# Strange colors

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-colors/191944>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 30, 2003, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-colors/191944 "2003-07-30T18:05:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\
**Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-colors/191944/1 "2003-07-30T18:05:39Z")

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I think there may be something wrong with my monitor and/or adapter.

Apparently the colors I see on my computer look different in other people’s computers, and I have serious trouble with dark things. Some dark pictures look totally black, when apparently other people can see them totally fine. Is there any settings I can tweak to make it look better? (Running XP, with a ASTVision 7L monitor, and geForce mx420 adapter)

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**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\
**Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-colors/191944/2 "2003-07-30T18:39:16Z")

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Is this in games?

If so, use the game’s graphics setting to jack up your brightness. It’s a common problem.

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**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\
**Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-colors/191944/3 "2003-07-30T18:48:34Z")

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Look for “gamma” in the adapter advanced properties. It’s proably at 1.00. Try kicking it up to 1.10 or 1.20 or so.

Also, head over to DisplayMate and pick up a copy of their free demo version at [http://www.displaymate.com/demos.html](http://www.displaymate.com/demos.html) By the time you’ve run through this, you should be seeing more colors and details than you ever thought possible.

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**Author:** ![biqu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@biqu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biqu)\
**Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-colors/191944/4 "2003-07-30T19:04:40Z")

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Some instructions you might find helpful:

[http://aroundcny.com/technofile/texts/tec123000.html](http://aroundcny.com/technofile/texts/tec123000.html)  
[http://aroundcny.com/technofile/texts/tec122798.html](http://aroundcny.com/technofile/texts/tec122798.html)  
[http://aroundcny.com/technofile/texts/tec011203.html](http://aroundcny.com/technofile/texts/tec011203.html)

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**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\
**Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-colors/191944/5 "2003-07-30T21:31:18Z")

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Thanks guys. Everything’s lookin great now!