Same colors look dull on VS Code compared to Sublime Text (other applications)

[nksaraf]

Issue Type: Bug

Recently tried to switch from Sublime Text to VS Code. Used the same colors as Sublime Text for my token colors and the color were considerably duller in VS Code (than almost all other applications). Tried adding app.commandLine.appendSwitch('force-color-profile', 'srgb') to Mac App bundle Resources/app/out/main.js based on #65816 (comment).

Unsure of additional steps is required to enforce this change in the file, but saving it and restarting VS Code did not have any effect. Also tried logging to console to check if that would work (didn't).

Sublime Text:

VS Code:

VS Code version: Code 1.35.1 (c7d83e5, 2019-06-12T14:29:22.216Z)
OS version: Darwin x64 18.6.0

System Info

Item	Value
CPUs	Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-8259U CPU @ 2.30GHz (8 x 2300)
GPU Status	2d_canvas: enabled checker_imaging: disabled_off flash_3d: enabled flash_stage3d: enabled flash_stage3d_baseline: enabled gpu_compositing: enabled multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on native_gpu_memory_buffers: enabled rasterization: enabled surface_synchronization: enabled_on video_decode: enabled webgl: enabled webgl2: enabled
Load (avg)	1, 1, 1
Memory (System)	8.00GB (0.07GB free)
Process Argv
Screen Reader	no
VM	0%

Extensions (2)

Extension	Author (truncated)	Version
vscode-eslint	dba	1.9.0
material-icon-theme	PKi	3.8.0

(1 theme extensions excluded)

[bpasero]

Can you try to reproduce with our nightly insider builds? You can give our preview releases a try from: https://code.visualstudio.com/insiders/

[nksaraf]

I tried the nightly build as well and the results are not much different. Here are the screenshots on the nightly build

VS Code insider

Sublime Text

[JakubNalewajek]

Looks like there are multiple ways to force old color rendering:

1. app.commandLine.appendSwitch('disable-color-correct-rendering');
2. app.commandLine.appendSwitch('disable-features', 'ColorCorrectRendering');
3. app.commandLine.appendSwitch('force-color-profile', 'sRGB');

I can confirm that both 2 and 3 work on windows 10 with HDR enabled, 1 (which is in the current build) does not work. I see no difference with HDR disabled.

@nksaraf can you try adding option 2 instead?

[dougal83]

@JakubNalewajek Thank you for the above info. I was faced with the washed out experience with Win10 & HDR. I followed these instructions to implement (in case this is found by others experience same issue).

[bpasero]

We are building exploration builds that use a much newer version of our UI framework (Electron version 6.0.x). I wonder if this issue reproduces with one of these builds, could you try? Download:

• macOS: Download
• Linux (DEB): Download
• Linux (RPM): Download
• Windows: Download

[JakubNalewajek]

On Exploration build, colors are fine on Windows 10 with HDR enabled.

[nksaraf]

On exploration build, colors look fine on my Mac as well without requiring any other settings. Also would you suggest I continue to use the exploration build, or is it unstable?

Left - Exploration build
Right - Old build

[chpxu]

@nksaraf the exploration builds are stable enough for me (i use it as my daily driver, even if it is behind insiders sometimes) so I guess as long as you're not wanting much from the next iteration's update, you'll be fine.
Plus it's a great way to stay ahead on the game of electron updates and provide feedback :>

[deepak1556]

Fixed by #81644. It should also be available with next insiders.

[nksaraf]

The problem still persists in Insiders with new version of macos (Top is VS Code, bottom is sublime text 3)
My info from VS Code Insiders:
Version: 1.39.1
Commit: 88f15d1
Date: 2019-10-10T23:35:11.314Z
Electron: 4.2.10
Chrome: 69.0.3497.128
Node.js: 10.11.0
V8: 6.9.427.31-electron.0
OS: Darwin x64 19.0.0

Sublime Text 3