Color Profiles and Presets on Apple Monitors and Laptop Screens

[rebop]

Operating System

1. macOS 15 Sequoia

After 35 years as a Windows Wizard (tm) bought a Macbook. Main reason is for LRc and Photoshop, though I **may** may a transition if I get all else I use comfortable on the Mac.

I LOVE the way my photos look on both the Macbook Pro Screen and especially Studio Display (at the Apple Store). So I went in and decided to play. The DEFAULT presets of P3 600Nits look great, but intuitively it seemed to me I should try the Photographic D6500 preset as that should be the color temp standard for photography, no?

Images looked terrible! Dim, low contrast. Really surprised me.

So, question becomes which do you use for Photo Editing and when if ever would you choose the Photographic D6500?

 

[Conrad Chavez]

A lot of why things are set up the way they are now has to do with the extended capabilities of today’s displays.
This is how I interpret the Reference Mode presets for the Apple displays that have them:

Apple XDR Display (P3-1600 nits). This is the default on my 14" MacBook Pro, and probably similar on the Apple 32" Pro Display XDR. This looks great because it takes advantage of the full wide color gamut and luminance range of an XDR-branded display. The luminance range for this preset is full HDR, and Apple XDR displays meet the luminance requirements for HDR editing in Lightroom/Camera Raw. So this reference mode preset is appropriate for anyone editing with Lightroom HDR mode enabled, editing HDR video, etc.

Photography (P3-D65). This reference mode preset is designed for general photography, but not necessarily for all photography. It’s appropriate only if it meets your requirements. It’s set up for the specs shown in the picture below. I highlighted the settings most photographers might decide to customize.

Apple Display (P3-500 nits). I think this might be the default for the Studio Display. The Studio Display is not full HDR (does not fully meet Adobe HDR edit requirements), so for this preset, Enable HDR Content is disabled, and the Maximum Luminance is 500 nits.

I LOVE the way my photos look on both the Macbook Pro Screen and especially Studio Display (at the Apple Store). So I went in and decided to play. The DEFAULT presets of P3 600Nits look great, but intuitively it seemed to me I should try the Photographic D6500 preset as that should be the color temp standard for photography, no?
Images looked terrible! Dim, low contrast. Really surprised me.

For the Photography (P3-D65) preset, the Maximum Luminance of 160 is what causes that dimness and lower contrast. 160 nits is only around 15% of an XDR display’s actual maximum luminance. So why not show it at full brightness?

Because most screens aren’t that bright. Photography (P3-D65) is intended to simulate traditionally common screens, and consistent with that, Enable HDR Content is disabled. (So, if you choose this reference mode preset, Lightroom/Camera Raw HDR edit options will not work.)

Notice that the Description uses the phrase “screen-based viewing.” In the Photography (P3-D65) preset, the White Point and Maximum Luminance are set appropriately for that. If your viewing/delivery requirements are different, you should make your own reference mode preset.

I made my own reference mode preset to intentionally limit luminance to a lower level appropriate for previewing for prints. Photography (P3-D65) is set to an SDR Maximum Luminance of 160 nits (midrange computer, phone, and tablet screens), but if an image will be printed, I’ll use my preset where I set that to 110 nits. I made another custom preset with the white point set to D50 so I can see how an image looks under that. If I edited with the XDR display set to its default of up to 1000 sustained nits, that vastly exceeds how bright a sheet of paper can ever be, so I’ll be misled when editing and could end up with dark prints.

You can see that it’s more useful to pay attention to the specs of each preset, rather than just going by the names and descriptions. This is what some of the other ones mean:

Design & Print (P3-D50). This is actually identical to the Photography preset except for one difference: White Point is set to D50. The reason they named it Design & Print is that D50 is traditionally a common white point standard for prepress, such as for the lighting in a print proofing booth next to a press. So, a photographer might prefer this if much of their work ends up in printed catalogs, printed magazines, etc.

Internet & Web (sRGB). This is identical to the Photography preset except:

• The Color Gamut is set to Rec.709/sRGB. That limits display colors so that it no longer shows the full P3 gamut, it instead only shows up to the limit of sRGB. A photographer might use this if they must see how images look when limited to sRGB because that’s how they’re going to be exported for a web site, for example.
• Maximum Luminance is set to 80 nits which is strangely low. From what I can tell online, it’s 80 nits to strictly follow the sRGB standard. Which was designed for average CRTs in the 1990s. Today’s flat panels are set to much higher default levels. Another reason to customize your own preset.
• SDR Transfer Function is set to sRGB ICC V2 (a specific tonal response curve that emulates how CRTs work). Again, this is to strictly follow the sRGB standard, because for a current display that option would be set to Pure Power, gamma 2.2.

So basically, know your requirements, and pick the closest reference mode preset. If none of them match, set up your own.

Sure, it’s fun to see how nice images look at the full range default preset, Apple XDR Display (P3-1600 nits). I like to use the laptop that way because everything looks so great, with maximum color and contrast range. But if I need to know how the image is going to look within the production constraints of print or less capable (and much more common) displays, I switch to a reference mode preset that better represents those constraints…and that’s really valuable.

Note: The Reference Mode presets are a separate layer from ICC color profiles. Apple added reference mode presets because they can do things an ICC profile can’t, like set a luminance limit.

 

[rebop]

Thanks for the reply! Reading through it now. Agree so far with everything up to my quote

OK, Understand better, but still not clear.
You edit standard images in LRc for Web in what setting?
You print using what setting? Nits?
If all looks great in P3 600, but not in D6500 (or D5000) what do you do? Adjust in D6500 and then hope P3 still looks good?

I am not used to having to change an ICC profile for different functions and have been that way since LR1. To this day on my PC. So unsure how my workflow should/will change.

Thanks again.

 

[Conrad Chavez]

Similar to other workflows, it depends on what you need out of your definitive or reference version.

If the photo is an all-time great, and you want to edit it in a way that takes advantage of any potential medium (print, on-screen HDR, etc.) then you edit the original in Lightroom Classic with the display set to full range quality. Then, if you want, before exporting to limited range media (print, SDR web, etc.) then you might temporarily switch down to another display preset to preview the specific medium you’re about to export for. And maybe enable soft-proofing in Lightroom Classic. If that tells you that the image needs media-specific edits that are sufficiently different that you don’t want to mess up the original, then you make a virtual copy/proof copy and edit that copy for that medium.

If a photo is destined for one specific medium and you don’t think it will be edited for anything else in the future, in this case you can change the display settings to the final delivery medium early on as you edit, and leave it that way as you do the edit and then export. For example, if you were asked to shoot and edit 100 images for an online catalog on a website, and the website is the only place those images will ever been seen, then you could change your display to simulate web constraints (sRGB, luminance limited to around 160) and do the whole project under those display settings.

Note: Apple didn't invent this way of setting up displays. It’s similar to how it’s worked for many years for advanced pro color displays that support true hardware calibration, like Eizo ColorEdge or NEC SpectraView displays. For example, a Windows PC user who bought a SpectraView 10 years ago might have already been using display settings this way for 10 years. They would have created SpectraView presets that let them specify color gamut, luminance, contrast ratio, etc. to meet specific output requirements, and switch among them as needed from project to project. In fact I did buy a SpectraView 10 years ago for my Mac and I do switch among multiple calibration presets I created for it, so when Apple started using Reference Modes, to me they looked very familiar.

 

[clee01l]

I'm not sure where Conrad is referencing. I use a colorimeter and calibrate my screen(s) to obtain a color profile that is used in Lightroom and everywhere else. I have 3 screens (two) HDR (1600 and 1000 nits) and one SDR (400nits). everything is set to Gamma 2.2 and D6500.

 

[Conrad Chavez]

I'm not sure where Conrad is referencing. I use a colorimeter and calibrate my screen(s) to obtain a color profile that is used in Lightroom and everywhere else. I have 3 screens (two) HDR (1600 and 1000 nits) and one SDR (400nits). everything is set to Gamma 2.2 and D6500.

We’re talking about the Reference Mode presets found in macOS System Settings > Displays. Reference Mode presets are available only for recent higher-end Apple displays for Macs and iPad Pros. Their settings interact with the display hardware, not through ICC profiles.

If I remember correctly, you have some non-Apple displays, like an Asus ProArt? If you don’t have any Apple-made displays, then you’ll never see the Reference Mode presets. Instead, a display like an Asus ProArt will have its own hardware presets, and your calibrations apply either through custom hardware presets managed (I think) through Asus ProArt Calibration software which interacts with the hardware directly. If you have displays that don’t support direct hardware calibration, then you’re profiling those using custom ICC display profiles.

I think this is how it works out for the major pro display brands, but since I haven’t owned them all, someone can correct me if needed:

Display product line	Hardware presets adjusted by
NEC SpectraView	SpectraView II application
Asus ProArt	ProArt Calibration application
Eizo ColorEdge	Eizo ColorNavigator application
BenQ SW & PD	BenQ Palette Master application
Apple (Mac and iPad Pro) except consumer level	macOS System Settings > Displays > Reference Mode Presets
Generic displays (most of them on the market), and consumer level or older Mac/iPad displays	Hardware calibration presets aren‘t used; use a third-party color measuring device to generate a custom ICC display profile that’s installed in macOS or Windows.

 

[clee01l]

We’re talking about the Reference Mode presets found in macOS System Settings > Displays. Reference Mode presets are available only for recent higher-end Apple displays for Macs and iPad Pros. Their settings interact with the display hardware, not through ICC profiles.

If I remember correctly, you have some non-Apple displays, like an Asus ProArt?

Thanks, for the clarification. You are correct I don't have any Apple Displays except for my iPadPro. And I am not sure if my iPadPro is recent enough to include reference mode. My ASUS Pro Art Displays came with a factory calibration and my Colorimeter can satisfactorily produce accurate colors.

 

[rebop]

"Similar to other workflows, it depends on what you need out of your definitive or reference version."

I have been with Windows since Windows 1. Lightroom since Lightroom 1. This is NOT like any other workflow I have ever encounterered. I calibrate my monitor to sRGB, Gamma 2.2 maybe 6500 if available and done. For everything.

I will say with new knowledge., I tried Photography D6500 and raised NITS to 300 and 400 and that would be workable for me. BUT, you say that could produce blown out prints. So still confused....

OK, virtual copy. Hmmm, more steps than I am used to. And, I treat all my saved images as "all time greats" I toss those that do not meet a certain level of keeperness. They usually will go online, but could be printed 10% of the time. Maybe a photo book now and then.

Luminance at 160 does not seem usuable to me. For much anything.

 

[clee01l]

I will say with new knowledge., I tried Photography D6500 and raised NITS to 300 and 400 and that would be workable for me. BUT, you say that could produce blown out prints. So still confused....

If you process an image using HDR, you must consider the SDR representation of that image as well . Since most of your exports are likely to be seen by people using SDR monitors. The same holds true for Printing. If you are going to print from LrC or use a 3rd party, you should softproof in the Develop module using a color profile that matches the printer and paper.

You now have a monitor that can display DCI-P3 so calibration to SRGB is not advised or desirable.

 

[rebop]

Cannot understand your reply above at all. Cletus. Does not tell me what settings to use when or why. Or how to cusomize a prest to what is that makes life easier.
No worries. BENQ has a seminar today. I already sent them this question on workflow. Will see how they advise to handle what calibration when for LRc.
Thanks.

 

[clee01l]

Cannot understand your reply above at all. Cletus. Does not tell me what settings to use when or why. Or how to cusomize a prest to what is that makes life easier.
No worries. BENQ has a seminar today. I already sent them this question on workflow. Will see how they advise to handle what calibration when for LRc.
Thanks.

I'm saying that if you calibrate your HDR capable monitor to use an SDR profile (sRGB) you lose any advantage the more capable monitor offers. Lightroom Classic uses a version of ProPhotoRGB, You should calibrate your monitor to Rec2020 not sRGB. The graph below compares the Gamuts of various color profiles.

I don't have an Apple display, but Apple Displays are tuned to DCI-P3. I'm not sure that the Apple Display reference mode is any better than using a Colorimeter if you have one. They are certainly better than no calibration at all. Even if I had an expensive Appl display, I still think I would use my Spyder X2 colorimeter to calibrate and adjust the monitor for changing ambient light conditions.

 

[Johan Elzenga]

Even if I had an expensive Apple display, I still think I would use my Spyder X2 colorimeter to calibrate and adjust the monitor for changing ambient light conditions.

If you have an Apple monitor that uses Reference Mode Presets, then you cannot do that. Using an icc-profile is simply not an option with such a monitor.

 

[Conrad Chavez]

This stuff gets confusing very quickly, it’s true. Studying it can make one’s head hurt…

Rec.2020: Yes, this is the standard color space for HDR digital cinema, definitely the standard moving forward. But, like ProPhoto RGB, you can’t buy an affordable display that can reproduce anywhere close to all those colors. It’s more relevant to calibrate to the native color space of your panel, typically P3 or Adobe RGB if it’s wide gamut or sRGB if it isn’t wide gamut.

Also, very important: Rec.2020 is like ProPhoto RGB in that because no common output devices can reproduce it, it’s intended much more as a working space and not a display space. As has been done in Photoshop since Photoshop 5 (not CS5, version 5 in 1999), you want to make sure you separate the concepts of working color space, display color space, and delivery (output/export) color space:

• In pro video, to preserve maximum quality while editing, projects can use a working space of Rec.2020 (it’s often said that they are “in a Rec.2020 container”) while the color grade and final deliverable specify P3, and the display is P3. That is exactly the same philosophy as…
• In Lightroom Classic, the internal working space is ProPhoto RGB (again to preserve maximum quality while editing), but nobody calibrates their display to that and few have a reason to export in ProPhoto RGB unless it’s going to Photoshop for further editing. All images in Lightroom Classic are automatically edited in ProPhoto RGB because you can’t change that, and then exported to whatever the delivery medium requires (sRGB, Adobe RGB. P3…). If you have a wide-gamut display, to ensure that editing and grading match delivery specs, you may enable soft-proofing in the Develop module, switch the display to a hardware preset limiting it to the delivery specs, or both (they have different benefits).
• In Photoshop, the working space is either the document color space (its embedded profile), or for documents with no profile, it’s the working space in Edit > Color Settings. And as in Lightroom Classic or video editing, if a different color space is required for final delivery then you export (or save) a copy to that.

Another thing to be clear about: Reference Mode presets are not the same as ICC profiling. But they work together… (see next reply)

 

[Conrad Chavez]

If you have an Apple monitor that uses Reference Mode Presets, then you cannot do that. Using an icc-profile is simply not an option with such a monitor.

Close, but it would be more accurate to say that with hardware calibrated displays that have hardware presets, the role of the ICC display profile goes from being transformational to mostly informational. From the user point of view, the user no longer has to manage the ICC display profile directly. But that display profile is still there, and still important behind the scenes.

Most of the displays on the planet don’t offer hardware level calibration. If they’re not accurate and you run profiling software, all it will do is generate an ICC profile, which tells the OS how far off the display is, and the OS compensates by changing the color values sent to it, so that what you see is corrected color. This is what most are used to: Run the calibrator, the display profile gets updated, and the OS uses that profile to adjust the colors sent to the display.

When a display uses hardware presets (whether it’s Apple’s, Eizo’s, Asus’s, etc.), the ICC display profile is still there, still generated, and still used. The difference is that with hardware calibrated displays, the OS no longer has to make major shifts to the color data to get it to look accurate on the screen, because the calibration was done in the display itself. This can improve display quality (one less major color change). Now, the display profile’s job is mostly to tell the OS what specs the display is using, and the OS will just send the color data mostly unchanged. (I say mostly because displays aren’t going to be 100% perfect after calibration, just a lot closer than without calibration.)

Two examples:

For an Apple XDR display using Reference Mode presets, all presets are based on the baseline hardware calibration, which is represented by an ICC profile stored in the OS level ColorSync folder. This profile is presumably generated at the factory for the specific display panel in the unit. What do you do in the (rare) event that you think it needs calibration? You do the procedure in the Apple help article Use Full Calibration in the Pro Display Calibrator (demonstrated in detail by Art in a great video on his YouTube channel, Ultimate Calibration Guide for Apple 14" & 16" MacBook Pro XDR Display - This is the way!). That procedure updates the display internally, and generates an updated ICC profile for the OS to refer to, all creating a new verified baseline calibration that the Reference Mode presets will be relative to. You can see the profile in Apple ColorSync Utility in the picture below. (The long profile name is based on the display hardware ID, notice that it’s stored at the system level.) Art demonstrates finding this same profile about 18 minutes into his video.

For my NEC SpectraView (much older, and like the other brands mentioned, also available for Windows PCs), it’s mostly similar. When I use the SpectraView software to create or update a hardware calibration preset, the internal display hardware is adjusted, and a new ICC display profile for that preset is generated for the OS to refer to. Each hardware calibration preset I make (Adobe RGB at different luminances, sRGB, different contrast ratio…) generates a corresponding ICC display profile. (The profile name here is what I named it, notice that it’s stored at the user account level.) As I switch the hardware preset in the NEC SpectraView software, it automatically changes the ICC display profile selected for the OS, so that the OS keeps up with the change to the hardware preset. So the preset and profile are switched as a matched pair. I think other hardware-calibrated models (by Eizo, BenQ, Asus…) probably work the same way.

In both cases the ICC profile reports the current accuracy of the display (how far it is from the target values). For common displays, the difference is significant enough that the OS must make major changes to the color data on the way to the display. For hardware-calibrated displays, the difference is small enough that the ICC display profile is mostly just reporting the current post-calibration state of the display, and the OS sends color values that need almost no correction.

 

[clee01l]

Rec.2020: Yes, this is the standard color space for HDR digital cinema, definitely the standard moving forward. But, like ProPhoto RGB, you can’t buy an affordable display that can reproduce anywhere close to all those colors. It’s more relevant to calibrate to the native color space of your panel, typically P3 or Adobe RGB if it’s wide gamut or sRGB if it isn’t wide gamut.

I don't disagree. However, calibrating my ASUS PA32UCG results in these graphs.

 

[rebop]

Lots to read

You can use ICC with the high end Apple Monitors. A little hidden, but there! Forgot where I watched it being done.

Ahhh - here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_EIy60UBTU

Yes, Conrad, my head does hurt

OK, before I read further, RC (Rafael Concepcion sp?) has his BENQ's set (did not tell me to what) and uses it for EVERYTHING on one setting, sets LRc to print similar to how I do and says spot on. Print looks like the monitor. Sells the prints for $250 each from Canon Pro 1000 printer.

That's what I would like to do. As I do today. ONE montor setting no matter what I do. And the P3 600 nits seems to be the one if and when I get a Studio Display (or maybe BENQ PD2730S when announced in February). And as I mentioned, using the perhaps more intuitive Photography D6500 look terrible to my eye and unusable for anything. Same with 110 nits sRGB. Could not work with those. But...

OKAY. Now to read.

Conrad, first THANKS!

Most of that I know but you explain much better than I. Your next post may get to it, but ignoring ICC for the moment, Apple Studio Display users suggest (strongly) that you edit P3, Print D6500 and adjust for web using sRGB. So they change monitor presets depending on the task. As it seems you do. I have a hard time with that. And it seems RC does as well. Could not get an in depth answer from him. But hence this topic. I do not want to go through that hassle and want to know how pros use their display "presets" for those tasks. I would like to set once and done. As I have done with every Dell monitor I have owned.

OK, next

Did not know any of that!

So, lots of mention of HDR. I do not believe I do HDR images for anything but the term seems to be used for more than I have used it. For me, 3 or 5 images shot at different stops combined to maximum brights and darks that coul dnot be captured in one image. If there is another meaning of HDR than that, need to know. And if that is it, then I can do that today on a monitor that doesn;t near approach 600 nits much less 1600.

 

[Zenon]

I'm not sure if I'm off topic but I have a 2019 iMac Intel 5K retina and a 2020 MacBook Air M1 with a retina LCD. I have used X-rite for monitor calibration for years with an i1 Display Pro puck. The software switched to Calibrate which worked for a while but had I had to pay $40 for an upgrade. My iMac had a red tint. After some searching I found this, which corrected it.

 

[Zenon]

Something I also found out about Mac's when adjusting for brightness. If you attempt to get the correct brightness it can be over or under the suggested amount. If you press Option and Shift together it will increase/decrease brightness by a ½ stop.

 

[Conrad Chavez]

OK, before I read further, RC (Rafael Concepcion sp?) has his BENQ's set (did not tell me to what) and uses it for EVERYTHING on one setting, sets LRc to print similar to how I do and says spot on.…
That's what I would like to do. As I do today. ONE montor setting no matter what I do. And the P3 600 nits seems to be the one if and when I get a Studio Display (or maybe BENQ PD2730S when announced in February).

That’s fine, I mostly work that way. I leave it on wide gamut at print luminance and that works for most things.

I was just making the point that none of us should assume anyone else’s recommendation for display settings is The One, that it always needs to be tied to our specific final delivery requirements. If your requirements are a print on a desktop printer, that’s one setting. If you only create images for web pages, that’s another different setting.

For the people who work on both from time to time, the ability of pro displays to switch hardware calibration presets means it’s easy to make the display represent different delivery requirements in seconds. You’re not stuck with a wide gamut display when trying to view as sRGB because you can choose a hardware preset that actually limits the display to sRGB. (This is more of a concern for apps that aren’t color managed or can’t soft proof.)

So, lots of mention of HDR. I do not believe I do HDR images for anything but the term seems to be used for more than I have used it. For me, 3 or 5 images shot at different stops combined to maximum brights and darks that coul dnot be captured in one image. If there is another meaning of HDR than that, need to know. And if that is it, then I can do that today on a monitor that doesn;t near approach 600 nits much less 1600.

The HDR you’re talking about is the older meaning: HDR merge, such as the Lightroom Classic command Photo > Photo Merge > HDR, or the similar command in Photoshop. For the past decade or so, we have used those commands to create a high dynamic range image that we then have had to tone-map down to a narrower dynamic range, either SDR (for on-screen viewing) or print.

But when we are talking about 1000+nit displays, this is about HDR previewing/editing, a new feature in recent versions of Lightroom and Camera Raw. The higher luminance lets you see a lot more highlight detail than on (traditional) SDR displays. You are not having to mash the highlights down as much as on a non-HDR display. It looks more lifelike. And HDR editing works with single images, not just HDR merges.

An Adobe engineer wrote an excellent article about HDR editing:
High Dynamic Range Explained

Greg Benz has also done a great job with blog posts and videos about HDR editing:
https://gregbenzphotography.com/hdr/

That said, for any images you want to print, HDR editing won’t be a big benefit because paper can never be as bright as needed to reproduce true HDR highlights. So if printing is your thing, there is no need to switch on the HDR mode; it certainly won’t improve your prints. You can keep editing your HDR merges as SDR as you have been.

(The 1000 nits that Adobe requires for this feature is needed to show highlights at closer to how bright they really are when seen in real life by your eyes. 1600 nits is only a peak value for specular highlights, not for the entire screen.)

 

[rebop]

Soa Studio display at 600 Nits would not even be in the game for HDR editing. Might make all this a little easier.
And if this "new" HDR cannot be printed, nor viewed in web pages, where is it useful?

And thanks for the continued great information and explanations.

 

[Gnits]

The reality is the screens we carry around in our pockets (ie phones) have very high specs and are getting better all the time. The majority of images viewed now are on such devices. It is appropriate that the tools we use to generate such images are tooled up to cater for such. Printing to paper is now a niche activity. However, the likely hood is that the majority of screens on desks still fall into srgb category.

For me, this is a hobby and my needs are srgb images for web / email and the occasional high quality fine art print.

But the next gen of screens, for phones, gamers, advertising will work on the fact that HDR is better than SDR, higher frequency displays are more desire-able and more pixels always makes the prev gen obsolete.

The reality, when upgrading hardware (eg screen) then choices on next gen tech are always difficult.

 

[Zenon]

That HDR link has good info. Thanks

 

[Conrad Chavez]

And if this "new" HDR cannot be printed, nor viewed in web pages, where is it useful?

Remember…print is a minority medium at this point.
It’s getting difficult to find a new TV or smartphone display that doesn’t have at least some support for HDR. (There are different levels of HDR support.) Almost all new models support HDR content, although not all of their displays reach 1000 nits.

That’s where HDR is useful…on the displays that are by far the most commonly sold, smartphones and TVs.

As far as web pages, that’s in transition. Support for HDR in web browsers and social media is not complete. The two articles I linked to above go over how to display HDR images on the web, and in fact, both articles include HDR examples that can be viewed only in supported browsers.

Just as color management support was once rare in browsers but now common, the same will happen with HDR. It’s only a matter of time.

 

[UtahLlama]

Also, very important: Rec.2020 is like ProPhoto RGB in that because no common output devices can reproduce it, it’s intended much more as a working space and not a display space. As has been done in Photoshop since Photoshop 5 (not CS5, version 5 in 1999), you want to make sure you separate the concepts of working color space, display color space, and delivery (output/export) color space:

This is excellent advice. Separating the concepts will help your head hurt less, (slightly).

The way I think of it is:
Your choice of Working Space will limit what you could see.
Your monitor profile maps the extremities of what your display is capable of.
The Intersection of the two is what is actually displayed.

Clee's Monitor is capable of showing 94% of P3 but also some colours outside of P3. So he's better off not using P3 as a working space. However if he wanted to see how the image would look on someones cheaper monitor he could limit his display to P3 or sRGB.

ProPhotoRGB and Rec2020 are very much Working Spaces only, the R G B primaries are aspirational. Rec2020 maybe possible in the future but really unlikely short term. ProPhoto uses 2 primaries that ought to be described as Octarine, they are just math and can't ever be real no matter how much tech improves or how much you spend.

Lightroom is color managed so knows the limits of what your monitor can display so constantly converts to fit that intersection.

When you proof for print, think of it as adding another intersection, your monitor can only display where the three intersect.

 

[LRList001]

The way I think of it is:
Your choice of Working Space will limit what you could see.
Your monitor profile maps the extremities of what your display is capable of.
The Intersection of the two is what is actually displayed.

Which means that when you look at a set of gamuts, (eg #11 above), 100% of what you see is constrained by what your monitor can display. Ie, you can NEVER see anything outside the gamut of the device you are using and what is displayed at #11 is an approximation. It is also helpful to understand how out of gamut colours (pixels if you like) are moved into the gamut of your display device. It is called rendering intent and can have a major effect on the appearance of your colours. Remember, your display device can never display anything outside its own gamut, so no matter what, out of gamut colours HAVE to be shifted into gamut.