LR2 and PS Eelements8 show different RGB for the same color - Please, HELP

Question

LR2, Elements 8, Color Chart 24 (CC24),
Please help. I may need to reset LR2 to factory default or to something else.
For the following RAW adjustments the tone curve set to Linear, Contrast and Brightness to 0
I have photographed a CC24 in RAW. Opened image in Elements 8 and adjusted Exposure to 243 for the White patch #19
Then with with WB tool clicked on the 50% Gray and then readjusted exposure for the CC24 listed 243 for #19.
Now all Gray patches #19 through #24 as listed in the table or very close R=G=B (243, 200, 160, 122, 85, 52)
The RGB numbers for Red Patch #15 are R=169, G=58, B=63
The CC24 listed RGB for Red patch #15 are R=175, G=54, B=60
Also saved the adjusted image as JPG
Then opened the image in LR2 and adjusted exposure and WB as described above for Elements 8.
The Gray patches #19 through #24 show RGB numbers as listed in the table or very close.
The RGB numbers for the Red patch #15 are R=138, G=84, B=64.
However the CC24 RGB for Red patch #15 are R=175, G=54, B=60
Exported the image as JPG
Then opened the two saved JPG images in Elements. these two images read almost identical RGB numbers for each patch.
How can I fix LR2 RGB reading. Recently I have saved as defaults the tone curve set to Linear, Contrast and Brightness to 0 and probably did it wrong. My be I need to reset LR2 to the factory defaults to restore its correct reading or something else.
Please help.
Leonid

Answer 1

Q1. Is that means that when LR2 Exported  RAW to JPG the correct numbers resulted from conversion?
You should be careful with the term RGB numbers. Such numbers are only useful when you know the working space. For example, sRGB, adobeRGB, prophotoRGB, melissaRGB, etc. The numbers I calculated are simply the reference numbers (find them here: http://www.brucelindbloom.com/index.html?ColorCheckerRGB.html ). I recalculated the values in the display space used in Lightroom from Bruce Lindbloom's values in normal prophotoRGB which is a simple arithmetic excercise. When Lightroom exports a jpeg, you can set the color space in the export panel and it will do the conversion for you meaning that it will translate between its internal colorspace and the desired export color space. In an external program, you will usually be working in sRGB, adobeRGB, or prophotoRGB, which are the three main spaces that Lightroom exports to. As you can see from Bruce's tables in the link above the RGB values for these patches in all these spaces are different.
For example RGB for MacBeth CC24 Red patch (#15) was shown as 203, 0, 0 and x-rite RGB is 174, 54, 60.
They are actually the exact same chart. As I say above the values are meaningless if you don't know the colorspace. The first RGB triplet you quote makes no sense at all. It does not correspond to any colorspace listed for the MacBeth chart. The zeros indicate that the color is far outside of the gamut of the used color space, so the value is basically useless. The second is sort of close to the sRGB value.
Q.2 Would it mean that your shown table should not be applied to (used with) x-rite CC24 but to MacBeth only?
They should be pretty good for both as the chart is supposed to be the same.
Q3. Have you created your posted LR table or it was provided by Adobe?
I created it myself. Since you have a colorchecker, you should look into creating a camera profile using it. This can be done with X-rite's excellent passport utility (free download from their website), or with Adobe's free DNG profile Editor. Simply shoot a chart in the right light conditions and run the raw/dng file through this utility and a profile is created that will allow you to get very good color rendering from your camera if you shoot raw.