Backlight or Brightness on 2007wfp

Question

I've had a 2007wfp for about a year now. Been very happy with it. Recently, I've entered the world of digital photography and I've bought a colorimeter to calibrate the display. At one point in the calibration process, the software asks me what sort of hardware adjustments the monitor has for brightness. The options are brightness, contrast, and backlight. Tick all or any.

On my particular monitor's onscreen display menu, there appears to be but one control, marked "Brightness"--this despite the manual posted on the Dell site to the contrary.

<ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>

The manual indicates that you can control both brightness and contrast, but that's not the case with my monitor (which is an ISP panel).

Anyway, I ticked off only the box in this calibration program indicating that I have a brightness control--no backlight intensity or contrast adjustments. But then the calibration program returns a message saying that brightness controls are almost always paired with a contrast control, and that if I have only one control for the monitor, it is probably, in fact, a Backlight control.

Does anyone know if the brightness control on a 2007WFP monitor is, in fact, a backlight intensity control? (And, for that matter, if anyone could explain the difference to me, I'd be grateful).

Thanks!

Dave

Message Edited by gruntled on 08-07-2008 03:35 PM

mike5065 · Answer

softMCCS should list available DDC commands. mine lists 'Luminance' and 'Contrast'. these should correspond to DDC commands, which is probably what the calibrator wants to use, either directly or via cgrahics card look-up-tables. Message Edited by mike5065 on 08-07-2008 06:07 PM

gruntled · Answer

Hi Mike,

I installed the software you provided the link to. I ran the test, and it lists "luminance" and "contrast" under the image adjustments category. Now, when I drag the luminance slider back and forth, the image on my monitor becomes brighter or darker. When I drag the contrast slider back and forth . . . nothing happens. At least nothing I can see.

So I'm not quite sure what this proves--i.e., I'm still not sure whether my monitor has a contrast control or not. It appears not, to me.

Thanks again,

Dave

gpro · Answer

Hi gruntled,

I have the same monitor as you. If you look further down that page it says "Brightness adjusts the luminance of the backlight." and "When using DVI source, the contrast adjustment is not available."

Some interesting articles on Brightness and Contrast:

http://www.poynton.com/notes/brightness_and_contrast/

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/monitors/display/lcd-guide_7.html

http://www.acer.co.th/product/peripheral/monitor_files/Contrast%20ratio.pdf