[thelist] monitor color settings

[aardvark]

> From: "Daniel J. Cody" <djc at members.evolt.org>
>
> I recently moved, and ever since the color on my monitor seems to be a
> bit wacky.

immediate thought off the top of my head -- environment... if you 
take a monitor from one place to the next, keeping *all* settings, 
the differences in lighting, wall color, etc. can make a *huge* 
difference... however, unless you're someone who needs color 
accuracy, this shouldn't be an issue... move it around, move it 
back, etc, see if you're just perceiving environmental differences...

> By 'wacky' I mean the evolt.org homepage, which is usually a nice
> green color is showing up brown, and a lot of other websites just look
> odd.

next step, look for magnetic interference -- unshielded speakers, 
heavy power lines, *lots* of hardware, etc... just like putting 
unshielded speakers next to your TV can kill the screen, you can 
do it to the monitor...

> I've got a Viewsonic PS790 pro, which has served me well, but to be
> honest, I know shit about monitors and their settings :)

decent monitor, nothing special, though...

> So, I'm wondering if there is a way to 'reset' the colors on it or
> something. I tried using the RGB settings, but every time I set it to
> something that I think looks good, I come back an hour later and it
> seems even more screwed up than before.. There's a lot of options with

you're compensating mentally (i think in the visual cortex, but i'm 
not sure)...

> the monitor hardware, like color/brightness, size/position, geometry,
> tilt, viewmatch color, viewmeter/degauss, memory recall, video level,
> and moire reduction(whatever that means).. Hopefully this doesn't seem
> like to dumb a question, its just something I have zero knowledge in
> and was hoping someone could help me out :)

well, you could start fiddling, or you could search online for monitor 
calibration techniques... this question comes up often on the Lyris 
Photoshop list (but they often send people to books, although i 
think i've seen the occasional URL slide through)...