New LCD monitor, seems awfully bright!! help!

[sdsumike619]

Hi all,
I purchased a new 22" Acer LCD monitor and things are looking quite bright. Is there a simple way that I can calibrate what I'm seeing on this monitor so that it's somewhat close to being in tune with what things are supposed to look like on the screen? I'm using Sony Vegas for my NLE...

[jagabo]

How bright you want it is a matter of room lighting and personal preference. What's needs calibration is the black level and contrast (and colors too if you're picky). There are hardware devices to help with this but you can pretty much eyeball brightness/contrast using a gray scale chart.

http://www.belle-nuit.com/testchart.html

You should be able to see a difference between all four of the bright whites (255, 251, 239, 231) and dark grays (20, 12, 4, 0 -- you may not see much difference between 4 and 0). You should also be able to see the difference between the medium grays (16, 43... 208, 235). The grayscale and bluescale bars should be very smooth. You should not see significant banding in them.

Here's a useful monitor test program:

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=960

[redwudz]

You should have some adjustments within your monitor. The brightness on most monitors is set a bit high, IMO. You can turn them down. Calibrating is a bit more complicated. Most times that is for color matching. If you are using a printer, there are utilities that can adjust your screen and printer so you have 'What You See Is What You Get' for your printer output. Not needed most times unless you are printing for export to other programs.

[jagabo]

And some LCD monitors have backlight controls in addition to brightness (black level) and contrast (white level) controls. In general, you want the backlight low (to save power and increase the lifespan of the lamps) and the contrast high.

[sdsumike619]

Something is just strange about this monitor. The brightness control on the monitor seems to have no effect on the black pluge bars in the SMPTE Bars. At the monitor's brightest, I'm supposed to see a clear difference between all three. Then I lower the brightness until there is no difference between the left and middle bar and the right bar is just slightly lighter. But on this monitor, when I lower the brightness, it doesn't seem to affect what I see on the screen. I think I might send this monitor back.. In case you're wondering, it's the Acer X223W

[jagabo]

Note that some manufacturers use different names for black level and white level. I think Sony uses Picture for white level and Contrast for black level. And generally, the two controls are not completely independent.

Be careful with SMPTE color bars. Are you watching a YUV source with video overlay? Or are you viewing an RGB source with GDI (like the Windows picture and FAX viewer)? If you're adjusting your monitor for normal Windows desktop use you do not want to use a YUV source and video overlay. Using an RGB source you should be able to see all the black bars. Adjust the monitor for the desktop, then use the proc amp controls to adjust brightness and contrast for video overlay.

[sdsumike619]

I have no idea. I'm just opening Vegas 8, going to the media generator, and dragging the smtpe bars to the timeline. Then I'm looking at the bars and trying to set the black level based on what my eyes are seeing with the pluge bars. I called newegg and they're letting me return the monitor. So I need to do some research and find another brand that adjusts properly. I was using a HANNS-G before this one and as I recall, it worked fine so maybe I will go with that brand again...

[jagabo]

I have no idea. I'm just opening Vegas 8, going to the media generator, and dragging the smtpe bars to the timeline. Then I'm looking at the bars and trying to set the black level based on what my eyes are seeing with the pluge bars.

That is the wrong way to adjust a computer monitor. Use a simple RGB color chart (BMP image) with gray scale from 0 to 255. Display that with the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer. You should be able to differentiate every shade of gray except maybe a few of the darkest.

[sdsumike619]

You mean this image?

testchart.tif

[jagabo]

You mean this image?

testchart.tif

Yes, you can use that one. On my monitor I can just barely see the difference between 4 and 0 (in a darkened room) but all the others are easily distinguished. Or use the NTest program I linked to earlier.

[sdsumike619]

That's why I think there's something wrong with this monitor. I can't see the difference between the bright whites no matter what I do with the settings on the monitor..

[jagabo]

I can't see the difference between the bright whites no matter what I do with the settings on the monitor..

Make sure the graphics card's brightness and contrast settings are set to default.

[MOVIEGEEK]

I would try this test:
http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/all_tests.php

You can also adjust brightness and contrast in your videocard software:





BTWid you install the monitor drivers?

[sdsumike619]

I put everything on the card itself to the default.. I'll try that other test, thanks =) Maybe I won't have to send this monitor back..

[jagabo]

Are you using a DVI cable? Or VGA?

I would try this test:
http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/all_tests.php

Nice site!

[sdsumike619]

Funny you ask that because I first used the DVI cable and discovered that I could not set the native resolution. Went on the internet and did some searching and found others that had the same issue and the fix was to use the VGA cable instead. Sure enough, it fixed it so I could use the correct resolution..

[sdsumike619]

Ugh, I give up on this; I can't make this monitor do what the tests say I should be seeing "all 32 bands should be visible" What brand LCD do you guys use?

[jagabo]

I have Samsung and ViewSonic LCD monitors.

Regarding the "all 32 bands" claim, you may not be able to distinguish the darkest few, even a a completely dark room.

[sdsumike619]

The samsung and viewsonics both let you make the necessary adjustments?

[jagabo]

The samsung and viewsonics both let you make the necessary adjustments?

Yes. Also, it's very odd that you couldn't get 1680x1050 resolution via DVI. Make sure you were set to 60 Hz.

[sdsumike619]

I'm not sure why that happened, but apparently it happened to other people too since I found forum posts about the issue. They said the "fix" was to use the VGA so I did that and it worked fine.. I don't recall if I checked to see if it was on 60Hz