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

[Doopliss]

A single repost attempt because my initial thread got moved to "Insufficient Information". I hope the additional information I've included will be enough this time. I forgot to copy all of my system information in the previous one, and have now included RGB values.

Date & Time: 06/28/2024, 2:21pm CST
Frequency: Always
World name: Balmung, Mateus
Character name: Reverie Arbeau, G'irhu Tia, Styrnlona Grehmoenwyn, Alfwen Thatcher (Balmung) | Kagetora Mizuhiki, Boroqcin Kha (Mateus)
In-game time: 12:11 p.m., 12:51 a.m., 1:20 p.m. (Respective to the listed areas below)
Area and coordinates: La Noscea, Mist Subdivision, x10.4 y14.2 | Thanalan, The Manderville Gold Saucer, x6.3 y6.1 | The Black Shroud, Central Shroud, x25.1 y20.3
Weather Condition: Fair Skies, Fair Skies, Cloudy (Respective to the listed areas above)

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

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

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
SYSTEM_CORE_NUM SYSTEM_CORE_LOGIC 12 SYSTEM_CORE_PHYSICS 6
SYSTEM_BIOS 2.30
SYSTEM_LANGUAGE English (Regional Setting: English)
SYSTEM_MEMORY 16344.449MB
SYSTEM_VIRTUAL_MEMORY 134217727.875MB
SYSTEM_PAGE_FILE 20846.629MB
SYSTEM_STORAGE C:\ SYSTEM_HARDDISK_DRIVE SYSTEM_TOTALDISC_SPACE 111.187GB SYSTEM_FREEDISC_SPACE 8.346GB
SYSTEM_STORAGE D:\ SYSTEM_HARDDISK_DRIVE SYSTEM_TOTALDISC_SPACE 1862.891GB SYSTEM_FREEDISC_SPACE 622.257GB
SYSTEM_DIRECTX_VERSION DirectX 12
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DEVICE \\.\DISPLAY1
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_CHIP NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_MAKER NVIDIA
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_VRAM 8081.000 MB
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_SHARED_VRAM 8172.225 MB
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DAC Integrated RAMDAC
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DISPLAY_MODE 1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (60Hz)
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nvmdi.inf_amd64_ed9d96ac28b0f507\nvldumdx.dll,C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nvmdi.inf_amd64_ed9d96ac28b0f507\nvldumdx.dll,C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nvmdi.inf_amd64_ed9d96ac28b0f507\nvldumdx.dll,C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nvmdi.inf_amd64_ed9d96ac28b0f507\nvldumdx.dll
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_VERSION 31.00.0015.4633
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_DATE 12/5/2023 19:00:00
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_LANGUAGE English
3.0
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_PIXEL_SHADER 3.0
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_VERTEX_TEXTURE SYSTEM_SUPPORT
SYSTEM_SOUND ASUS VS228 (NVIDIA High Definition Audio)
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_ID {9884F150-35F0-4C58-A9CD-73CEB8D31015}
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_NAME nvhda64v.sys
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_VERSION 1.3.40.14
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_LANGUAGE English
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_DATE 1/18/2023 19:00:00
SYSTEM_SOUND Speakers (USB Audio Device)
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_ID {F242ADB1-46DA-44B7-B011-13D3C513C675}
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_NAME USBAUDIO.sys
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_VERSION 10.0.19041.4355
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_LANGUAGE English
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_DATE 4/11/2024 19:00:00
SYSTEM_INPUT {6F1D2B60-D5A0-11CF-BFC7444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Mouse
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 3 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 5 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {6F1D2B61-D5A0-11CF-BFC7444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Keyboard
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 128 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {2E1E6D50-3EDB-11EE-8002444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Virtual HID Minidriver
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 573 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {7FDCF930-0DF9-11EE-8001444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME USB Audio Device
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 1 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 5 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {913881B0-3E1C-11EE-8001444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Wired Gaming Mouse
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 24 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {45DFC050-F489-11EA-8001444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME USB Keyboard
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 897 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {45E23150-F489-11EA-8002444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME USB Keyboard
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 3 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0

Graphics are set to Maximum.
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 tassles above her chest, the bottom of her cyclas, or even her ear clasps.

And for more extreme examples with her, this is what her hair looks like in Mist lighting:

((Other examples in comment due to image limit))
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.

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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.

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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.

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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...

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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?

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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.

Here are her RGB values as well, but I've also circled an entire area because I've noticed that entire section seems to be inconsistent for, at least, Midlanders. In Benchmark 1.1 many of these colors appeared too light in the character creator; in 7.0 proper they appear closer to their 6.58 counterparts in the character creator, but now they're likely too dark in the neutrally-lit equipment window and portrait menu.

This is definitely a problem for races that I've not been able to include in examples, too. A friend who has medium-dark grey (RGB: 114, 114, 114) hair on a female Viera, and another who has light blonde (RGB: 224, 188, 140) hair on a male Viera, have both their characters' hair turn significantly more white/light in hue under most lighting, in comparison to before. Hrothgar, Highlanders, and Lalafell have certainly been affected in some cases also.

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, again, for your time.

[Doopliss]

Here's the other two images for my Elezen, that I couldn't include in the post due to the 20 image limit.
Sorry, I'm bad at editing and also admittedly rushing because I do want to continue seeing the DT story, haha.

Manderville Gold Saucer lighting:

Central Shroud lighting:

[Doopliss]

I apologize, but I'd like to comment once more to add a gif provided by another user in the forums that I feel shows a huge part of the problem with hair in a much simpler, more effective way:

I think I found out why hair shading seems so inconsistent from place to place. You can easily reproduce this using GPose.

Although I'd like to still emphasize this is only part of the report, since it still appears (at least from what I can grasp) several hair colors are outright changed too.