Tip #2230 - Brightness and Contrast Control
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Brightness
and Contrast Controls
Have you ever wondered
what those little buttons on the front of your monitor are for? You may
have played around with them and found that they are mainly used for the
brightness and contrast controls for your computer screen. Adjusting these
controls allows you to make your screen look the way you want it to look,
whether that be with a darker or a lighter color tone.
There may be a bit of confusion
within these two controls. The brightness control actually affects the
contrast, which leaves the contrast control affecting only the brightness.
You need to understand the difference to be able to set your monitor up
for preferable resolution.
The brightness
icon looks something like a sun. It is also known as the black level
and this should be adjusted so that any black picture content is displayed
as a true black color on your monitor. Many times this control is misused,
which results in poor picture quality on your computer screen.
The contrast
icon is just a circle: half white, half black. It is commonly referred
to as the picture control. This tool adds to the red, green and
blue signals that are already imbedded into the screen color. Basically,
once the brightness is set, you can set the contrast to a comfortable
viewing level for yourself.
You want to make sure
that you set your brightness to an accurate black level. If your brightness
is set too low, you could lose your picture quality altogether, and if
it's set too high, you'll end up with a grayish color, which makes all
of your applications, games, pictures, etc. appear washed out or faded.
To adjust your monitor
properly, follow these steps:
1.) Turn the contrast
control to the minimum. There should be four different buttons on the
front of your monitor. Some may have the contrast icon shown and some
may just have the plus (+) or minus (-) signs. Use the minus sign to take
the contrast to its lowest.
2.) Display a complete
black picture.
3.) Adjust the brightness
control to create a balance you prefer. It should be adjusted so a full
range of color tones from black to white are displayed.
4.) Adjust the contrast
to compliment the brightness. This is the step where you can choose your
viewing preference. If you like your monitor just a little brighter, go
for that. If you don't like things so bright, go a little lower. It's
completely up to you.
Just to give you an
idea, my monitor here in the office is set to a 100 percent contrast level
and a 56 percent brightness. Now, Kim's monitor is set at a 98 percent
contrast and a 50 percent brightness and Shawn's is set at a 100 contrast
and 80 brightness. So, as you can see, everyone has different viewing
tastes. Keep in mind that all monitors are different, so what you like
and what we like are probably going to be different. Just make sure you
set it at a comfortable level for your eyes.
While you're in the
menu for your monitor settings, you can also adjust other things like
picture, geometry and color. You can also work with the degauss
button, as well as, change the language used on your PC. You can choose
from English, French, Spanish, Italian or Dutch if you wish to do that.
These are all choices that are on my monitor in the office, so just keep
in mind that yours may be a little bit different. Most monitors have these
choices universally though.
Now, if you have a
laptop, you have an LCD.
These are a little different to adjust, but you follow the same main rules.
You also do not need to worry about the degauss button if you have an
LCD type display screen.
Happy Viewing!
~Erin
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