Thanks, Charles. I don't think it's a monitor problem since I tried 2 different monitors with the same results. Anyway, I just got tired of fooling with it and yesterday I ordered a new Dell with a 128mb DDR ATI Radeon 9700TX card along with all the other goodies. I'm hoping that'll solve all my problems or, at least, all my computer problems. [I'm looking at the red print above this box and it says to please add only comments about the picture.] So, Charles, what do you think of the picture?
as silly as it sounds many of the higer end gaming cards tend to have the most flexible controls over the output. thye are very expensive but we have been using cards based on the Nvidia quadro 900xgl design lately. another card that has proven to be a good value for graphics and presentations if you dontl have much motion involved are the matrox G450 series. those can be had very inexpensively now.
before i change out a video card that was working well for you, i would take a look at the monitor. CRT displays have phosphors that can decay over time and use, and the power supplies and some of the regulatory circuitry can "drift" over time. sometimes its a simple matter of adjustment, sometimes the changes can effect the display's ability to eve be returned back to a consistent standard. when this happens, it gets donated ot someoen that just does net surfing, or give it to the kids to play games on and invest in another monitor.
LCD displays sound good on the surface but the nature of their subtractive filtration makes calibration somewhat difficult. since they are not strong light emitters in the first place, the ambient room light has a significant effecnt on the colors you percieve as well. the upside is that they stay adjusted fairly well if you have one that uses a dvi interface rather than a VGA interface. there are not as many video cards with dvi output plugs though.
Chris, if you think her face is hot, you should see the rest of her! Seriously, though, I think I need a new video card. It's getting increasingly difficult to judge what others are seeing when I upload photos. Does anyone have any recommendations as to video cards?
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