Monitor Colour

[zingo1327]

Thanks Rojash...you're the man
My old monitor was almost square and the colour and brightness were the same, no matter what angle I viewed it at.
My new monitor is wide screen, and depending what angle it is at the brightness changes.The question is: What level of brightness is my computer seeing, if you know what i mean.
The problem is when I'm printing photos they are either too dark or too bright.
Is it trial and error or is there some way to regulate my view with my computers view?

[rojash]

"and depending what angle it is at the brightness changes."

The brightness of the monitor doesn't change, just you perception of it. LCD displays are pretty directional.

The first thing to do is calibrate your monitor when sitting directly in front of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xWRVxV42AQ

[Buenchico]

Decide where you intend to look at your monitor from and then, as far as is possible, stick to that position.

Then go here:
http://reeddesign.co.uk/testcard.htm
Adjust your monitor's settings (or those of your video card) so that the black is as dark as possible and the white is as bright as possible, while still being able to read all of the numbers from 0 to 10 on both of the lines:
(If either your monitor or video card allows it, you may well find that tweaking the 'gamma' setting, as well as both brightness and contrast, will help).

If you detect the slightest hint of a colour hue within the white areas of that test card, then look for adjustments that allow you to alter the RGB balance,

Once your monitor is set up properly you then stand a far better chance of printing photos as they appear on the screen. However you need to remember that the quality of the paper that you print on can make a vast difference to the results you obtain. For example, you might print photos out on Morrison's own-brand photo paper and find that the results look dark with the colours washed out. (They usually do!). If you print the same photos on Kodak's Ultima paper they'll look bright with vibrant colours. (Remember to read the leaflet that comes with photo paper, to ensure that you're using the correct settings for your paper. Also experiment to find out whether you need to create your own profiles - from within your printer's advanced settings - to get exactly the right results for your combination of inks and paper).

Getting printed photos to look like on-screen images is bound to be tricky because they use different technologies. Your screen uses an 'additive' system (where the screen starts from black but colours are then added to it) but your printer uses a 'subtractive' system (where the paper initially reflects all colours of light but the application of inks filters out colours that are not required). However using getting your monitor correctly set up and using decent papers (which is far more important than using the printer manufacturer's own inks) will at least give you a reasonable chance of getting decent results.

Chris

(PS: I HATE wide screen monitors and refuse to use them!)

[zingo1327]

Thanks for the info guys.I'll try your suggestions.
I hate them too but it seems to be all that shops are selling now.