Vista contrast adjustment?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bob Newman
  • Start date Start date
Bob Newman said:
Since switching to Vista I've had a very annoying problem. Often I
can't read words on a web site unless they are printed in black due to
a very bad lack of contrast in Vista. Sometimes if there is a box to
input a password I cannot see the box as the outline around it is not
visible due to this contrast problem. Numerous people have told me
this is a known Vista problem (I had no problems at the same sites
with XP). There must be an adjustment for this somewhere. Can
someone please help.
Click to expand...

Whilst sorting out a neighbour's Acer XP laptop I was surprised at the
difference in the display when on mains supply and when on battery. Very
poor contrast when on battery, I assume this is some sort of power
saving effect. I have no real experience with laptops and don't know
how common this is.

Tom
 
This is normal across most laptops - and no, it's not poor contrast, it's an
aggressive power saving setting. The backlight on the laptop uses more
power than most of the rest of the laptop so when on battery the brightness
is reduced to save power. You can temporarily override the "dark" setting
by using the keyboard command to increase brightness (on mine it's Fn+F8 to
brighten, Fn+F7 to darken) or permanently override it in Power Options.
 
Carey Frisch said:
What is the exact model number of your HP laptop?

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience -
Windows Vista Enthusiast
Click to expand...

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. Model: F730US (I downloaded updated
drivers, the screen is a little better but still not nearly as good as XP)
Bob
 
Use the online tuner to turn on and tune your Windows ClearType settings
http://www.microsoft.com/typography/ClearType/tuner/tune.aspx

Also, make sure the display dettings are sett to 32-bit (highest).

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience -
Windows Vista Enthusiast

---------------------------------------------------------------



Carey Frisch said:
What is the exact model number of your HP laptop?

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience -
Windows Vista Enthusiast
Click to expand...

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. Model: F730US (I downloaded updated
drivers, the screen is a little better but still not nearly as good as XP)
Bob
 
Like Bob Newman, I have been having problems with Windows Vista and contrast.
I have no problem reading text on websites, and fonts in general are no
problem. Photos, however, appear to have a quite different contrast in
comparison to on other computers. I'm editing large volumes of images and
I'd rather not edit the images themselves as they then print out quite
distorted. Ideally, I'd like to adjust the contrast so they appear on screen
as close to how they print as possible.

I am using a Toshiba laptop with Vista business installed. Is there no way
of simply adjusting the contrast, the way you can brightness? I update my
computer regularly but I'm unsure if this includes the latest display
drivers. How can I check?

Thanks,
Richard
 
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