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January 6, 2009 at 6:16 am #589351
AnonymousInactiveI am wondering whether or not I see digital pictures on my computer monitor with the same brightness level as other folks.
I frequently crop, brighten, and scale (in GIMP parlance) digital pictures of dogs for Petfinder.
You should see below two pictures with different levels of brightness. The first picture should be as I received it, and the second picture should be after I brightened it.
Please comment or PM about how each picture looks to you regarding brightness level. The original picture was too dark for me. The brightened picture looked OK to me.
WSB seems to me like a golden opportunity for feedback without bothering either of the two Rescue Persons I volunteer for or the adopters or the people who respond to the Petfinder ad but don’t adopt.
The above picture should be the original unbrightened picture.
The above picture should be the brightened picture.
Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.
January 6, 2009 at 6:22 am #653554
PDieterParticipantJanuary 6, 2009 at 6:23 am #653555
AnonymousInactivePDieter,
Thanks for the advice. I think I have corrected the HTML. Please take another look.
January 6, 2009 at 6:31 am #653556
SueParticipantMy disclaimer is that I do have some weird visual perception/focusing issues sometimes and a prism in my eyeglasses, so I may not be the average answer you’re looking for. :) That being said, I prefer #1. #2 looks a bit washed out to me, and the #1 photo is crisper and more interesting to me. I am working on a laptop and do find it depends on what angle the screen is at as to whether photos look light or dark. I just pushed my screen back another inch or two and now #1 looks too dark. So it may be a function of the monitor and light available. I’ll be curious to hear what others think.
January 6, 2009 at 6:58 am #653557
ejonesMember#2 looks very washed out to me, and i am viewing it on a monitor that i spent quite a bit of time adjusting so i could use it for photography assignments.
http://www.shozam.com/overview/adjusting-your-monitor.htm
link to a grey scale. the directions say to turn your contrast to maximum, but you do not always need to do that. just take your time and find a setting where the black looks black, the white looks white, and all the greys are defined.
January 6, 2009 at 7:11 am #653558
What TheMember#2 looks too washed out to me on my Dell 2407WFP monitor. Neither photo seems to be very clear and use of red-eye reduction would help…
ejones: The grey scale looked perfect to me. I remember taking a charcoal drawing class in college and you couldn’t get in unless you could make a “grey scale” drawing…
January 6, 2009 at 7:42 am #653559
AnonymousInactive#1 looks much crisper and a true black on my laptop. If I were adopting, that is the dog I would want to pet.
January 6, 2009 at 7:48 am #653560
ejonesMemberwhat the: that’s good because the grey scale can be a pain to fix if it’s off. my last photo class we used computers that other classes used and every time i went in i had to readjust it because someone would mess with it, drove me crazy!
also, red eye is caused by the flash hitting the retina, dogs retinas aren’t red, so red eye reduction programs can’t sense or adjust for it.
January 6, 2009 at 8:06 am #653561
What TheMemberejones: I didn’t know that about red eye and dogs. I’m returning my Nikon tomorrow morning and asking for a dog-friendly camera! :)
January 6, 2009 at 8:16 am #653562
AnonymousInactiveThanks for the feedback, folks.
The dog in the picture is a real dog. The dog needs a home. This particular dog is in California.
January 6, 2009 at 8:23 am #653563
What TheMemberI really wish I could give him a home Scott. I’m a cat lover due to their inherent independence and I travel quite a bit (I know when they’ve been partying tho cus the litterbox is always clean when I get home)…unfortunately both cats & dogs are out of the question at the moment as my job has been deemed to be obsolete in March…hopefully this doberman finds the right family this time around.
January 7, 2009 at 5:00 am #653564
AnonymousInactiveWhat The,
Ugh… Sorry to read about your job. There seems to be quite a bit of that lately.
January 7, 2009 at 9:37 am #653565
JeannieParticipantI’m no expert on photography, but I agree that #1 is better. More important, thank you, Scott B., for helping these wonderful animals. Folks, have a look at the petfinder.com Web site. They do good work.
January 7, 2009 at 10:47 am #653566
AnonymousInactiveJeannie,
I am merely a volunteer… a helper.
The Rescue Person *is* the rescue. The two Rescue Persons I know are two of the best people I know.
January 7, 2009 at 3:20 pm #653567
KenParticipanthttp://td.rutgers.edu/~thayes/crt/
I build graphics systems for fine art pre-press and a print on demand company. There are hardware devices used with fairly expensive CRT monitors that match the screen view with the output of some high priced roll fed printers.
The links above do a pretty good job of calibrating by hand cheaper lcd and crt monitors to tolerances the eye can discern.
Image one looks fine, image 2 is washed out.
I have a couple of older monitors that I use only on the server stack because they can no longer be calibrated to approx normal human vision.
If you cannot adjust your monitor to compensate, it might be time for a new one.
I still have a few 17″ CRT monitors up in the attic if you need one.
January 8, 2009 at 10:29 am #653568
AnonymousInactiveI tried adjusting my 21 inch Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 2040u CRT monitor using the URLs that
ejones and Ken provided. I discovered my monitor has capabilities that I did not take advantage of until it was too late. My monitor is apparently not “bright enough” now.
I bought my 21″ monitor in 1998 to enhance my enjoyment of the game Descent. Those were the good old days before my first two dogs were diagnosed with lymphoma. I was able to give my dogs more time by paying for treatment.
My financial situation is a lot different now than it was back then. I am poor now, but I think that is temporary.
A new state law makes it easy to get rid of computer monitors:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/391547_ecycle11.html
I am hoping that someone who has a monitor that can display digital pictures correctly will give it to me instead of recycling it.
January 8, 2009 at 4:21 pm #653569
KenParticipantScott:
The units in my attic were business class when I bought them in the 90’s. (For the company I worked for at the time)
They are unlikely to be quality resolution even at their max of 1024 x 768.
You should look here for Laptops and desktops that are reasonably priced and recycled from local businesses.
Retail current sale:
http://www.interconnection.org/get_retail.html
Link to main page:
January 9, 2009 at 9:09 am #653570
AnonymousInactiveKen,
I am thinking that maybe I should accept your offer of the 17″ monitors in your attic. I could try them out, then if they are not satisfactory, I could get rid of them using the state’s new e-cycle program.
I have seen many ads for CRT monitors for free. I have never seen an ad for a 21 inch CRT monitor for free. I suppose that is because relatively few people bought them (mine cost $2000 in 1998).
Do you think a used CRT monitor can still be bright enough to be useful for my purposes?
Or do you think I would be better off buying (on credit) a cheap modern monitor?
I could continue to use my current monitor, but I feel guilty now about the pictures I am posting to Petfinder. The two Rescue Persons have not complained, though, and there must be potential adopters who also have old monitors.
I was initially surprised at how little brightness my monitor is currently capable of, but it is ten years old and has been in continuous use.
January 9, 2009 at 7:42 pm #653571
KenParticipantOk I have one down on the floor of the garage that was to go with a free computer for a kid who has not come back yet. I will test it today and make sure it works and look up the resolutions it can use.
Send an email to the address linked to my name above this post and I will give ya the details on how to come get it.
January 10, 2009 at 8:51 pm #653572
AnonymousInactiveI noticed that I have an Nvidia settings applet in my desktop menu (Mandriva Linux 2009.0 with KDE). I tried it, and I can set my monitor as bright as I want to now.
The correct brightness for pictures is brighter than my preference for webpages, but it is easy to change the brightness and I am happy to be able to continue to use my 21″ CRT monitor. The applet also has gamma correction, etc., so I should be just fine now.
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