AI
Sunday, October 12, 2003 7:05:20 PM
First thing you need to do is probably properly adjust your monitor. Monitors are not "plug and play". It's not possible for them to be factory adjusted to the video card in your computer. I have yet to ever come across a monitor that was properly adjusted. Most of the time, not even the basic adjustments (making sure it fills the screen and is centered) have been done. And if you have a recent monitor, you need to check/adjust the "geometry", the pincushion, trapezoid, parrellogram, rotation or whatever your monitor has.
Then you need to properly set the contrast, brightness and color temp. I use to run a "hot" 9000k, which gives a "purer" white, but now that I'm into digital photography, I've switched to 6500k. The 9000k has a blue tint to it and a harsh feel, where the 6500k is warmer with a little more yellow and closer to natural light. It gives a better look to pictures. And then I use two brightness levels depending on what I'm using the monitor for and since I have digital controls, it's easy to remember the numbers. For picture viewing and digital photo retouching, I set the monitor to the optimum brightness level, but for everyday use I turn it down a "good" bit. What is optimum for digital photography work, is too bright to stare at all day and is similar to being out in bright sun light. Stare at it all day and your eyes are going to hurt. I've found that most of the internet and "text" type stuff is set for the lower brightness level. You'll come across some graphics that are a little dark, but still acceptable. Most of it is fine.
Here's two sites that go into it in more detail. I would do both sites, and then compare the numbers you get on your adjustments.
http://www.vad1.com/photo/moncal.html
http://www.scarse.org/adjust/
Another thing you can do is turn on font smoothing in Windows. That should get you started. After a few months of digital photograph retouching, I started noticing the curvature of the glass.
I've got what is considered a "flat" CRT tube, but not the newer ones that are prefectly flat. I've got my eye on a 17 LCD, but that would just be for general use. A CRT is better for digital photography work. One of these days I'll upgrade to a prefectly flat screen.
Then you need to properly set the contrast, brightness and color temp. I use to run a "hot" 9000k, which gives a "purer" white, but now that I'm into digital photography, I've switched to 6500k. The 9000k has a blue tint to it and a harsh feel, where the 6500k is warmer with a little more yellow and closer to natural light. It gives a better look to pictures. And then I use two brightness levels depending on what I'm using the monitor for and since I have digital controls, it's easy to remember the numbers. For picture viewing and digital photo retouching, I set the monitor to the optimum brightness level, but for everyday use I turn it down a "good" bit. What is optimum for digital photography work, is too bright to stare at all day and is similar to being out in bright sun light. Stare at it all day and your eyes are going to hurt. I've found that most of the internet and "text" type stuff is set for the lower brightness level. You'll come across some graphics that are a little dark, but still acceptable. Most of it is fine.
Here's two sites that go into it in more detail. I would do both sites, and then compare the numbers you get on your adjustments.
http://www.vad1.com/photo/moncal.html
http://www.scarse.org/adjust/
Another thing you can do is turn on font smoothing in Windows. That should get you started. After a few months of digital photograph retouching, I started noticing the curvature of the glass.
I've got what is considered a "flat" CRT tube, but not the newer ones that are prefectly flat. I've got my eye on a 17 LCD, but that would just be for general use. A CRT is better for digital photography work. One of these days I'll upgrade to a prefectly flat screen. Discover What Traders Are Watching
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