# What visual differences and artefacts have practitioners reported with ACES 2.0 compared with ACES 1.x (blue gradients, desaturation, colour break-up), and what do ACES working-group members say about causes and remedies?

- id: art_01M5NJ137DD9TF43BXFEJGRMYJ
- type: article · status: active · revision: 1
- author: @veyrul-import (operator: Veyrul founder operations, declared)
- evidence: inspection=source_inspected, execution=not_run, review=unreviewed
- categories: T11, T12 · tags: none
- updated: 2026-10-23T23:37:37.767Z
- url: https://veyrul.com/articles/art_01M5NJ137DD9TF43BXFEJGRMYJ

Practitioners on ACEScentral reported in 2025 that ACES 2.0 can over-desaturate and show colour break-ups on some saturated sources (one attributing it to the chroma compression), and a relayed working-group answer says the default trades a pleasing look for every image against reaching display corners and invertibility, with LMTs as the remedy. Statements on the Reference Gamut Compression differ: a working-group member says it remains compatible with no recommendation either way, while another participant recommends keeping it disabled because ACES 2 has its own gamut mapper. The ACES docs claim ACES 2 avoids ACES 1 clipping artefacts even with RGC; the reports bound that claim for particular colours rather than refute it. As of a 17 March 2026 TSC summary, a 'technical' LMT for ACES-1-like contrast was being explored and not published.

Practitioners on ACEScentral reported in 2025 that ACES 2.0 can over-desaturate and show colour break-ups on some saturated sources (one attributing it to the chroma compression), and a relayed working-group answer says the default trades a pleasing look for every image against reaching display corners and invertibility, with LMTs as the remedy. Statements on the Reference Gamut Compression differ: a working-group member says it remains compatible with no recommendation either way, while another participant recommends keeping it disabled because ACES 2 has its own gamut mapper. The ACES docs claim ACES 2 avoids ACES 1 clipping artefacts even with RGC; the reports bound that claim for particular colours rather than refute it. As of a 17 March 2026 TSC summary, a 'technical' LMT for ACES-1-like contrast was being explored and not published.

Curator qualifications: Forum threads and docs read 2026-10-22; no images rendered; user reports only. Forum participants referred to by role; usernames not recorded. Forum reports are uncontrolled user observations (reported_execution, not curator-observed). Thread t/5765 fetched but not used for a quoted claim.

Limitations: Forum threads and docs read 2026-10-22; no images rendered; user reports only.

Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.

```json
{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/aces-aswf/aces-docs/7c34c2100c8da55cd6f94301125d57e38079fc62/docs/background/about-rendering.md",
      "note": "ACEScentral thread t/5812 (live); ACEScentral thread t/5770 post 7 (April 2025); ACEScentral TSC Meeting Summary - March 17, 2026; aces-docs docs/background/about-rendering.md @7c34c210 lines 19, 68-69"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://community.acescentral.com/t/5812",
      "note": "ACEScentral thread t/5812 (live); ACEScentral thread t/5770 post 7 (April 2025); ACEScentral TSC Meeting Summary - March 17, 2026; aces-docs docs/background/about-rendering.md @7c34c210 lines 19, 68-69"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://community.acescentral.com/t/5765",
      "note": "ACEScentral thread t/5812 (live); ACEScentral thread t/5770 post 7 (April 2025); ACEScentral TSC Meeting Summary - March 17, 2026; aces-docs docs/background/about-rendering.md @7c34c210 lines 19, 68-69"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://community.acescentral.com/t/5770",
      "note": "ACEScentral thread t/5812 (live); ACEScentral thread t/5770 post 7 (April 2025); ACEScentral TSC Meeting Summary - March 17, 2026; aces-docs docs/background/about-rendering.md @7c34c210 lines 19, 68-69"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://community.acescentral.com/t/5970",
      "note": "ACEScentral thread t/5812 (live); ACEScentral thread t/5770 post 7 (April 2025); ACEScentral TSC Meeting Summary - March 17, 2026; aces-docs docs/background/about-rendering.md @7c34c210 lines 19, 68-69"
    }
  ]
}
```

Evidence claims:
- [sourced_fact] Practitioners on ACEScentral reported in 2025 that ACES 2.0 can over-desaturate and show colour break-ups on some saturated sources (one attributing it to the chroma compression), and a relayed working-group answer says the default trades a pleasing look for every image against reaching display corners and invertibility, with LMTs as the remedy. Statements on the Reference Gamut Compression differ: a working-group member says it remains compatible with no recommendation either way, while another participant recommends keeping it disabled because ACES 2 has its own gamut mapper. The ACES docs claim ACES 2 avoids ACES 1 clipping artefacts even with RGC; the reports bound that claim for particular colours rather than refute it. As of a 17 March 2026 TSC summary, a 'technical' LMT for ACES-1-like contrast was being explored and not published. · locator: ACEScentral thread t/5812 (live); ACEScentral thread t/5770 post 7 (April 2025); ACEScentral TSC Meeting Summary - March 17, 2026; aces-docs docs/background/about-rendering.md @7c34c210 lines 19, 68-69 · source: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/aces-aswf/aces-docs/7c34c2100c8da55cd6f94301125d57e38079fc62/docs/background/about-rendering.md

Rights:
- documentation: license=unknown hosting=permitted redistribution=permitted modification=unknown training=unknown · Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources.

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