Certain hair colors are displayed incorrectly in new lighting / have been changed

[Doopliss]

Date & Time: 06/28/2024, 2:21pm CST
Frequency: Interminable
World name: Balmung
Character name: Reverie Arbeau
Race: Multiple

-=-=-=-=- System Information -=-=-=-=-

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SYSTEM_OS Windows 10 Home 64-bit (6.2, Build 9200) (19041.vb_release.191206-1406)
SYSTEM_CPU Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8700K CPU @ 3.70GHz (12 CPUs), ~3.7GHz
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SYSTEM_BIOS 2.30
SYSTEM_LANGUAGE English (Regional Setting: English)
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SYSTEM_STORAGE D:\ SYSTEM_HARDDISK_DRIVE SYSTEM_TOTALDISC_SPACE 1862.891GB SYSTEM_FREEDISC_SPACE 622.342GB
SYSTEM_DIRECTX_VERSION DirectX 12
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DEVICE \\.\DISPLAY1
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Gamma is set to 50. This has been tested at both 0 and 100 character lighting.
All equipment screenshots with the facewear option at the bottom are from 7.0.
No character has been edited from their Endwalker counterpart.

In Dawntrail, a multitude of hair colors show too great of a difference under all in-game lighting vs. the equipment screen and portrait editor.

I'll start with my Elezen. I'm using old and new screenshots from the character creator for simplicity, but this has been tested under multiple lighting settings.

I understand this may be difficult to tell, but I find it easier to see when comparing her hair color to the bottom of her cyclas.

And for a more extreme example with her, this is what her hair looks like in La Noscean lighting:

While differences between the equipment screen and the environmental lighting were always present, they were never this extreme. This seems to affect mid-tone hairs mostly in blue and green light.

On the other hand, I feel she looks near perfect in the equipment screen:

There are minute differences, as expected, but this is essentially the level of contrast I designed her with, and would like to see it reflected in game again.

I'm not sure what causes this, however, because I feel like it varies from race to race. I have some other characters I'd like to share examples of.



My female Roegadyn has a strange difference that appears equally present under environmental lighting and the equipment window. Although I think it looks a little better in the equipment window, it feels like light no longer reflects in this hairstyle at all, making it look flatter and lighter in color.



My male Miqo'te looks fairly accurate in most environmental lights, but I've noticed--especially in the equipment window and portrait editor--that his hair is a little bit darker in more general lighting.



My male Au Ra is a strange case, because his hair is considerably, noticeably lighter in most environmental lighting, but his hair is a note darker in the equipment and portrait window. While I'm personally okay with the contrast within the equipment window, that's rarely reflected in-game...



Meanwhile, my female Au Ra with dark green hair appears to be displaying her hair color most consistently in all lighting; meaning environmental, equipment window, and portraits. I wonder if it's because of the blue/green light reflection I've been noticing?

Lastly, I want to mention that I noticed, at least on Midlanders, that medium brown hair colors have become a notch darker in 7.0 in comparison to Benchmark 1.1.

Said change makes the character color comparison look more accurate in the aetherial sea lighting, compared to Benchmark 1.1.



However, it's now noticeably darker in both the equipment window and in portraits, again leading to inconsistencies far greater than lighting differences in 6.58 and prior.

If possible, I would greatly, greatly appreciate for hair (and eyebrow) colors to be fixed so that they accurately display the level of contrast players selected prior to Dawntrail, and so that they change less drastically under different lighting conditions, much like in Endwalker.

At the very least, it would personally help me adjust to other character changes more, as well. I care a lot about my characters' different color schemes...

Thank you for your time.