New Monitor problems

[JIP]

O.K. so I just bought my first new computer I am coming from a long line of hand-me-down frankenstein monsters. The new machine is an HP I know I know some of you can insert your groans here but for the money I got a good package and it was all I could afford. So my question is this, on my last monitor all my pics seemed really dark it was just a standard whatever monitor nothing special now, I have a sweet 19" HD flatscreen LCD monitor super sharp and clear but now all my pics and everything else games, web, etc. seems really light. Is it just my eyes not being used to a good monitor or are they just light out of the box. Is there anything I can do short of buying a Spider or some other monitor calibration device any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[markc]

LCDs are a lot brighter than a CRT and take some getting used to, especially if the CRT was old and fading. That's why they have contrast issues. It took a while for me to get used to mine. A spyder is a good idea anyway, if you can afford it.

 

[fmw]

I use an HP1940 monitor. Best Monitor I've ever had and I have had many, many, many of them. I'm sure you'll enjoy getting away from the muddy look of those old ones in no time.

 

[JIP]

Well the montor I got is an HP w19b if that means anything to you and I do love it but I just want to get the maximum resolution from it. It still seems a little washed out to me but I do agree all my old monitors (all hand-me-downs) were muddy and this is a welcome change.

 

[Johnboy2978]

might help to calibrate it as well. If you have abode photoshop, you can go to the control panel and run Adobe Gamma. If you don't have that, you can try this download. It called monitor calibration wizard and does pretty much the same thing as Adobe Gamma. Sounds like you need to adjust the brightness and contrast at least, and probably fine tune the R/B/G as well.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloadget.php?id=3912&file=10&evp=3c41a829a308b349af7d2967baad46f3

 

[Big Mike]

When I got my LCD screen...it never looked right and didn't match the photos when I printed or sent for printing. I tried to Calibrate with Adobe Gamma and it didn't really help. I finally bit the bullet and got the Spyder...now my monitor is great.

 

[JIP]

So I was looking in the B+H catalog today and saw 3 different spiders at 3 different pricepoints $99, $199. $299 what is the difference and also if you do use the spider how often do you have to calibrate

 

[Big Mike]

I'm not 100% sure...but I think the actual Spyder (II) hardware is the same with either package. The difference is in the software that comes with it. The box has a good comparison of the three (check the Colorvision website). I just bought the cheapest one (Express, I think).

I'm not sure how often you are supposed to do it :scratch:...but you can set it to remind you in 4 weeks, 6 weeks, 8 weeks...6 months...etc.

 

[markc]

With CRTs you need to do it more often that LCDs, if I remember right. CRTs darken over time. The main thing is to make sure it's been on a while and warmed up.