Digital booths
Why demosaicing can create false colour around fine edges
The camera estimates missing colour samples between filtered sensor sites.
A thin striped shirt or high-contrast fringe can develop coloured edges even when the scene contains no such colour. The effect can arise while a camera reconstructs a full-colour image from a sensor mosaic.
Know what is being reconstructed
A colour-filter-array sensor samples different colours at neighbouring sites. Demosaicing estimates the missing values; difficult fine patterns can produce false colour or zipper-like edge artifacts. The raw capture and the rendered image therefore answer different questions about the camera’s processing.
Evidence: Imaging software technical article
Test the pattern at capture size
Photograph the suspect fabric at the normal booth distance, then inspect the full strip and a crop at native resolution. Repeat with a slightly different subject angle or distance. If the effect changes strongly with sampling, the pattern-camera interaction is likely more relevant than skin colour or white balance.
Choose a practical correction
Avoid heavy sharpening before judging the artifact. Try a different raw-processing method if the camera provides one, or adjust the pattern’s angle and scale for a new session. For an existing JPEG, gentle local correction may help, but it cannot recover the true unsampled colour pattern.
Evidence: Platform technical presentation
Sources & further reading
Sources for the specific facts and product descriptions above. Our worked examples, interpretations and practical suggestions are original editorial guidance.
- Adobe, Enhance DetailsImaging software technical article
- Apple Developer, WWDC26: Enhance RAW Image Processing with Core ImagePlatform technical presentation