Gamma encoding makes the numbers larger/whiter. Linear: sRGB gamma encoded 0.0 -- is black 0.0 0.20 (18% gray card) 0.4845 (#7C7C7C) 0.214 0.5 (#808080) 0.5 0.7354 (#BCBCBC) 1.0 -- is the white point 1.0 TEST 1: Surface format: B8G8R8A8_UNorm Surface color space: SRGBNonLinear I wrote middle gray. The output was DARKER than middle gray. Conclusion: I need to encoded it into SRGB, since the format is UNorm, but the expected color space is SRGB. TEST 2: Surface format: B8G8R8A8_sRGB Surface color space: SRGBNonLinear I wrote middle gray. The output was IDENTICAL to middle gray. Conclusion: I dont need to encode it into SRGB, since the format is sRGB and that means vulkan does it for me.