[TEC] CRT Calibration

[onelifecrisis]

I found this online and thought I'd share it for the benefit of anyone suffering from ICSSS (I Can't See Sh!t Syndrome).


Step 1: Set Room Lighting

Before doing anything else make sure the room lighting is the way you normally have it. Lights on/off? Curtains open/drawn? If you use your computer at different times of day and night then wait for the brightest conditions (i.e. the daytime) to do the calibration.


Step 2: Set Monitor Colour Temperature

Generally this should be set to 6500k, but if you never use your computer during daylight hours then you can set it to 9300k.


Step 3: Set Monitor Contrast to 100%

At this point I need to stress that - as suggested by the title of the thread - this is a calibration guide for CRT monitors! Setting the contrast to 100% on an LCD is not necessarily a good idea.


Step 4: Set Monitor Brightness



Set your brightness to zero, then increase it until you you can see 20 distinct boxes in the image above. Pay particular attention to the dark boxes: if the two boxes at the left of the image look the same then you need to keep increasing your brightness until you can clearly see a difference between them. You are looking for the lowest possible brightness setting that gives you a clear difference between all the boxes (not a difference you have to strain to see).


Step 5: Check Gamma



Again, if you're using an LCD screen then this probably won't work, but for CRT users...
Stand about 7 feet away from your screen and look at the image above. From this distance the bars on the left (labelled GAMMA) should look dark at the bottom and bright at the top, and should fade/merge into the background somewhere in the middle. The number corresponding to the point at which they fade is your monitor's current gamma setting (note that this will change if you change the monitor brightness). For Windows and PC Games the recommended setting is 2.2. If yours is at 2.2, or close to it, great - you're all set! If not, you may want to use your graphics card control panel to adjust the gamma in the drivers. Take note, however, that some games (not SH3, but some other games) may override the gamma settings in your graphics driver.

For those who are interested, the BLACK LEVEL bars labelled A and B are for checking your black level (uhuh) and what you should see is the one labelled A is close to black at 2.2 and fades completely at about 1.9, whereas the one labelled B should be clearly visible at 2.2.

[tomfon]

Errr, what's wrong with your eyes?

[onelifecrisis]

Originally Posted by tomfon

Errr, what's wrong with your eyes?

As a method of calibration? Are you joking? I'll assume not.

What's wrong with eyes? Quite a lot, if the number of cases of ICSSS is anything to go by. And it's not just OLCE2 players. I've seen this complaint on forums for years.

Doom3 is too dark, I can't see anything!

FEAR is too dark, I can't see anything!

OLCE2 is too dark, I can't see anything!

Wrong, wrong, wrong. You just need a properly calibrated monitor, and quite clearly many people are not capable of setting one without a guide.

[danlisa]

Originally Posted by onelifecrisis

You just need a properly calibrated monitor, and quite clearly many people are not capable of setting one without a guide.

Too right.

Not only is this for CRTs but the same is true for LCD/TFT screens. You'll be surprised how many screens are poorley setup.

I use test cards, like OLC posted but I also use a THQ Calibration video, which is available on most Disney Bluray/DVD tiltes.

Just try to remember, you GFX card can & will override (based on game profiles) some of the Colour/Brightness/Contrast & Gamma settings that you apply to your monitor config.

Do it right and you'll thank yourself later.

PS Software like Adobe Photoshop (for example) also has built in calibration tools.

PPS Thankfully I no longer suffer from ICSSS thanks to my new 1080p monitor.:rotfl: infact, I'm just about to hit the input button and play my PS3.

[onelifecrisis]

Hmm... KZ2 on a 1080p... s'alright for some!

[tomfon]

Originally Posted by onelifecrisis

What's wrong with eyes? Quite a lot, if the number of cases of ICSSS is anything to go by. And it's not just OLCE2 players. I've seen this complaint on forums for years.

OK, OK!!! I believe you!

My eyes only suffer by myopia () but the contact lenses help the situation (phew!). The fact is that sometimes i wear glasses too and they do need calibration because i always step on them. They've become useless.

[Kpt. Lehmann]

Amen OLC!!! Preach it brother!!!

[onelifecrisis]

[Pisces]

Originally Posted by tomfon

...The fact is that sometimes i wear glasses too and they do need calibration because i always step on them. They've become useless.

If you need to keep them that close to the ground to see where you land your feet. Then obviously there is something wrong with your prescription.

p.s. don't worry. I wear them too.

[tomfon]

Originally Posted by Pisces

If you need to keep them that close to the ground to see where you land your feet. Then obviously there is something wrong with your prescription.

What? Prescription? Let me check the vocabulary....... Hmmm....
Ah, yes, here it is...

Originally Posted by Pisces

p.s. don't worry. I wear them too.

Thanks. No worries.