How come when I post images on the forum they look good on my computer but when I check them at work they are extremely dark. I know that its not the setting of the computer because I checked it on other computers. The pic of drizzt and guen (and all the other pics) on my computer is MUCH more light but at work I can barley make them out! Does everyone see them so dark? I have checked the brightness and contrast on all computers.

It has something to do with monitors, and the software used to view the image (IE tends to adjust image darkness in one direction - darker, I think, since I've seen it REALLY pronounced on the stripped down version AOL uses - and Netscape in the other). I couldn't see the Drizzt/Guen image very clearly myself.

Calibrate your monitor with good ol' bars and tone. If need be I can post 'B&T' with instructions. Then you know that what you are seeing is what is intended.

I use this image to adjust my monitor's brightness and contrast. Gamma 2.2 is the best setting IMO. -JH.

MadRed, please post bars and tones thingie

That pic was the bars and tones ;-)

Okay--I would appreciate it if someone would suggest how one uses this to calibrate their monitor. Guess I've missed something along the way. I don't think I'm having any problem with mine, but would still like to know.

Look at the bars on the left side of the image and see which tone on the right matches it on your monitor. I adjusted my contrast and brightness until it matched 2.2 There may be a better way, but this worked for me. -JH.

I musta erased it. It is that standard 8 or so color bars across your TV screen, with a band of black below. In that band of black (inline with one of the columns above) is a section of 3 tones of black. Adjust your gamma so you can see that, then adjust your color tones so they look right to you. Short of a proper bench-test and calibration, this'll do quite well. It is on Adobe Premiere's CD, now I hafta go find it.

how do you adjust the gama?

A comination of brightness and contrast adjustment should do it for most purposes.

I agree with adjusting the monitor settings to some reference image. However, the point on browsers is valid as well. On the same computer, the images I post here then view in IE look darker than when viewed in PSP or ACDSee. Unfortunately, there just isn't a way to assure that the image is going to look the same on someone elses monitor as it does on yours. For art like we see here, the brightness and contrast can make or break an image, even more so than a photograph. I've been going SLIGHTL brighter than I would otherwise, to at least make up for the browser's darkening things. Oh well... :-) Fiontar

Thanks guys, I have my monitor at work set to make it as bright as possible but it still is very dark. I guess I'll have to try and make the images a little brighter:)

The lower your Gamma rating, the brighter the image will be. If you have any software that adjusts/calibrates your gamma set it to 1.8 This is what Mac's use as well as what most closely matches what a professional level printer will give. Gamma works like this: Input level = Output Level^Gamma So if gamma is 2 and your input is tone level '4' (on the 0-255 scale used in RGB) you will see '2'. Most uncorrected PCs ship at 2-2.2 Gamma. A higher Gamma will result in the mid tones getting darker and darker very fast while the bright and dark ends of the tonal spectrum get only slightly darker in comparrison. It's generall better to adjust Gamma than it is to adjust Bright/Dark. Especially when actually working on images in something like Photoshop (use curves in Photoshop). Bright/Dark controls work by taking away tones at the edge they adjust. So making it bright by say 10% will take the last 10% of the tonal values and display them all as white, then move the remaining 90% of tones to a setting 10% closer to white than they were before. This is why Bright/Dark controls result in washed out displays. And why adjusting Gamma works better. Gamma adjustments leave you with a full range intact.

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A note on contrast adjustments: Contrast works in a way similar to bright/dark. What it does is remove a certain percentage of the possible tonal levels. say 5% from each edge. It then spreads out what's left in the space of values. Resulting in tonal 'jumps'. Never, ever adjust contrast in an image if you can help it. If you have Photoshop use curves. If you can adjust Gamma with your video card, do so.

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OK you guys totally lost me:(

I have come across no "dark" images on this PC with my gamma set at 2.2 -JH.

arcady- All printers actually print with a Gamma of 1.0, if you want a 50% gray you point 50% black dots, leave 50% paper white, the printing software corrects for this. At one time Macs were "supposed" to have a gamma of 1, but over the years this seems to have migrated to about 1.8, While PCs which were actually 1.8-2.0 for the most part, in those days have migrated closer to what they are "supposed" to have, the NTSC standard of 2.2. Big problem with any gamma much less than 2 is the dark colors are too far apart, this is why scanners (which actually scan with a gamma of 1, then convert) are 30 or 36 bit these days. When I was involved with Compuserve and the writing of the GIF89a spec one guy wanted to include a gamma setting in it, in retrospect it would have been a good idea, the browser could then correct for gamma differences, just like Photoshop does now. Are we all confused?

Jim: Nothing in the physical world has a 1.0 Gamma. 1.0 Gamma means perfect color reproduction with no dot gain. It's physically impossible. Dot gain exists on all substrates with all inks. Gamma 1.8 is still the standard for print work. You can set a monitor to 1.0 Gamma with the right software, but it will look artifical as it will be too even toned compared with the physical world. See p. 84 of the Photoshop 5/5.5 manual. Also see the book "Scanning the Professional Way" if you have a graphic design book store nearby which recommends 1.8 for low-key images, 1.2for low-key, and 1.5 for balanced midtone images (also on p84 of this book). See also: http://www.vtiscan.com/~rwb/gamma.html http://www.cgsd.com/papers/gamma.html JeffH sees a 2.2 Gamma as acceptable because while PCs are supposed to have 2-2.2 they often end up in the 2.5 or worse range. Compared to that and with images made under that setup a 2.2 might actually seem bright enough.

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