Monitor calibration

Hello everybody,

I hope "Hardware" is the right forum to ask my question.
I've got an ASUS notebook (2 years old) with Windows XP operation system.
There was a photo which I wanted to get printed sme weeks ago. The labor printed it and I was stunned to see very different colours. Then I took this photo on a USB pendrive to a friend who's got a very good PC and the pink of the photo on my notebook was orange by him! So he told me to calibrate the monitor.
I tried, I opened that colour scape from white to black and I did see all the colours, so that's not the problem - it's with the colours. When I look at a photo on this notebook, I see citron yellow here, and orange on the same photo on another PC!
So I downloaded the Quickgamma programme to calibrate the monitor, and I think I'm supposed to have a number 2,21 but now it shows 2,19. But even if I change the 2,19 on the programme's 3 fields, nothing happens, it doesn't change anything, and if I close and reopen, it shows 2,19 again.
So how shall I do it? Is there maybe another, better programme? Or what should I change in the Control Panel?

I'm hoping to get some help here, thanks in advance!
Greetings,
Aniko

 

Hello In the taskbar at the bottom right do you have a display settings icon?

If so double click it and enter display properties and find a tab called 'colour correction' Adjust the setting to suite,depending on the driver you may also have a display optimisation wizard which deals with colour correction which you simple start and follow the on screen instructions.

You can also reach display properties by going to control panel,display,settings,advanced,then click your video card tab.

 

Hello Rikky!
Thanks for your quick reply.
So... I've found "ATI" in the taskbar, which says "Colour: 32 bit, 1280*800, 0°" - so I thought this might be what I need to change.
I opened it and there are more possibilities, there is also "colour" and "Avivo video" but I couldn't find any tab called colour correction.
So I changed a bit on the "Master" "Red" "Green" "Blue" and the "Lighting" and "Contrast".
And now the photo which I've got on both notebook looks almost the same (I used the other one to compare in which direction and how much I need to change) except from the green - now the whole PC looks greenish.. Mozilla, Outlook, they all look a bit strange, but that's OK
I also tried the control panel -> display -> settings -> "special settings" (is that advanced?) but there was no video card tab at all. :-(
(My Windows is not in English, so "special" might be "advanced" - or not. )

So I thinks it's already better now. However if I click on "Quick Gamma" it still shows 2,19 as before, which I don't understand, but doesn't matter.

So if you think I've done something else which you suggested please tell me, or if that's all I could do then thanks again for the help

Aniko

 

No advanced is at the bottom right



EDIT you do know you can adjust your regional and language settings don't you so it is in English?If you would like help doing this just ask

 

Hey Rikky,

No, I am really silly in computer things, I can only use the famous programs and nothing more! :-o (And I can change the keyboard language on the taskbar but that's something else...)

But seeing that image it was "advanced" that I clicked on (which is in word-to-word translation "special" on my PC) so I did the right thing but there really was no video card...
Do you think I should do something else than adjusting the colours manually?

Thanks anyway and have a good weekend!

Aniko

 

Hmmm it should be there,it will be a tab at the top that says ATI or radeon,can you see a colour management tab?

Do you know how to take a screenshot?If you could take a screenshot of the screen just after you've clicked advanced I could point it out for you.

If you hold down alt then hit prt scr 'print screen' then open paint and paste the picture and save to your desktop,with your next post click manage attachments and upload it.

Other than manually adjusting the colours you may be able to fix the problem by updating to the latest video card driver,if you post the model of your ASUS notebook I can link you to the latest driver.

 

Hi there,

That sounds great, I will definitely send the ASUS number and I'll also try to take a screenshot to show you the page.
However that would be either in about 4,5 hours or tomorrow because I'm at my working space at this moment and don't have the laptop with me. I'll get home at around 11 PM which might be 3 PM by you. (I'm in Europe)

So will get back to you later, see you then.
Cheers

Aniko

 

Whenever you can,I won't be on till tomorrow anyway,BTW I'm in the UK

If you know how to use paint just cut the section out with the display menu in if you can,you don't have to post a full picture of the desktop and everything on your screen.

 

Oh :-D so there's just 1 hour difference (moi, en France..)
will try to cut the page and send it later
thanks!
A.

 

Hello,

So, that's right, there is an ATI tab on the top but when I click on it, there's only one tab in there: "ATI Catalist Control Center" and if I click on this one - nothing happens.
I made 2 screenshots - the first when you said, after entering "advanced" and then the 2nd on "ATI Catalist Ctrl Center". (I attached a doc file)

So I don't know where to change anything there or even what kind of video card I have.

The notebook is an ASUS F5SL. Could you tell me how to check which driver I have for the card and weather it's the latest or not?

Thanks in advance & CU!
Aniko

 

ATI catalyst(TM) control center,inside you will find colour options.

 

I apologise Ancs I didn't read your post fully I just checked the attachment,usually when the video card tab is selected the driver files details can be read.

I'm starting to believe there is a problem with your video card driver,it is either corrupt or has been uninstalled.

Go to control panel,system,device manager,does your video card show up there or does it have a yellow exclamation mark next to it? Right click the video adapter there the hit properties, here it should tell you the name of your card and the driver version.

Post all the info in this box.

Here's the support page for your notebook I'm posting it here for reference.

http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-usASUS

I would recommend you install the latest VGA driver from there but not just yet,if you have a slow connection you can start downloading it now as its 168mb

Post the info I've requested first and we'll go from there.

 

Oh, thanks for checking again. I was a bit confused after your first reply cuz that's what I tried but didn't work.

There is no yellow exclamation mark next to the card (there is only one next to "Modem on the High Definition Audio bus"). By the video card it claims to be working properly, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470.
I post you all what it says on the 4 tab (3 attachments cuz it was to big even in 2)
View attachment videocard1.doc

View attachment videoc-2.doc

View attachment videocard2.doc

What do you think?
Cheers,
bye,

Ancsi

 

'Read whole post before starting'

Your video card is an ATI mobility 3470HD,the driver date is 2008,3,08 The driver version is catalyst 8.4760.

Since you cannot access your video card controls the only obvious course of action is to reinstall the updated driver,the driver on the ASUS support page is the 2008/08/05 update.

Unfortunately I can't link directly to the driver on the ASUS support page you will have to input your details manually,notebook name,model,F5SL then download the VGA driver,there are later versions available from different places but this is the only one that has been tested stable on your notebook and the negligible performance increases in later versions in notebooks outweigh the the instability.

"DO THIS FIRST"

Reading a little into this a requirement of catalyst is the .NET framework V2.0 from Microsoft,so I would first install the latest version of this,XP doesn't come with by default so if you haven't installed it it won't be on your computer.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...cb-4362-4b0d-8edd-aab15c5e04f5&displaylang=en

You may find that after you've installed the .NET framework you can access the control centre and fix your colour problem and are happy but if not follow this guide,its important that you follow each step to be sure,uninstall the old then in with the new.

http://www.tweakguides.com/ATICAT_3.html

Good luck

 

I downloaded this file and cliqued "run" and then "install", but it says "Setup cannot continue because this version of the .Net Framework is incompatible with a previously installed one."

I'll try to look for the old one and uninstall and re-install the new, don't know if I find it.

Will be back soon...
thanks
A.

 

I've searced on the PC and found some other .Net Framework so I deleted them all, and tried to install the 2.0 but it still sends the same message - incompatible with another. *sigh*
A.

 

I searched for this in the "Programs / change and uninstall" and unistalled some other, but did find .NET Framework 2 Service pack 2 and also .NET Framework 3 S.P.2. on the list. These two I can not unistall ("cannot be unistalled because it will affect other applications that are installed.")
Gonna try to move on the next step then...

 

No problem,the version I posted wasn't the latest version it was just the latest version that would enable the catalyst control panel to work,if you already have it installed leave it and move on with the video card driver reinstall.

 

I unistalled the ATI softwer, ATI Catalyst Ctrl C., then tried to refind it. Went to the site which you gave, chose "ASUS support site", then "graphic card" (? there was no separate video card) then "ATi series", then "AH 3450 Series". It asked for my operating system but didn't ask for notebook name or model.. now it tells me "42 files found - BIOS (1) VGA (14) Utilities (27)"
What do I do now?
Now that I unistalled ATI and restarted the PC it looks different, the type of letters on the desktop and in the pages are bigger, but I guess this is normal.
So where should I type in the ASUS type number, or which modl should I choose?
Hope you're still there in front of the PC... Thanks....
(Skype? Messenger? would be quicker... if you have time.)

CU,
Ancsi

 

We don't fix computers by PM or messenger no one else could benefit of the advice but more importantly if make a mistake no one would be there to point it out and I'm not being paid

Go here

http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-usASUS

At the top right of screen under 'general download' select 'notebook'
then select F5 series,in series model select F5SL,select your operating system 'xp' there should now only be one VGA driver download 168mb the version you want is the driver date is 2008,3,08 The driver version is catalyst 8.4760.

The mode your computer is now running in standard VGA mode a basic mode to allow you use the computer,this is why I asked you to download the driver earlier on so you have it ready on your desktop but no matter.

 

OK, sorry, was just a weak iea..

I'm stupid, sorry, didn't think that was the place to choose the F5SL.

Very strange, cuz there was only VGA file, but it showed 164 MB by me, was from 2008/05/03 and instead of the 8.476 it was 8.479. But as it was ALMOST the same, I downloaded it, installed, run, restarted, and my PC went back to the original type of letter.
Then I opened the Control Panel / Display / Settings / Advanced and now there is another window which opens, when I click on the Catalyst Ctrl Center. So there is already a change

I attach 2 windows which I get.
View attachment CCC2.doc

View attachment CCC3.doc

What shall I do here?

Thanks very much for guiding me through here!

A.

 

Sorry I quoted the earlier driver,the one you already had,you've downloaded the right driver.

Helps when at least one of us knows what's going on eh?:-D

So before you try and change the colour profiles is there any improvement?Can you look at the picture that showed the off colours?

 

But that one is definitely not me! *g*

Anyway, as for improvement, I don't see any change. I've got back the same desktop paper photo with the same colours (not the original, from a 1 week ago, but after I changed some colours manually and when I said everything got greenish). So Mozilla's windows' tabs are light green too.

Erm... do you mean that black to white colour scale which I mentioned in the beginning? Dunno what you mean with "off colours"...

We'll be getting there... slowly, but surely, as they say
Thanks!
A.

 

This is what I meant,so there is no change,hmmm.

It could be that your monitor is having trouble displaying certain colours or is over using Green,one way to check this is connect your laptop to an external monitor.

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000801.htm

I don't know what to do in those screens you have posted,I have no idea what they say?

 

Hello Rikky!

I appreciate the time and energy you put in this...

I read the article that you sent, however I don't know what it would bring me. I mean, if I connect the laptop to an external monitor and it shows nicer colours there, I couldn't take it over to the laptop...

*lol* Sorry, I assumed you've got everything and would know which tab is which instruction. On the CCC2 it's the "settings of the configuration to display" and tells that the wizard could be up to 5 steps but it's always only one, there is no other 4 steps by me.
On CCC3 "3D quality and performance settings"

Now I started to change the colours (master, then red, green, blue) again and I think it did get better a bit. I took down the green so the yellow of the citron went back to almost orange, but the green tabs vanished as well.
So I guess it's still different which I would see on another monitor but I hope it did get better. I thought maybe there is an automatique wizard which could change it to the perfect colours but there apparently isn't anything like that existing.

Ancsi

 

Its tough as I don't have the computer in front of me,I hardly use windows XP anymore,I've never owned an ATI card so I don't know all of the different driver screens off by heart and I can only speak English:-D I do like the challenge though.

There is an applet from Microsoft that enables you to load custom colour profiles,I've never used it so if you gave it a try you would be one your own.

http://www.microsoft.com/prophoto/downloads/colorcontrol.aspx

With this you should be able to load a couple of different custom profiles and you should be able manually adjust the colour RGB,it must be something do to do with the pre loaded windows colour profiles that's causing the problem or a setting that's been altered or a problem with your flat panel,you could try loading a few different profiles and look for improvement.

Trying an external monitor will give you a clue,if the external monitor's colours are fine then you know either the notebooks flat panel is broken or the video card/interface is broken.

Hello!:-DAnd its no problem BTW