Monitor brightness and colour correction

[christophertravels]

I've just bought a new monitor, and the brightness level is set differently than from the old monitor. If I were to buy a colour calibration kit, does it also adjust for brightness as well as hue / colour?

A few of my photos look a little over-exposed on the new monitor. Other people's photos look fine, but generally everything looks generally brighter.

At what brightness level should the monitor be set? I'm wondering what to do before I make my Blurb book of my recent trip?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance
Sorry, if this question and topic has already been posted before, or if the post is in the wrong section.

[brandproductions]

Im in no way an expert with monitors or anything of the like but I do believe that most color calibration sensors will adjust for brightness. I use a Spyder3 elite and I like it a lot. However, I do a lot of design work and there are a lot of times where I am switching between three or four different computers while working on the same design depending on where I am that day. So its nice to have all the moniters calibrated the same way. Only problem is that the unit was $250 US and therefor not really worth the money if you're not having problems with your color output. Besides, if you're only having brightness issues and your color is fine then you can probably fix it just by tinkering with your settings.

As far as I know there isnt a standard for brightness levels when it comes to monitors.

[dang]

Monitor brightness can be adjusted pretty easy. Just adjust your contrast & brightness until you can see each section from white to black:

If you've just changed from analog, it might take awhile to get it adjusted, and your eyes adjusted to it. There's lots of little tweaks which should be done. First thing I'd suggest (thanks to Barri Olson (madlights) for pointing it out to me) is going to the manufacturers site to check for updates. If I recall, the driver needed updating for my Dell straight from the box. Next step is setting the color profile in Photoshop. Read the directions which came with it, and if it's not clear, Google will be your best friend.

Color correction is a separate matter all it's own. But even without spending $250. for a spyder, you can still get it close enough. One of the primary problems is color being influenced by the browser you use. It might look perfect in Photoshop, then vary online. I can't recall if it was Doug, Dave or someone else (sorry, but jump into the thread, please) who brought this to attention sometime back, including the link to this article explaining the differences. Well worth the read:
http://www.gballard.net/psd/go_live_page_profile/embeddedJPEGprofiles.html#

While it sounds confusing, it's really not difficult, just takes a little reading and you'll figure it out. If I can, anyone can!
Now if I weren't so lazy, I'd correct the photos I posted when using my uncalibrated analog.

[christophertravels]

Thank-you, this has helped a lot. My monitor was initially set at brightness level 100, now it's set at 20 and I can see all the shades from white to black, before half of that scale was all white.

Let's see if I have this right:
If I have the monitor brightness set too high, and I make my Blurb book thinking the exposure is correct on each photo, when it's printed the photos will look too dark.
If I have the monitor brightness set too low, and I make my Blurb book thinking the exposure is correct on each photo, when it's printed the photos will look too bright.

And obviously, if the brightness is just right, then the photos will be correct.

[dang]

Hi Chris,
Basically, I think that would be the way it would work. But you should include monitor profiles within PS to be sure of accuracy. Just because it looks good online, doesn't mean it's going to be anywhere near the same when printing.

You really need to check your contrast also. If I recall, Dell suggested setting contrast before adjusting the brightness (suggested contrast was 100%). You still haven't given any information concerning the type monitor you're using, and there can be major differences in how it's set. If you haven't the directions, Google the model & name brand for their site.

I checked your recent photos, and brightness was good on my monitor. There seemed to be a bit too much cyan in some of the skies, but not all, which could be due to room light when processing. Seems odd you'd have to reduce brightness by so much, yet your photos look good to me.

[christophertravels]

Thanks for your reply. I bought a Samsung, 22" wide screen. Too much cyan in my skies? I know I can be a little trigger happy with the saturation button.