Monitor TOO bright, poor display when DIM

[mullardel34]

Hello... I have a problem with a new 19" business monitor (not a widescreen). The problem is simple, the display is much too bright, extremely bright, blinding.

To compensate; the brightness, the contrast, and each red-green-blue color setting, must be set to ZERO. This, because their functions apparently inter-twine ... Brightness is then corrected, but colors look faded on the web, and in XP (like the colors were bleached). To watch a movie, I increase the brightness by raising the contrast number a little. I also increase red, because the display becomes blue when dimmed. This is all I can do with it. The display won't perform unless it is very bright. When very bright, the display is excellent. But who can look at it, and how long will it last ?

As for the other settings, sharpness remains where I set it for text. The settings for gamma are extremely bright, so the gamma adjustment is ineffective and useless. This is a new monitor, not refurbished or used, a 19 inch Samsung 943BX.

Would an internal adjustment to lower gamma be possible ? Or is this a chip/software problem where special equipment is needed to make the adjustment ? Could the video card be a poor match ? (I'm using an older ATi VGA video card). Do I change the refresh rate ? I'd really hate to ship this monitor somewhere to be serviced. To do so, wouldn't be worth the cost.

What can I do ?

[shadowpr]

If manually adjusting the settings doesn't work, which it sounds like you have tried, then I would return it for a different monitor that is to your liking.

Why keep something that you don't like?

[Masaki 7-11]

You can manually change the gamma, brightness, contrast, etc. through the video card software (usually, not sure about your video card, but it should give you these options; probably you will find them in the ATI Catalyst Control Center), this usually works better than setting it through the monitor settings. The card I'm using in one of my backup rigs (7900GS) has separate controls for the desktop and video so you can make a profile for both and not mess with the settings anymore.

[XenaWP]

If you're on XP, download and try a utility called Calibrize. It will give you patterns to properly set brightness/contrast and adjust gamma, and save it in a startup file.

It works on Vista sometimes. I have found it to fail to load under Vista sometimes.

[mullardel34]

There's a lot to like about this monitor. It has swivel, pivot, tilt, adjustable height, a redesigned back cover, and no bad pixels. If not for the problem with brightness, the controls and display could be rated as excellent.

The video card overlay settings in Properties wouldn't work. But the color tab had brightness, so I lowered the setting there, by a small amount. This helped, but anything outside of the Windows operating system, showed on the screen at the monitor's new display settings, which were no longer at ZERO. This made the Windows logo, Intel boot screen, and dual-boot menu extremely bright.

Apparently, the only way to get real satisfaction, would be to lower gamma or brightness in the hardware of the monitor. Then all features of the display menu would have a proper range and be useful. As it is now, the monitor has a superior display outdoors, or when used as an overhead lamp.

[not important]

I can understand liking all of the adjustment features of the monitor but the primary purpose of a monitor is visualization. If the display isn't pleasing to view then I would have to consider a different one.

[mullardel34]

Originally Posted by not important I can understand liking all of the adjustment features of the monitor but the primary purpose of a monitor is visualization. If the display isn't pleasing to view then I would have to consider a different one.

I do have another new 19" monitor, which is entirely plug and play. No installation CD required, no color profile needed, and all the necessary adjustments for correct display in 1024 x 768 resolution. I assumed there would be a problem or two, so after some research, and recalling what I once saw on store shelves, I purchased two brands over the web at very low prices.

With a swivel feature, and reasonable side-to-side viewing angle, the Samsung monitor is suitable for watching movies. It also has a feature called dynamic contrast. So rather than purchase a bulky widescreen at three times the cost, I'll keep it around ---- for awhile. Too bright shouldn't be a difficult problem to overcome. I've already googled many comments/complaints about "too bright Samsung". A technician will probably have a solution.

I still can't believe how bright it is.

[Hi Ho]

There should be a backlight control in the monitor itself that will turn the backlight down without affecting the brightness/contrast/gamma controls.

EDIT: After looking at the manual for that monitor, it seems that there is no control labeled "backlight" but have you tried turning off "MagicBright"? Have you tried one of the other preset modes like "Movie"?

[mullardel34]

The only way I could use the monitor, was to set up the Custom Mode. No other preset in any mode, would lower brightness. The brighter presets could even damage the screen.

The front panel mode, "MagicBright", had several presets. Among them was "dynamic contrast". OFF was the only logical choice. The MagicBright software makes display adjustments on screen, but these are the same adjustments offered in the front panel, nothing more.

In a brightly lit room, the "Movie mode" preset, is a deadly eye-scorcher.

[tmathews]

If you have a "Color Temperature" setting you might try reducing that. The whites become a little redder-looking but your eyes quickly recalibrate. The default 9300K on my monitor is just too bright for me.

[mullardel34]

The monitor is outside of design parameters. (In order to compensate for a backlight that is too bright, the color, brightness, and contrast must be set to ZERO).

Calling all technicians !!! ... Can I open a Samsung 943BX without breaking the plastic case ? Is there a way to lower the brightness of the backlight, or must it be replaced ? (I have experience in this area, don't try this yourself, and make sure it's unplugged.)

[glc]

Why don't you just RMA it and let Samsung worry about it?

[not important]

I'm with glc. Sounds like you have a defective unit. I own two 19" Samsungs and they are very adjustable.

[mullardel34]

You're both right about that. And I went to the Samsung website, but the FAQ had so little information, that I felt like they weren't worried about consumer satisfaction.

Also, the monitor I have, is made-in-Mexico. I read somewhere, that made-in-China models failed after a year in service. So I'd prefer to steer clear of an RMA. And I'm thinking now, that doing a backlight adjustment may only mean using a special software, so I may not need to RMA at all.

[shadowpr]

You have more patience than I do.

I would have returned it a long time ago for something that I enjoy instead of trying to fix something that is still under warranty and returnable.

[mullardel34]

I have the monitor in a cool room at a bright setting (but not too bright). After a week of on-time, I'm hoping the backlight will dim. Just a small loss of brightness will make the display look much better at lower light levels.

If that doesn't work, I'll need a pair of Samsung sunglasses.