# Chroma handling in Starlight Precise 2.5 **URL:** \ **Category:** Bugs and Issues\ **Tags:** investigating\ **Created:** [May 20, 2026, 1:39pm UTC](https://community.topazlabs.com/t/chroma-handling-in-starlight-precise-2-5/103037 "2026-05-20T13:39:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![damon.smith-7548](https://community.topazlabs.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@damon.smith-7548](https://community.topazlabs.com/u/damon.smith-7548)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 1:39pm UTC](https://community.topazlabs.com/t/chroma-handling-in-starlight-precise-2-5/103037/1 "2026-05-20T13:39:14Z")
This is not really a bug, more of an observation. I have only used the web version of Starlight Precise 2.5, not the desktop version. It is quite amazing. However, it seems like the chroma handling is a huge step backwards from earlier Starlight Precise models. VHS has terrible chroma handling, with the colors often drifting out of sync with the luminance. (VHS is like a toddler coloring outside of the lines in a coloring book.) The earlier Precise models were able to put the colors back where they should be. The new 2.5 model pretty much just keeps the VHS colors intact, which means if the original video’s colors are drifting, they stay drifting in the final render. (I have found that Starlight Mini is somewhere in between, producing muddled colors.) If some way could be found to process the color the way the old Precise models did combined with the luminance processing of 2.5, you would have a real winner for VHS restoration. (This 2.5 model is obviously fantastic for sources that don’t exhibit huge color drift.) ---
**Author:** ![margaux.topazlabs](https://community.topazlabs.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@margaux.topazlabs](https://community.topazlabs.com/u/margaux.topazlabs)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 5:19pm UTC](https://community.topazlabs.com/t/chroma-handling-in-starlight-precise-2-5/103037/2 "2026-05-20T17:19:31Z")
Are you able to share some examples? ---
**Author:** ![damon.smith-7548](https://community.topazlabs.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@damon.smith-7548](https://community.topazlabs.com/u/damon.smith-7548)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 7:09pm UTC](https://community.topazlabs.com/t/chroma-handling-in-starlight-precise-2-5/103037/3 "2026-05-20T19:09:54Z")
![CastleSVHS](https://community-cdn.topazlabs.com/original/4X/7/7/5/775cd5666f443d80c7ef8a4831f91df1f085b25b.jpeg) ![CastlePreciseQuality](https://community-cdn.topazlabs.com/original/4X/e/2/3/e23bf6c12a0160a29dfe76f4bec8fc5f2b6040cb.jpeg) ![CastlePrecise2_5](https://community-cdn.topazlabs.com/original/4X/1/4/6/146f9d2cfc6fdad5b2d82bdca6261ef1343fa854.jpeg)Starlight Precise 2.5 is more accurate to the source, notice how the green of the leaves bleeds into the sky in both that image and in the original. But in the older Precise\_Quality, the color bleed has been fixed, the green now stays in the leaves, and the sky is blue. ---
**Author:** ![damon.smith-7548](https://community.topazlabs.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@damon.smith-7548](https://community.topazlabs.com/u/damon.smith-7548)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 7:20pm UTC](https://community.topazlabs.com/t/chroma-handling-in-starlight-precise-2-5/103037/4 "2026-05-20T19:20:42Z")
![VanceVHS](https://community-cdn.topazlabs.com/original/4X/0/d/5/0d5a97a6d6ade3075cc3a0a89a99e41389f7a93c.jpeg) ![VancePrecise_Fast](https://community-cdn.topazlabs.com/original/4X/d/e/e/deee47a27a3b6ab0a401996786257cec6294977e.jpeg) ![VancePrecise2_5](https://community-cdn.topazlabs.com/original/4X/3/1/e/31e5d3ba479754870519e0c01f0101466d887ed1.jpeg)Again, here, Starlight 2.5 is very accurate to the source colors, whereas Starlight Precise\_Fast cleans the colors up, improves them, and tries to put them where they belong. Also note that Precise\_Fast eliminates the haloing on the right side of the shirt and on the edges of the buildings but Precise 2.5 retains the halos. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://community-cdn.topazlabs.com/original/3X/0/1/01f3a81387b26ce3eb3484b6327ee7b3988ca47e.svg) [@system](https://community.topazlabs.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2026, 7:21pm UTC](https://community.topazlabs.com/t/chroma-handling-in-starlight-precise-2-5/103037/5 "2026-07-19T19:21:20Z")
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