I see... C O L O R S !
 

Yesterday a friend and I spent an evening trying to get an old computer functional, and playing games on the one that was already working. The monitor on the working computer had been failing for weeks (if not months), but its poor performance last night finally inspired me to replace it with another that I had onhand which I didn't think was in as bad shape.

I am boggled http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/shock.gif at the difference it makes. Without the distortions from the old monitor, I can see fine details that I had forgotten (sometimes never knew) were even there. It's actually taking me some time to get used to the "real" colors and shapes.

If you're putting up with flaky hardware, do yourself a favor and replace or repair it. You'll be glad you did.

Re: I see... C O L O R S !
 

I know what you mean. I used to have a Daytek 15" CRT monitor a few years ago. It was good when it was new, but over time the colors got darker and darker. I turned the brightness up and tried the adjustments but that didn't help much. When I played SEIV it was very hard to read the green text for the organic resources. I used a monitor calibration program which helped a little, but I still couldn't see the darker colors because they all came out black. So I forgot there was supposed to be a blue grid background on the quadrant map. The improvement was dramatic when I upgraded my equipment.

Re: I see... C O L O R S !
 

I was getting razzed by people about my horrible color choices on my web pages. Getting a new monitor showed me what they were talking about.

Re: I see... C O L O R S !
 

I dunno Gandalf. I've seen people get new monitors and decide it's time to make their web pages have tiny font and use dim low-contrast grey on grey... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Re: I see... C O L O R S !
 

Exactly. I had the same problem with the old monitor; I used to have to turn the gamma correction up to 3 to see the organics.

I can almost read the dark blue on black parts of PBW, now. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Re: I see... C O L O R S !
 

Just a helpful tip. Before you go buy a new monitor or video card, make sure the monitor cable is plugged in tight and screwed in on both sides of the plug. I got a new monitor the other day and the colors were all washed out and gray looking. I thought I had got a bad one till I noticed the colors would get brighter when I wiggled the cable. Turned out of the standoffs was missing on my video card. The previous monitor didn't seem to mind it, I guess the pins were a little bigger and stayed put without the connector being screwed in or something. But this new monitor needed to be clamped down tight. When I got another standoff and screwed in the connector the picture and colors came in crystal clear.

Re: I see... C O L O R S !
 

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed my old monitor was starting to get blurry in spots and faded. Come to find out, all it needed was to be degaussed, but my monitor lacked a degauss button or option. A quick consultation with the manual revealed if I held the auto-adjust button, it would degauss itself.

Re: I see... C O L O R S !
 

I wonder how many perfectly good monitors end up in the trash for that. Would it degauss if its left unplugged for awhile?

Computer stores report many "lockheed fixes". The person brings it in with all kinds of problems that the store can simply return the computer and charge for a fix. Unplugging the machine for abit in order to bring it in tended to fix it.

Re: I see... C O L O R S !
 

A lot of monitors, the older ones definitely because they lacked any kind of degaussing system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degauss

The wikipedia provides! All hail the wikipedia! Hail!

Monitors without a degauss function can be degaussed by placing a degauss-enabled monitor face-to-face with the target monitor. Activating the degauss function on the enabled monitor can help degauss the other. Alternatively, one can affix two oppositely poled magnets to either side of a drill bit, attach it to a drill, and then hold the spinning drill to the target monitor.

Degaussing can also help reduce the distortion due to static electricity that often results from long term usage of the monitor, especially in older monitors

Re: I see... C O L O R S !
 

You sure about that magnet thingy? As in, it's not from Docktor Narton's "how to defraggle the motherdisc" tutorial? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif
http://www.datadocktorn.nu/us_frag1.php

Just kidding of course, but it does sound rather suspicious http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif