How do I make my screen brighter???

Greenman

I have a 17 inch monitor about 3 years old but I find it is not very bright. I have put the monitor setting as bright as possible, is there a setting to bring the brightness up on the graphic card? and if so how do I access it?
Thanks in advance???

joePC

Right click on Desktop select properties, then settings / advance.
you should find it there.

Thanks joePC

Greenman

Hi JoePC,
Tried that but no go. A new graphics card would that be one way of bringing uo the brightness??:)

bla

try a program called powerstrip
linky

Capt'n Midnight

Sometimes OLD types of monitors can become faint if driver too hard.

Restart in safe mode - is it brighter ?
If so drop the refresh rate or resoulution. Don't drop the refresh rate to 60Hz unless you want headaches.
If it is no brighter in safe mode then you might want to turn the lights down or buy less bright bulbs.

Inside a monitor you have 36,000 volts - that's about 35,900 more than is needed to kill you. If there are any faults in the discharge circuit then most of this voltage would be there hours later. - don't remove the cover.

oneweb

It's not a Gateway by any chance, is it? I have the same probelm - monitor itself is set to highest brightness and contrast by this stage. I can make it brighter by using the Gamma control of my graphics card properties page in display - but of course that only comes into effect once I get into windows.

May be an excuse to get a brand new TFT

voxpop

buy a new monitor - i had an HP 17" and it got very dark. Got a new philips 19" and all is good. With the HP my eyes were in bits always having to work hard to see what was going on

Greenman

The monitor is a Novita bought about 3 years ago. I think I'll try another monitor on my system and see if I can see a difference.
I did buy a TFT but found it really hurt my eyes so I'm selling it off. Pity about my CRT but I think I can get a free 17inch off a pal!!!!
Thanks everybody for your input.

joePC

I did buy a TFT but found it really hurt my eyes

just wondering how a no flicker monitor hurt your eyes.......... never heard of that before!!!!

Thanks joePC...

NóMur

It's not a Gateway by any chance, is it? I have the same probelm - monitor itself is set to highest brightness and contrast by this stage

I have an old 17" monitor from Gateway with the same problem. I've long since updated the rest of the system by now but still have the EV700 monitor!

Tivoli

you should always use a screen at the lowest possibal brightness to prolong its life,


heres how
make sure there is no reflections on the screen, tip it down a bit to avoid the lights hitting it, do not face the screen towards a window
1) turn contrast up to 100%
2) turn brightness down to 0%
if screen is still bright start turning down the contrasy (unlikely) until its too dark
now screen is too dark start turning up the contrast slowly about 5% every 1 mins ( if contrast hits 100% start doing the same on the brightness) until your not struggling to see things anymore,

screen saver should be very dark, like a black screen with some crap moving around.

avoid going above these

15inch screen 800x600 @85hz
17inch 1024x786 @85hz

my 17 sony screen is 4 years old it always ran clear at 1024x768@ 85hz brightness 0% contrast 80%, and its used about 30hrs a week

Mad Mike

I had same problem with an old Gateway moitor and heres what you can do:

The following is for an ATI card:

Desktop - Right click - properties - settings - advanced - colour - there is a brightness, Gamma and contrast slider which can be used to extend the range of the monitor controls. Try all three.

The above is for an ATI card but when I had the gateway monitor I had an Nvidia card and it had similar settings. If I remember correctly there was a seperate slider for red, green and blue - just raise them all together to increase overall brightness.

Greenman

Mad Mike wrote

Desktop - Right click - properties - settings - advanced - colour - there is a brightness, Gamma and contrast slider which can be used to extend the range of the monitor controls. Try all three.

I have XP can't seem to get into ajusting the card itself. For the net and e-mail all is fine but all my photos look very dark. I'm still thinking could a new graphics card sort that out? ATM I've an onboard one.

joePC wrote

just wondering how a no flicker monitor hurt your eyes.......... never heard of that before!!!!

Well Joe my best friend in Ireland experienced sore eyes from TFT too but my best friend in Belgium laughs when I talk about sore eyes!!!!
There you have it!!!

I'm going try some photos on my old PC upstairs and see how they look. I'll tell you how I get on.

Great reaction thanks folks!!!

Mad Mike

Originally posted by greenman
Mad Mike wrote

I have XP can't seem to get into ajusting the card itself. For the net and e-mail all is fine but all my photos look very dark. I'm still thinking could a new graphics card sort that out? ATM I've an onboard one.

Its more a function of the graphics card driver (software) than the graphics card. It may be that the manufacturer of your onboard graphics - (probably SIS, Intel or Nvidia) has a better driver than the default that comes with XP. I would check the manufacturer's web site for an updated driver before spending cash on a new graphics card.

To find out what graphics chip you have:
Start - right click on my computer - properties - Hardware - Device Manager - Then look under Display Adapters.

Or for even more info:
Start - programs - accessories - system tools - system information - components - display

Greenman

Thanks a million Mad Mike!!!!!!!
Downloaded latest driver software from Intel as it was a 82815 onboard card.
Hey presto a lovely bright screen and now no shadows with my photos.
Thanks to you and everybody else on THE BOARDS.IE
One happy camper here in Belgium:)

PS The TFT is sold, what a great day!!!!!!!!!!

Mad Mike

You're very welcome Greenman, its nice to be able to help out.