display P3
Profile Copyright               : Copyright Apple Inc., 2017
Media White Point               : 0.95045 1 1.08905
Red Matrix Column               : 0.51512 0.2412 -0.00105
Green Matrix Column             : 0.29198 0.69225 0.04189
Blue Matrix Column              : 0.1571 0.06657 0.78407
Red Tone Reproduction Curve     : (Binary data 32 bytes, use -b option to extract)
Chromatic Adaptation            : 1.04788 0.02292 -0.0502 0.02959 0.99048 -0.01706 -0.00923 0.01508 0.75168
Blue Tone Reproduction Curve    : (Binary data 32 bytes, use -b option to extract)
Green Tone Reproduction Curve   : (Binary data 32 bytes, use -b option to extract)
Image Width                     : 4032
Image Height                    : 3024
Encoding Process                : Baseline DCT, Huffman coding
Bits Per Sample                 : 8
Color Components                : 3
Y Cb Cr Sub Sampling            : YCbCr4:2:0 (2 2)
Aperture                        : 1.8
GPS Altitude                    : 989.7 m Above Sea Level
GPS Date/Time                   : 2018:05:12 05:58:51Z
GPS Latitude                    : 47 deg 43' 40.97" N
GPS Longitude                   : 13 deg 12' 25.38" E
GPS Position                    : 47 deg 43' 40.97" N, 13 deg 12' 25.38" E
Image Size                      : 4032x3024
Megapixels                      : 12.2
Run Time Since Power Up         : 1 days 2:37:11
Scale Factor To 35 mm Equivalent: 7.0
Shutter Speed                   : 1/2404
Create Date                     : 2018:05:12 07:58:51.700
Date/Time Original              : 2018:05:12 07:58:51.700
Thumbnail Image                 : (Binary data 9560 bytes, use -b option to extract)
Circle Of Confusion             : 0.004 mm
Field Of View                   : 65.5 deg
Focal Length                    : 4.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 28.0 mm)
Hyperfocal Distance             : 2.07 m
Light Value                     : 15.2
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2 Answers 2

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14

For whatever reason, the ColorSpace tag is not very useful in EXIF. The only standard values are 1 (sRGB) and 65535 ("uncalibrated"). All other values are reserved. Some cameras use them to mean Adobe RGB or something else, but this is non-standard. Apple is, in fact, using Something Else, and that's found elsewhere in the metadata. With ExifTool, looking for tags starting with Profile, I found:

Profile CMM Type                : Apple Computer Inc.
Profile Version                 : 4.0.0
Profile Class                   : Display Device Profile
Profile Connection Space        : XYZ
Profile Date Time               : 2017:07:07 13:22:32
Profile File Signature          : acsp
Profile Creator                 : Apple Computer Inc.
Profile ID                      : ca1a9582257f104d389913d5d1ea1582
Profile Description             : Display P3
Profile Copyright               : Copyright Apple Inc., 2017

which leads us to Apple Core Graphics documentation which says:

displayP3

The name of the Display P3 color space, created by Apple Inc. This color space uses the DCI P3 primaries, a D65 white point, and the same gamma curve as the sRGB color space.

You can read more about the DCI-P3 colorspace on Wikipedia.

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4
  • Thank you. Then I was using the wrong tool. I added the result with the command exiftool to my question.
    – ideaboxer
    May 17, 2018 at 21:15
  • @ideaboxer Yep, looks like your file has the same info as the sample one I found.
    – mattdm
    May 17, 2018 at 21:19
  • What command is used in exiftool to find tags like these?
    – P A N
    Aug 23, 2022 at 19:45
  • @PAN No particular tool — it's not an unreasonable amount of output.
    – mattdm
    Aug 24, 2022 at 12:59
0

all current production Apple displays and software using DCI-P3 (DCI/P3) color space. wiki reference

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3
  • Apparently it isn't exactly DCI-P3.
    – Mark Ransom
    Jun 14, 2018 at 17:12
  • @MarkRansom The only difference is the gamma curves. Display P3 uses sRGB's curve, rather than DCI-P3's 2.6. Apparently, it leads to a reasonable image if a non-color aware program assumes the Display P3 image is sRGB.
    – user71659
    Jun 14, 2018 at 18:02
  • 3
    All of this is covered in my previous answer. Including the same wikipedia link. Just sayin'. :)
    – mattdm
    Jun 14, 2018 at 19:03

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