I can usually tell when a scanner adds fake color.....

[mumu]

But this one threw me off. Its a dark side coin but I think the topic is a general concept.

 

The coin is completely untoned/whitish. Not even a trace of color.

The part that really got me was the color bunching that takes place at 6 o clock obverse near the star device there near the edge.

 

How does a seller publish this? How do you look at that picture and say, OK thats close enough to what the coin looks like?

 

I would not have even bid on this if not for the color.

 

 

[RWB]

That does not look like a scanner problem. It looks more like excessive post-scan image processing....far too much digital sharpening, etc.

[BillJones]

If they processed their coin on my photo processing software, which is Mircrosof, not Adobe, they pushed the mid tone brightening range too high. I've found that you get grainy photos when you do too much with the sharpening feature.

[PLM]

I have bought a couple of coins with light toning apparent in the image shown and then received a totally white coin (which I returned). I now tend to pass or call/email the seller if I am not familiar with their imaging.

[BillJones]

Here is an example of what I mean by software processing overexposed:

 

Before

 

 

After

 

[RWB]

Yep. Good example, Bill.

 

What happens is that a combination of residual color and noise produce a visually incorrect image. This also is made worse by poor use of the hue and saturation controls. Adding unsharpmasking and other sharpening filters, further exaggerates the problems.

 

A plain, neutral-setting scan would look very different.

 

[mumu]

Here is an example of what I mean by software processing overexposed:

 

Before

 

 

After

 

 

That is not quite the same situation. The color is there. Then enhanced. In the case of my op the coin has ZERO color. I would have no problem deciphering the coin in your example from either picture. I have never seen anything like the coin i showed here where there is not only color invented by the scanner but even intricate color swatches and texturing around the devices that would be signs of actual toning. Look near the rim where the pink changes to yellow in what seems instant. Its quite deceiving and odd.

[brg5658]

IF the surfaces are even remotely mirror-like, the scanner can "create" this look of color. It is a reflection of the usually green scanner light source. The software that comes along with the scanner then usually does an "auto white balance".

 

Only one of many many reasons why I never buy coins from scans.

 

Bill's coin doesn't look like a "scan" to me, it looks like a photograph. And, the bigger problem with Bill's image is that it is highly red-shifted, as can be seen by the background, and the odd pink-looking surfaces.

[physics-fan3.14]

But this one threw me off. Its a dark side coin but I think the topic is a general concept.

 

The coin is completely untoned/whitish. Not even a trace of color.

The part that really got me was the color bunching that takes place at 6 o clock obverse near the star device there near the edge.

 

How does a seller publish this? How do you look at that picture and say, OK thats close enough to what the coin looks like?

 

I would not have even bid on this if not for the color.

 

I have seen perfectly blast white coins with precisely that color and appearance from scans before.

 

So you bought this one thinking it was a toner only to find out later it was white? Return it, unless you still like it.