Short answer
A raw file is the sensor's own linear measurements, one colour per pixel, before white balance, colour conversion and tone curves are fixed. A JPEG is a finished picture: demosaicked, white-balanced, converted to a standard space such as sRGB, tone-mapped, sharpened and reduced to 8 bits per channel. Raw keeps the choices open and the highlights and shadows recoverable; JPEG commits to one rendering. Neither is more 'true' — raw is simply less decided.
A raw file stores, for each photosite, the number of photons it collected, after the camera has subtracted the sensor's black level. The values are proportional to light — double the light, double the number — and there is only one colour per pixel, arranged in the filter mosaic. Metadata records the white balance the camera would have chosen and the information a converter needs, but nothing has been applied yet. Opening a raw file therefore always involves a rendering decision, made by the software and its camera profile rather than by the camera's own processor.
Google's published HDR+ pipeline is a good map of what any camera does before writing a JPEG: black-level subtraction, lens shading correction, white balance, demosaicking, chroma denoising, a colour-correction matrix into linear sRGB, dynamic range compression, a global S-shaped contrast curve combined with the sRGB transfer function, sharpening, hue-specific adjustments, and dithering down from 12 bits to 8. Every step changes colour. The contrast curve alone raises saturation in mid-tones; the hue adjustments shift skies and foliage on purpose. A JPEG is the manufacturer's opinion of the scene.
Raw keeps more tonal levels, so subtle gradients in skies and skin survive heavy editing without banding. It keeps highlight information that the JPEG's tone curve would have compressed into white, and it lets you change white balance with no loss, because the gains have not been applied. It also avoids committing to sRGB: a raw converter can render into a wider space such as Display P3 or Adobe RGB when saturated colours would otherwise be clipped. What raw cannot do is recover light the sensor never recorded; a channel that clipped at capture is gone in raw too.
Many phones now offer a computational raw format that stores the result of multi-frame merging while leaving white balance and tone for later; it is neither a single-frame raw nor a finished JPEG.
For many uses the camera's rendering is excellent and raw only adds work. Manufacturer JPEG pipelines are tuned for skin, sky and foliage, and matching them in a raw converter can take effort. JPEG is appropriate when the light is controlled and correctly balanced, when files must be shared immediately, or when storage matters. Raw earns its keep in difficult light, mixed sources, high-contrast scenes and any work where colour will be measured, matched or printed.
| Step | RAW | JPEG |
|---|---|---|
| White balance | Recorded as metadata, changeable | Applied, hard to undo |
| Colour space | Camera native; chosen at conversion | Usually sRGB |
| Tone curve | Applied by the converter | Applied by the camera |
| Bit depth | Typically 12–14 bits linear | 8 bits, gamma-encoded |
| Highlight headroom | Some recoverable if no channel clipped | Compressed or clipped by the tone curve |
Each statement is labelled by kind — established fact, a standard’s requirement, observed market data, a convention, or Colourwise’s own interpretation or analysis — with the strength of the evidence behind it.
FactStrong evidence
A published smartphone pipeline processes raw Bayer data through black-level subtraction, lens shading correction, white balance, demosaicking, colour correction to linear sRGB, tone mapping with an S-curve and the sRGB transfer function, sharpening, hue-specific colour adjustments and dithering from 12 to 8 bits.
FactStrong evidence
Working from raw frames rather than demosaicked output gives more bits per pixel and avoids the image signal processor's tone mapping and spatial denoising.
StandardStrong evidence
sRGB, the usual JPEG colour space, is defined in IEC 61966-2-1 with a specific transfer function and D65 white point.
Source: International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) webstore and catalogue
Colourwise interpretationModerate evidence
A JPEG straight from a camera is best treated as the manufacturer's rendering of the scene rather than a neutral record, because its tone and hue adjustments are chosen for appeal.
Based on: Based on the deliberate hue and contrast adjustments documented in the HDR+ paper; other manufacturers publish less detail but use comparable steps.
Reviewed 29 September 2026. Colourwise summarises its sources in its own words and does not reproduce standards text or proprietary colour data. Spotted an error? Tell us.