ADDITIONAL SYSTEM INFORMATION :
It does not seem to be system-specific.

A DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM :
By default, the JPEG writer subsamples chroma 4:1:1, and does not perform gamma-correction while subsampling. This can lead to surprising results, aka, destroy the visible image.

This can be easily seen with the gamma_dalai_lama_gray.jpg example from http://www.ericbrasseur.org/gamma.html.

STEPS TO FOLLOW TO REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM :
1. Download gamma_dalai_lama_gray.jpg
2. Compile provided .java file
3. Run resulting binary
4. Look at output.jpg

EXPECTED VERSUS ACTUAL BEHAVIOR :
EXPECTED -
Resulting image looks like original image.
ACTUAL -
Resulting image is completely gray.

---------- BEGIN SOURCE ----------
public class BugExample {
  public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
    BufferedImage image = ImageIO.read(new File("gamma_dalai_lama_gray.jpg"));
    JPEGImageWriteParam jpegParams = new JPEGImageWriteParam(null);
    jpegParams.setCompressionMode(ImageWriteParam.MODE_EXPLICIT);
    jpegParams.setCompressionQuality(1f);
    jpegParams.setProgressiveMode(ImageWriteParam.MODE_DISABLED);
    ImageWriter writer = ImageIO.getImageWritersByFormatName("jpg").next();
    writer.setOutput(ImageIO.createImageOutputStream(new File("output.jpg")));
    writer.write(null, new IIOImage(image, null, null), jpegParams);
  }
}
---------- END SOURCE ----------

CUSTOMER SUBMITTED WORKAROUND :
There is no public API for doing so, but it can be worked around by setting HsamplingFactor and VsamplingFactor on the metadata specified on the IIOImage, e.g., by round-tripping the metadata through the XML representation, and overwriting the corresponding nodes.

See https://stackoverflow.com/questions/14149739/disable-java-imageio-chroma-subsampling

FREQUENCY : always