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Contrast settings on LCD monitors System
I recently purchased my first LCD monitor, and found that Apple's directions for monitor calibration aren't perfect. They worked fine for my previous CRT monitors, but one must watch the contrast and brightness settings with an LCD.

In System Preferences -> Displays -> Color -> Calibrate..., the first step when you calibrate asks you to set the monitor's contrast setting to maximum, then adjust the brightness to make the oval barely visible. When my NEC 1960NX monitor is set to maximum contrast, the whiter shades are severely washed out.

In the document Calibration Theory by Thomas Niemann, it is suggested is that the black point calibration is completed using the brightness, and the white point is calibrated using contrast. If my monitor is set over about 50% contrast, I cannot differentiate between 95% and 100% white. My final settings end up being about 78% brightness and 50% contrast.

So users of LCD monitors beware ... you might want to check your brightness and contrast settings and ensure you are calibrated properly.
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SuperCal
Authored by: nlemac on Mar 25, '04 12:06:38PM

Try to use SuperCal, its the best calibrating software (sharware) that I know of without using a hardware calibrator. Download it from hxxp://www.bergdesign.com/supercal/ or at versiontracker.

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//nlemac



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Contrast settings on LCD monitors
Authored by: bergdesign on Mar 25, '04 01:22:05PM
Another excellent document to read is Brightness and Contrast Controls by Charles Poynton. In this paper, he clearly explains the behavior of these controls and how to properly adjust them to maximize display quality for your particular viewing conditions. We also cover this topic in depth in the SuperCal help so that users can get it right :)

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