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The RAW file is simply raw sensor data (compressed), so is usually 12- or 14-bit, doesn't have a color space or color curves assigned to it, and hasn't yet decomposed the Bayer filter (which is where most of the compression comes from - the RAW data only has one color per pixel). The way it usually works is you use a RAW conversion program to convert the RAW file into another image format. That kinda defeats the purpose of having a RAW file (the exact camera sensor data the camera recorded).
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