Just calibrate monitor and now everythnig is pretty dark!

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Hello every one!

Just calibrated my monitor and everything looks pretty dark. To be honest I have never calibrated my monitor (LCD) and now I am extremely worried since all my pictures look very dark. I´ve read a lot on the web but there is no concensus and the amount of information available is overwhelming.
I am using a colormunki Display, Win 7 64bit.

Any help is much appreciated.:bugeyed:

[DickLudwig]

If you have been using an uncalibrated LCD monitor previously your pictures will look dark on a calibrated monitor even if it is the same monitor. LCD monitors from the factory come set way too bright for photographic use. To test your calibration do a print making it look correct on the newly calibrated monitor. Also check to make sure that the histogram looks correct. If the print comes out matching the monitor (it may be a tad darker but not much) everything is as it should be and your monitor is calibrated correctly.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

If you have been using an uncalibrated LCD monitor previously your pictures will look dark on a calibrated monitor even if it is the same monitor. LCD monitors from the factory come set way too bright for photographic use. To test your calibration do a print making it look correct on the newly calibrated monitor. Also check to make sure that the histogram looks correct. If the print comes out matching the monitor (it may be a tad darker but not much) everything is as it should be and your monitor is calibrated correctly.

Thanks for the great advise Dick! will buy some photo paper tomorrow and will do a couple of tests! Have a great week.

[Daniel Cadieux]

A low-tech method would be to check the calibration strip at the bottom of the pages here on BPN...make sure you see a distinct difference in each square from black to white.

[Diane Miller]

An off-the wall experiment: Open an old picture, one done on the monitor before calibration that has a good range of tones. Then re-open the same image, rename it and make it look right on the calibrated monitor. Put both on the same canvas with no more adjustments and post here for opinions on which is best.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

A low-tech method would be to check the calibration strip at the bottom of the pages here on BPN...make sure you see a distinct difference in each square from black to white.
Thanks a lot Daniel, I just finished calibrating for the second time and now I can see the strip on the bottom of the page here at BPN and I can see all boxes! I still find the monitor a bit dark but I guess that's normal after the calibration.

[Diane Miller]

If it was too bright before, it will take some getting used to. Don't change any settings on the monitor, that will throw off the calibration. Ideally you should be working in a "dimroom."

[arash_hazeghi]

It is normal Juan, most LCDs are set too bright by default.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

An off-the wall experiment: Open an old picture, one done on the monitor before calibration that has a good range of tones. Then re-open the same image, rename it and make it look right on the calibrated monitor. Put both on the same canvas with no more adjustments and post here for opinions on which is best.
Diane that's a great idea! uploading a sample, please let me know if this one works!

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

The before and after the calibration. Both images are 8bit and unsharpened.

[arash_hazeghi]

The image on the right has the correct brightness. the blacks on the left are blocked

[Jerry van Dijk]

The image on the right has the correct brightness. the blacks on the left are blocked

Same observation here.

[BobbyPerkins]

That's a pretty remarkable difference, very nice image too.