Note for mods: My goal here is less about getting a specific purchase recommendation, and is more about trying to clear up concepts, terminology, and technical information about displays and color, so i'm hoping this doesn't violate rule 2, even if the post does incidentally touch on my specific use case and goals, since that's the perspective I've been doing research on this through.

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I'm trying to plan a build for both PC gaming, general usage, and as it applies to this post, color correcting photographs I've taken at museum exhibits and from out of print/public domain artwork I want to scan and digitize.However, trying to understand sRGb vs Adobe RGB vs DCI P3, what to look for in a display beyond that, how calibration actually works (both in terms of hardware and actually applying the calibration), how clamping and HDR ties into all of this, and then the actual workflow for editing the images has been a mess.

I tried to figure it out almost a year ago, and after doing research for 5+ hours a day for 2 weeks, I came out of it with more questions then when I first started. I've been trying to figure it out again now, and still struggle to understand everything.

As I understand it, sRGB is the general standard digital display, and a display with 100% sRGB (should) have complete color coverage in general contexts, while Adobe RGB, DCI P3, etc have wider color ranges for specific creative applications, like printing for Adobe RGB, etc.

For my use case, I have been told 100% sRGB should be sufficient since I'm trying to share images online primarily, but I want to ensure I understand everything with color accuracy, calibration, etc before I make any decisions, hence the questions below:

**I realize this is a *LOT* to ask about, but given the trouble I've had figuring stuff out, this would likely be a great resource to other people trying to learn too: Even if you can only answer a few questions rather then all of them, it'd be appreciated!**

1. Are all displays labeled 100% sRGB (or 100% Adobe RGB etc for that matter) actually functionally the same in terms of colors? I know that they can have differing color accuracy prior to calibration, but after being calibrated, are all of them going to be equally perfect? It seems to me like stuff labeled 99% or 100% aren't always exactly that, based on what i've seen...

2. I know that viewing normal color range content on a wide color range display can lead to stuff being oversaturated. Is this only an issue with displays OVER 100% sRGB, or does this happen on just a 100% sRGB display too?

3. Similarly, it seems like the capabilities of clamping functions (to bring the display color range down for normal content viewing to avoid the issue mentioned in point 2) differs from display to display, and some clamped modes disable certain other features or adjustments. How can I figure out which displays have a better or worse clamp mode?

4. Do I even *want* to be using the clamp function, or does calibrating the display negate the need to do so and will that fix the oversaturation issue even when not clamped? Or do you calibrate after turning clamping on, if you are wanting to work with 100% sRGB?

5. Related to all of the above, but is there a disadvantage to having a higher then 100% sRGB display if I'm just working in 100% sRGB assuming clamping and dealing with oversaturation isn't complicated? It seems like most displays this sub and other general tech/gaming resources suggest have over 100% sRGB coverage anyways, so i'm unsure i'll be able to even find a good 100% sRGB display that also has good contrast, VRR, response times, refresh rates, etc

6. How can I tell if the RAW format (some are CR2, some are NEF, some may be another format, etc. Most but not all were taken with Rebel DLSR's. I think I remember Adobe being mentioned in association with the color spaces?) image files/photos are within a specific color range? Is it possible that the RAW photos have more colors then 100% sRGB supports, in which case it would make sense to edit them with a higher then 100% sRGB display?

7. Related to 6, but if the RAW photos are beyond 100% sRGB, Would editing them on a higher then 100% sRGB display be disadvantageous if I intend to publish them "down" to sRGB? Or would it be bad if I did publish them at a higher color range online that would then look off to other people (or would a photo color corrected at say 100% adobe RGB or DCI p3 level still look as if it was correctly color corrected at 100% sRGB to people viewing it on a sRGB display, in the same way a image downscaled from a higher resolution still looks as good or better then the same image natively rendered at a lower resolution?)

8. I've heard as displays age their color range reduces, and that it may actually be better to get a better then 100% sRGB display (that is, assuming 100% sRGB is even the minimum/target I'm wanting) and clamp or calibrate it (again, not sure which?) down initially, and then as it ages and loses color range I can recalibrate it and still get 100% coverage wheras if I started with just a 100% sRGB display, that's not the case? Is that correct?

9. As I understand it, color calibration on Windows is a pain and is done on a per application level. I've heard that displays that can load custom LUTs can just bake in the calibrated color on the display level. Does that sidestep needing to calibrate anything in windows, or does doing that cause compatability issues with software or guides made under the assumption you did software calibration?

10. If loading a custom LUT for hardware calibration (i'm not even sure i'm using hardware vs software calibration right as terms here) is just generally superior, are there any displays also meant for general or gaming usage that support that and/or is under like 700$? I was told that only very expensive professional grade displays support it

11. How does HDR relate to all of this? Is there a disadvantage to viewing normal non HDR content on an HDR display, or will it display fine/do those displays have non HDR modes?

12. Is there anything I need to know about actual hardware calibration devices, and how they differ in terms of features, capabilities, etc?