Even when I bring the brightness all the way up, every time someone e-mails me a pic, I have to photoshop it so it doesn’t look so dark. I’m using a four year old 19" CRT, so I’m wondering if its just “worn out”.
When I look at the poker table in the first pic on this page, the area of the pic where the fireplace is, is black until I save the pic to my desktop and photoshop it.
Is there some way I can brighten this up or is it my monitor or video card?
I just found this web page on monitor adjustment. If you scroll down to the 10 section step wedge, the 8th, 9th, and 10th wedge are all black and look like one black box. This is with the brightness and contrast on my monitor on high.
My guess is that you have a gamma correction problem. This can make images look dark and muddy.
I’d check to see that you have the latest drivers for your video card, that you are using the right profile for your monitor, and that the settings for the video device driver are correct.
The problem is that anything in the display chain can screw up the gamma if it isn’t setup properly.
I’ll go download the newest drivers right now, but how do I do I make sure that I am using the right profile for my monitor, and that the settings for the video device driver are correct?
I’ve had a series of second-hand monitors, and each one slowly faded to dark towards the end. I described the effect here. Getting a replacement monitor ($5 at a yard sale) fixed the problem immediately.
Try Advanced Gamma Corrector. Someone mentioned this on the boards a year or so ago. I’ve been using it since then. My display was slowly turning brown. Write down the settings you use. I have to reset it whenever I reboot. Other than that it’s been great.
It depends on your system. Look for display/video settings on the control panel. This should bring up a set of pages that let you specify the monitor profile and adjust the settings for the video device driver. What settings are available is determined by the device driver. If you are lucky, you will be able to select the right monitor profile by selecting the make and model of your display. There may be other settings that let you adjust the gamma correction. This stuff isn’t standardized on the PC.
one quick thing to check is if your monitor has a self test, and if it is bright and brilliant, or if its dark and washed out too. This will give you a good start if it’s the video card or the monitor