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^M00:00:09 >>Hi everyone this is Eric Franklin from CNET.com and today I'm going to give you some tips on how to calibrate your monitor. Most monitors include an on-screen display or OSD array. As you may already know, your OSD controls the appearance and characteristics of your screen. Depending mostly on your monitor's manufacture, some OSDs include more useful functions than others. Today we're going to go over a few of the most common.
First up, contrast. Now we here at CNET use a piece of software called DisplayMate to calibrate and test monitors for review. But for people who don't do this for a living, there's one site in particular that offers similar test pattern screens for free. The array of test patterns at the site aren't as robust as DisplayMate but are good for some simple, basic calibrating. Using the white saturation screen, you can diminish the amount of color saturation that occurs in your peak white. Now contrast controls how white the white on your monitor can get. If the white gets too white however, it can result in certain colors becoming oversaturated when viewing screens with a white background or a very bright scene in a movie. In order to make the adjustments, first turn the contrast all the way up, then adjust it down until you can see the blocks and at least the 247 range, but preferably in the 251 -- 252 range or higher, if possible. Where you land will depend on what your eyes can detect. Not everyone will see the screen in exactly the same way, so just eyeball it.
Next up, brightness. Brightness simply affects the luminous of your monitor's backlight. Which in turn, affects the brightness of your screen. How bright you set it really is a personal choice. But be aware, that the higher you set it, the faster your eyes will fatigue with prolonged use. Once you get that down, then it's time to move onto some color adjustments. Most monitors give users the option to configure the amounts of red, green and blue a screen can display. Let's say your watching a movie and faces look a little too red to the point that they are constantly flush. Lowering the red setting could remedy this problem. The same goes for any oversaturated color. Like with most calibration, you'll have to eyeball it to determine what looks good to you.
Finally, we move onto presets. Presets are pre-calibrated settings provided by the manufactures. Most monitors include a few different choices and are usually tailored to various tasks like movie watching, games or sports. A lot of times you won't even have to change the red, green or blue value if you can find a workable preset. Be aware that presets are created by the manufacturers however, so what they decide are the best settings for watching a movie may not jibe with your movie watching sensibilities. Some monitors include additional presets that change the monitor's color temperature. These presets maybe labeled warm or cool or maybe represented on the Kelvin temperature scale as 5400K or 9300K. Color temperature controls the overall hue of the display. A warm setting will look more red, while a cool setting bluer. We recommend more of a neutral hue that's usually found in the user or custom preset. If color accuracy is paramount when using your monitor, look for an sRGB preset. SRGB is the world standard for viewing digital images, printing and the internet. Even still, while this setting may be great for viewing photos, you'll probably want to switch back to the game preset before you boot up your copy of Starcraft 2. Accuracy isn't always the best for games as they can sometimes look drab the more accurate the color skid. Now there maybe other options available on your particular monitor, but making these adjustments should get you in the ballpark. Of course, feel free to fine tune your adjustments until you can find the look that's right for you. Once again, I'm Eric Franklin and thanks for watching.
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