Kathleen C. Brennan Brennan Studio

Basic Monitor Adjustment
Faithful reproduction of photos on a computer screen would require some standard monitor response that is followed by every manufacturer. unfortunately such a standard is not yet in place, and monitors vary wildly in their response. The user has some, but not total, control . One can adjust the monitor to better or worse performance. But most people intentionally misadjust their monitors ! There is good reason for this, text is most readable when the contrast is as high as possible. So people tend to adjust the contrast very high, the brightness rather low. This gives easily readable text. But it also gives terrible quality when viewing photos, as all the darker tones are turned into pure black. Here are a few simple test charts to see if your monitor is delivering decent performance..

Each of the above squares should look clearly different from all others. Some monitors are internally misadjusted so that the 10% and even the 20% squares appear totally black, regardless of what you do with the external controls. If there is an overall color tint in the squares, it can usually be corrected with the color temperature settings of the monitor (see your monitor's manual)
Black Level Adjustment
The black level (brightness) adjustment is one of the most important adjustments you can make with your computer monitor. Black level for most monitors is usually misadjusted since this control is accessible by individual users who have set it up to suite your their personal tastes and operating environments. Black level is crucial for reproducing a vivid and well-balanced picture on your monitor. There is an objective way of adjusting the black level to a nearly perfect setting. Follow the guidelines below to achieve the best possible adjustment of your monitor.
Pre-Flight Be sure that you have enough room lightning (the room must not be dark). The background grey of this page is a good level to make the ambient light around your monitor. Warm up your monitor for at least 30 minutes before making adjustments. Set the window size of your web browser (this page) to the maximum size (no background). Be sure you can see the entire test pattern (below) on the screen,
Notice the three vertical stripes on the left side of the test image below.
		Step 1
		Turn your brightness control up until you can see three distinctive vertical stripes labeled 1, 2 and 3.
		Step 2
		Turn the brightness control down slowly until the first stripe (1) starts to fade away (i.e. the stripe becomes as black as the background)
		Step 3
		Now, turn the control up very carefully until the first stripe just becomes visible again.
Contrast Adjustment

After the black level adjustment you should be able to see different shades of grey in most or all of the bars of the greyscale chart on the right.

Set the white level (contrast) to your desired level, Most modern monitors can be turned up to the maximum white level without picture bending or distortion but try not to lose any of the greyscale rows on the chart.

Re-check the black level (brightness). It might have changed after having adjusted the white level, since black and white level are interactive.

Congratulations, your black level should now be adjusted correctly.

Give yourself time to get use to the new monitor adjustment. Your monitor won't be as over-saturated as it is with the default settings but you will now notice detail where you never could before.