CRT high contrast?

[louise]

I have a Sony G520 CRT. I've tried to set it up to use with
Photoshop and to adjust the display to most accurately reflect
Photoshop's color space.

It is recommended that contrast be kept at 100%, color temperature
at 6500, and then brightness is adjusted accordingly.

I am wondering whether having the contrast so high on an onging
basis will have a negative effect upon the life and health of the
CRT.

Is this a valid concern - will it strain the monitor to have the
contrast at 100%?

Thanks.

Louise

 

[chrisv]

I have a Sony G520 CRT. I've tried to set it up to use with
Photoshop and to adjust the display to most accurately reflect
Photoshop's color space.

It is recommended that contrast be kept at 100%, color temperature
at 6500, and then brightness is adjusted accordingly.

Who recommends that contrast be kept at 100%? That makes no sense.

I am wondering whether having the contrast so high on an onging
basis will have a negative effect upon the life and health of the
CRT.

Is this a valid concern - will it strain the monitor to have the
contrast at 100%?

How bright the monitor is run will certainly affect the lifetime of
the phosphors, causing the brightness to fade. The contrast (white
level) and brightness (black level) should be adjusted by using test
images, or if you're really serious, with a light-sensitive
calibration device.

 

[Bob Myers]

Who recommends that contrast be kept at 100%? That makes no sense.

Contrast, on a CRT monitor, is video amplifier gain; if run
at "100%," with the "brightness" control (cutoff or "black level
setting) appropriately set, it would give the maximum possible
image contrast. Setting the contrast to 100% prior to adjusting
the brightness control would ensure that a later increase in the
"contrast" setting would not push the black levels below cutoff,
which is probably why this is being done here.

Running the monitor at its maximum brightness and contrast
settings, which this effectively does, will certainly have some effect
on the life of the phosphor and cathode(s), but probably not a
significant one compared to what the life would be if the monitor
were just set "by eye" as most users would set it anyway - and
it likely WILL give the best image appearance that could be
achieved without a more complicated setup procedure.

Bob M.

 

[chrisv]

Contrast, on a CRT monitor, is video amplifier gain; if run
at "100%," with the "brightness" control (cutoff or "black level
setting) appropriately set, it would give the maximum possible
image contrast. Setting the contrast to 100% prior to adjusting
the brightness control would ensure that a later increase in the
"contrast" setting would not push the black levels below cutoff,
which is probably why this is being done here.

It also could cause blooming (blurring) of the display, which is why
I'd be surprised if anyone would just blindly recommend "crank the
contrast up all the way".

 

[Bob Myers]

It also could cause blooming (blurring) of the display, which is why
I'd be surprised if anyone would just blindly recommend "crank the
contrast up all the way".

True - and the directions ARE incomplete as given, without
that provision (and a couple of others that come to mind). I'm just
saying that, for a simple set-up procedure, I can see why someone
might make such a recommendation. I might even make it myself,
but would then follow it with some further tweaking of both the
brightness and contrast controls in a complete set-up procedure.

Bob M.