Is there a way to fix my monitor from being to dark?

[bdf24]

The problem lie's mostly in game's. I don't remember it alway's being like this just for the last 4 or 5 month's I guess. It's just so dark. Even on some games like RTCW when the brightness is all the way up in the game it's hard to see stuff. Motocross madness 2 is really dark as well. I've got the "game gamma" jacked up to 151 in the display properties just so I can see. But then the whites are like glowing.

I have'nt tried a new vid card yet to see if that's it. But I just assume it's the monitor. If it is I've heard of a "master brightness adjustment" inside the monitor. Is it safe to go in and adjust this?

Here are what I've got my monitor setting's at:
Contrast 100%
Brightness 100%
Color Scheme 6500.

Any suggestion's. I'll be getting a new vidcard with in the next few week's or so. I'll wait to make any adjustment's to the monitor untill I know that's what it is for sure.

P.S. My monitor is a 17" ViewMate. Res. 1600 x 1200, .25dpi

 

[TT120]

My roomate has the same problem. He has replaced everything else but the vid card including the monitor and it still is too dark in most games. He has an EVGA GeForce 2 ultra and that is the last suspect now.

Do you have the same problem when viewing AVI's as well?

 

[bdf24]

Yes, with AVI's, Mpeg's, as well as my TV tuner card. I have to crank up the gamma and brightness in the program's I use to get light enough to see. But then the whites and bright color's are VERY bright. It does get annoying at time's.

I'll be building a few PC's in the next week for a few people. One's got a geforce 2, another with an ATI Xpert 2000 Pro 32MB, and the other's got a Radeon 7500. I'll throw a movie or two and maybe Motocross Madness on those system's and see if it's still really dark. That will atleast let me know if it's the monitor or my Radeon 64 DDR.

 

[rivercom9]

Does your monitor seem to have a tint to it. If so, the monitor is the probable suspect since the one that I am using now is the same way. Everything is very dark and I have to configure the color settings on the vid card in order to see things better. After changing out my monitorwith a friends for a while, the color was back to normal so the suspect was the monitor in my case.

 

[IFMU]

I would say somethings in the monitor. What? Sorry no clue! I was hoping for answers here! I got this monitor about a year ago and it was great for the first few months.... But it got a little dark... grr... I noticed it and its not real bad, but can be sometimes. Like when Im watching a DVD or something on my tv card. Ive noticed that it does get better if I try to force it to reset to all the original setting, turn it off, cut power etc. Then turn it back on after a few.... Not sure if its my eyes (which is highly possible!) or if I messed something up when I was playin with the settings in the first few weeks. I have swapped out several vid cards, and all do the same thing........

 

[bdf24]

There's no tint at all in the monitor. Just to dark. 2D is fine for the most part, except when watching video. But 3D is really bad. I seem to remember when I had my V5 5500 (the card I had before the Radeon), I had to actually darken my my game gamma to get a crisper image cause it was to bright and washed out. But I can't remember for the life of me if all was well when I first got this Radeon. I guess I'll find out.

One thing I forgot to mention. When I play thru my TV the picture is bright. Not dark at all. That's what originaly led me to believe it was the monitor.

 

[o770]

if i understand well the problem is really about the monitor. when they get old they use to show things darker. i have a 5 or 6 yrs old briliiance 105 the same way. 100% contrast, 100% brightness more display color settings adjusted and dark screen not only on 3d applications. if you think your desktop is also a bit dark thats about your monitor.

 

[ThePunkGeek]

i was having the same prob but it ened up being my video card so i replaced it. but still in games its darker then it should be at max contrass/brightness.

 

[ThePunkGeek]

if i understand well the problem is really about the monitor. when they get old they use to show things darker. i have a 5 or 6 yrs old briliiance 105 the same way. 100% contrast, 100% brightness more display color settings adjusted and dark screen not only on 3d applications. if you think your desktop is also a bit dark thats about your monitor.

this might be true but in my case i pluged the monitor up to another rig and it worked just fine.

it could be somehting with the display drivers or some setting thats windows has.

 

[o770]

sometime ago i started putting a box fan just beside the monitor pulling fresh air upon it and that made img seems a bit more clear, colors are more clear. i noticed that besides the darker screen the colors tonality was also a bit more warm. the box fan changed that a bit and the monitor wont get so hot anymore at least.

 

[rivercom9]

So do you think that heat can play a large part in this also?

 

[o770]

im not sure.
i asked for ppl opinions about this sometime ago, when i first noticed the difference the box fan made.
monitors r made to work warm, otherwise they would have their own fan. even so many ppl use to cool the monitor the same way, thats how i got the idea.
its possible that when the monitor gets old things like heat starts influence more. the box fan is more supposed to keep my monitor alive for some more time, because mine is close to die.

there is a website where they have a monitor fan to sell. unfortunately i lost the url but someone here must know. i cant get it because i live in Brasil, but i definitely would. its not something expensive at all.

 

[rivercom9]

Or we could try to make it ourselves.

 

[Breadfan]

If you feel it is the monitor, there should be ways of turning up the brightness internally, usually via knobs on the flyback or small dials on the back of the cathode gun that change brightness and the focus.

If your desktop adn TV tuner are normal then you might not have a monitor problem. Then again, if your contrast and brightness are up all the way and the desktop seems ok than that is too dim. With birghtness and contrast all the way up it should be TOO bright...

That way you'll have some room to brighten things up when you want to, such as in a dark room on a 3d game...

Basically, 100% brightness and contrast should be too bright and look washed out...

Mike

 

[rivercom9]

Yeah, Ive got my brightness and contrast all the way up and its still very dark. I have to use the vid card gamma correction to make up for the darkness, but Im still left with a brownish tint making the whites seem like a dirty white.

 

[bdf24]

Yeah, Ive got my brightness and contrast all the way up and its still very dark. I have to use the vid card gamma correction to make up for the darkness, but Im still left with a brownish tint making the whites seem like a dirty white.

Same here, only I don't get the brownish tint making the white's look dirty. I get EXTREMELY bright bright white's. Like if you stare close to the sun.

 

[Starfoxer]

download powerstrip, and you can adjust everything in there like gamma and brightness farther than you would nomrall be able too. im positive this will probably fix it.

 

[Avatar28]

I had a problem like this with a couple of games. Finally figured it out. I had increased the contrast in the Detonator control panels to make my colors more vibrant and rich. This had the side effect of making the darks darker and the brights brighter. The end result is that when turn the brightness up to compensate for the dark darks, the brights are too bright. Try using the display properties in your system to decrease the contrast slightly. That's what I did and it made a huge difference. Also if your room is brightly lit, that can make it harder to see with a high contrast ratio too. We don't have any curtains in our living room where the computer is so it's really bright during the day. RTCW was almost impossible for me to play because I couldn't see anything during the daytime. I finally ended up draping a coat over my head and the monitor (like the hood the old fashioned photographers used to use). That blocked the ambient light and I could see clearly. The hood thing was before I discovered reducing the contrast in the video card's adjustments. Try that and let me know how well it works.

 

[Yakbak]

I always use 9300K color temp. on my monitor...everything just looks clearer and more colorful...

 

[rivercom9]

Yeah, but no matter what combination I try, I always have this annoying brown tint from the dying monitor. Anyone have a monitor that they are willign to sell?