Photos & Videos are dark

[clucas]

My digital photos and videos that I have downloaded appear too dark on
my monitor. I always have to brighten both in order to view them. Yet,
when viewing the photos on the camera's screen as well as other
computers they are perfectly fine. Also, the printed photos off my
machine are fine. Images on the web, such as photos on CNN.com or
everywhere else appear fine also. I use Windows XP as well as Linux.
The problem is with both systems and various graphics programs. I'm
wondering if it has to do with my NVidia graphics card. Can anyone
help? This is frustrating because, for instance, when I download the
photos I have to get into a program to lighten them before I can view
them.

 

[beenthere]

My digital photos and videos that I have downloaded appear too dark on
my monitor. I always have to brighten both in order to view them. Yet,
when viewing the photos on the camera's screen as well as other
computers they are perfectly fine. Also, the printed photos off my
machine are fine. Images on the web, such as photos on CNN.com or
everywhere else appear fine also. I use Windows XP as well as Linux.
The problem is with both systems and various graphics programs. I'm
wondering if it has to do with my NVidia graphics card. Can anyone
help? This is frustrating because, for instance, when I download the
photos I have to get into a program to lighten them before I can view
them.

If your prints look good, then use one to lighten your monitor.
Camera is good.
Printer is good.
Printouts are good.
Ergo, monitor is too dark.
bw..OJ

 

[clucas]

If your prints look good, then use one to lighten your monitor.
Camera is good.
Printer is good.
Printouts are good.
Ergo, monitor is too dark.
bw..OJ

Appreciate the response but that won't do it. The monitor is not too
dark. Everything looks great except for the photos. I mean all websites
look great. My desktop looks great. It's only with the photos and video.

 

[kony]

Appreciate the response but that won't do it. The monitor is not too
dark. Everything looks great except for the photos. I mean all websites
look great. My desktop looks great. It's only with the photos and video.

Check your video card driver configuration, there may be
settings to change.

 

[visions of effty]

My digital photos and videos that I have downloaded appear too dark on
my monitor. I always have to brighten both in order to view them. Yet,
when viewing the photos on the camera's screen as well as other
computers they are perfectly fine. Also, the printed photos off my
machine are fine. Images on the web, such as photos on CNN.com or
everywhere else appear fine also. I use Windows XP as well as Linux.
The problem is with both systems and various graphics programs. I'm
wondering if it has to do with my NVidia graphics card. Can anyone
help? This is frustrating because, for instance, when I download the
photos I have to get into a program to lighten them before I can view
them.

What kind/model of camera is it?

I'm willing to bet that the camera is the issue. In general, vids taken
with still cameras will be dark simply because the exposure time for each
frame is lower. Unless you are in a very brightly lit situation, your vids
will appear dark no matter what you do. The camera automatically
compensates for this in its display. The computer does not.

Likewise, most digital cameras allow you to change the exposure settings. A
longer exposure will mean brighter pictures, but more noticeable camera
shake. Sometimes you can compensate for the shake by using the lowest
setting timer. This will allow you to press the button and "take the
picture" then stabilize the camera to avoid the slight shake of pressing the
button.

I'm assuming you are not using the flash. If you don't like the flash,
sometimes the delayed flash setting is a good compromise between natural
light and flash picture appearance. Otherwise, turn on all the lights
before you start snapping pics. Experiment with this. Take pictures of the
same setting with varying ammounts of light, and varying exposure settings.
The room may *seem* like the same brightness to you, but that's because your
eye dialates. The camera does not compensate as the sun goes down.

Generally, the cheaper the camera, the "slower" it is to take in light.

~e.

 

[clucas]

What kind/model of camera is it?

I'm willing to bet that the camera is the issue. In general, vids taken
with still cameras will be dark simply because the exposure time for each
frame is lower. Unless you are in a very brightly lit situation, your vids
will appear dark no matter what you do. The camera automatically
compensates for this in its display. The computer does not.

Likewise, most digital cameras allow you to change the exposure settings. A
longer exposure will mean brighter pictures, but more noticeable camera
shake. Sometimes you can compensate for the shake by using the lowest
setting timer. This will allow you to press the button and "take the
picture" then stabilize the camera to avoid the slight shake of pressing the
button.

I'm assuming you are not using the flash. If you don't like the flash,
sometimes the delayed flash setting is a good compromise between natural
light and flash picture appearance. Otherwise, turn on all the lights
before you start snapping pics. Experiment with this. Take pictures of the
same setting with varying ammounts of light, and varying exposure settings.
The room may *seem* like the same brightness to you, but that's because your
eye dialates. The camera does not compensate as the sun goes down.

Generally, the cheaper the camera, the "slower" it is to take in light.

~e.

Olympus C-3020.

But it's not the camera. As in my original post, when I download the
photos to another machine (like at work, today) the photos were
excellent.

 

[visions of effty]

Olympus C-3020.

But it's not the camera. As in my original post, when I download the
photos to another machine (like at work, today) the photos were
excellent.

My bad. I re-read that. I see. Very strange problem, but display problems
can be strange.

If you have on-board graphic capability, you could certainly take out the
video card and see if the problem persists. If you haven't found anything
similar in known issues, and messing with the gamma (etc.) doesn't work, I'd
try going to driverguide.com and collecting some older drivers for your
display and your graphics card. Maybe you can hit upon a combination that
works.

Good luck!

~e.

 

[Carl Lucas]

My bad. I re-read that. I see. Very strange problem, but display problems
can be strange.

If you have on-board graphic capability, you could certainly take out the
video card and see if the problem persists. If you haven't found anything
similar in known issues, and messing with the gamma (etc.) doesn't work, I'd
try going to driverguide.com and collecting some older drivers for your
display and your graphics card. Maybe you can hit upon a combination that
works.

Good luck!

~e.

Did a little more looking around and what I did was adjust the
brightness in the nvidia configuration screen for the photos. For the
video I adjusted the video settings in the nvidia config. This was
different than adjusting the brightness & contrast from the monitor. Now
all is well.

 

[visions of effty]

Did a little more looking around and what I did was adjust the brightness
in the nvidia configuration screen for the photos. For the video I
adjusted the video settings in the nvidia config. This was different than
adjusting the brightness & contrast from the monitor. Now all is well.

Good work posting what the problem was! Too few people actually post what
the problem was once it is resolved. Yeah, the nvidia utility can be
extremely handy or extremely aggravating depending on your situation. As
you've noticed, it really wants to take priority over your display controls
in windows and the controls on the display itself, and the documentation
isn't all that good.

Cheers!

~e.