Washed-out color?

E
Posted By
ergobob
Oct 25, 2007
Views
885
Replies
14
Status
Closed
Hello,

I created several images using a light, bright green color: R=153, G=204, B=0. The color looked perfect at the time but recently it looks gray with a slight tint of green. It appears as if I have lost the original color.

The loss of color appears to be system-wide, showing up in Power Point, Word, Photoshop, etc. I checked the drivers for my monitor and graphics card but there does not seem to be a better choice. It is now using the Microsoft default drivers for both. The color seems to be OK in general and is only noticeable with specific RGB inspection.

The color was produced on this system and looked fine at the time. This is an older system: Athlon 2500+ (1.8 gigs), Radeon 9600 (128 mb), 512 mb RAM, Sony 500PS monitor, XP Pro SP2.

Can anyone suggest what might be doing this and what I might try to correct it?

Thanks,

Bob

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P
pico
Oct 25, 2007
"Hymer" <[REMOVE].net> wrote in message
Hello,

I created several images using a light, bright green color: R=153, G=204, B=0. The color looked perfect at the time but recently it looks gray with a slight tint of green. It appears as if I have lost the original color.
The loss of color appears to be system-wide,

Of course! It’s the action of the "wear-bit". It indicates the age of the pixel and signals the image processing software to degrade it appropriately.

Seriously. How do the prints look, or is this strictly for monitor display? Can you put up a couple examples, please?
E
ergobob
Oct 25, 2007
I created several images using a light, bright green color: R=153, G=204, B=0. The color looked perfect at the time but recently it looks gray with a slight tint of green. It appears as if I have lost the original color.

The loss of color appears to be system-wide,

Of course! It’s the action of the "wear-bit". It indicates the age of the pixel and signals the image processing software to degrade it appropriately.

Seriously. How do the prints look, or is this strictly for monitor display? Can you put up a couple examples, please?

Hi Pico,

Thanks for your reply.

Here is an example at http://www.usernomics.com/images/colortest.jpg . The lines and the solid bar at the top should look like a bright, light green color. On my monitor it is now displaying as gray with a slightly green tint.

Thanks Again,

Bob
D
Dave
Oct 25, 2007
Here is an example at http://www.usernomics.com/images/colortest.jpg . The lines and the solid bar at the top should look like a bright, light green color. On my monitor it is now displaying as gray with a slightly green tint.

Thanks Again,

Bob

Calibrate your monitor, Bob.
It is a light green color (not bright but light green) on my monitor.

Dave
P
pico
Oct 25, 2007
"Hymer" <[REMOVE].net> wrote in message
I created several images using a light, bright green color: R=153, G=204, B=0. The color looked perfect at the time but recently it looks gray with a slight tint of green. It appears as if I have lost the original color.
Seriously. How do the prints look, or is this strictly for monitor display? Can you put up a couple examples, please?

Hi Pico,

Thanks for your reply.

Here is an example at http://www.usernomics.com/images/colortest.jpg .

Looks like color #99cc01 (RGB: 153,204,1) which is close enough to yours to be correct.

Something is very wrong with your monitors. Strange that they should all be that way. I hope someone brighter than I can help you out.
PD
Philo D
Oct 25, 2007
In article , Dave
wrote:

Here is an example at http://www.usernomics.com/images/colortest.jpg . The lines and the solid bar at the top should look like a bright, light green color. On my monitor it is now displaying as gray with a slightly green tint.

Thanks Again,

Bob

Calibrate your monitor, Bob.
It is a light green color (not bright but light green) on my monitor.
Dave

For me it is sort of yellow-green: 99CC01 it says.
RG
Roy G
Oct 25, 2007
"Hymer" <[REMOVE].net> wrote in message
Hello,

I created several images using a light, bright green color: R=153, G=204, B=0. The color looked perfect at the time but recently it looks gray with a slight tint of green. It appears as if I have lost the original color.
The loss of color appears to be system-wide, showing up in Power Point, Word, Photoshop, etc. I checked the drivers for my monitor and graphics card but there does not seem to be a better choice. It is now using the Microsoft default drivers for both. The color seems to be OK in general and is only noticeable with specific RGB inspection.

The color was produced on this system and looked fine at the time. This is an older system: Athlon 2500+ (1.8 gigs), Radeon 9600 (128 mb), 512 mb RAM, Sony 500PS monitor, XP Pro SP2.

Can anyone suggest what might be doing this and what I might try to correct it?

Thanks,

Bob
Hi,

The colour is quite a bright light green on my screen, which I have just calibrated and profiled this afternoon.

I think your screen must be way off.

Have a look at

http://members.toast.net/cbminfo/all_sites/colorblind.html

which has some colour test patches and a grey step scale.

Roy G
NS
Nicholas Sherlock
Oct 25, 2007
Hymer wrote:
The loss of color appears to be system-wide, showing up in Power Point, Word, Photoshop, etc. I checked the drivers for my monitor and graphics card but there does not seem to be a better choice. It is now using the Microsoft default drivers for both. The color seems to be OK in general and is only noticeable with specific RGB inspection.

You haven’t turned on one of those terrible "Vibrant colour" options in your graphics settings in the past, have you?

Cheers,
Nicholas Sherlock
P
pico
Oct 26, 2007
Last thought – have you changed your View – Proof Setup to a different Gamma?

Dunno – quite puzzling.
MR
Mike Russell
Oct 26, 2007
I created several images using a light, bright green color: R=153, G=204, B=0. The color looked perfect at the time but recently it looks gray with a slight tint of green. It appears as if I have lost the original color.
The loss of color appears to be system-wide, showing up in Power Point, Word, Photoshop, etc. I checked the drivers for my monitor and graphics card but there does not seem to be a better choice. It is now using the Microsoft default drivers for both. The color seems to be OK in general and is only noticeable with specific RGB inspection.

The color was produced on this system and looked fine at the time. This is an older system: Athlon 2500+ (1.8 gigs), Radeon 9600 (128 mb), 512 mb RAM, Sony 500PS monitor, XP Pro SP2.

Can anyone suggest what might be doing this and what I might try to correct it?

The timeline is a reasonably light shade of green on both of my monitors, so it’s either a monitor problem, or a monitor setup problem. Your particular monitor is a very sophisticated one – the last of the CRT Mohicans. It has its own drivers, distinct from the video card drivers, and even a stand alone self test mode. I would go through the drill that Sony provides and see if the monitor passes its own tests:
<http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/model-faq.pl?mdl=GDM500PS#>

Disable any screen calibration software you may have installed, and run Adobe Gamma . Keep the sliders ganged together. It could be a failed gun in the monitor, though this is less likely since you said that most colors look OK, and the self test should detect that. In any case, it’s worth swapping monitors to see if the problem follows the monitor – if it does, it’s back to the Sony page to mess with the monitor’s color controls and monitor’s driver software.

Mike Russell – www.curvemeister.com
E
ergobob
Oct 28, 2007
I created several images using a light, bright green color: R=153, G=204, B=0. The color looked perfect at the time but recently it looks gray with a slight tint of green. It appears as if I have lost the original color.

The loss of color appears to be system-wide, showing up in Power Point, Word, Photoshop, etc. I checked the drivers for my monitor and graphics card but there does not seem to be a better choice. It is now using the Microsoft default drivers for both. The color seems to be OK in general and is only noticeable with specific RGB inspection.

The color was produced on this system and looked fine at the time. This is an older system: Athlon 2500+ (1.8 gigs), Radeon 9600 (128 mb), 512 mb RAM, Sony 500PS monitor, XP Pro SP2.

Can anyone suggest what might be doing this and what I might try to correct it?

The timeline is a reasonably light shade of green on both of my monitors, so it’s either a monitor problem, or a monitor setup problem. Your particular monitor is a very sophisticated one – the last of the CRT Mohicans. It has its own drivers, distinct from the video card drivers, and even a stand alone self test mode. I would go through the drill that Sony provides and see if the monitor passes its own tests:
<http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/model-faq.pl?mdl=GDM500PS#>
Disable any screen calibration software you may have installed, and run Adobe Gamma . Keep the sliders ganged together. It could be a failed gun in the monitor, though this is less likely since you said that most colors look OK, and the self test should detect that. In any case, it’s worth swapping monitors to see if the problem follows the monitor – if it does, it’s back to the Sony page to mess with the monitor’s color controls and monitor’s driver software.

Thank you very much Mike. I will work on it and see what happens.

Much appreciated.

Bob
E
ergobob
Oct 29, 2007
I created several images using a light, bright green color: R=153, G=204,
B=0. The color looked perfect at the time but recently it looks gray with a slight tint of green. It appears as if I have lost the original color.

The loss of color appears to be system-wide, showing up in Power Point, Word, Photoshop, etc. I checked the drivers for my monitor and graphics card but there does not seem to be a better choice. It is now using the Microsoft default drivers for both. The color seems to be OK in general and is only noticeable with specific RGB inspection.

The color was produced on this system and looked fine at the time. This is an older system: Athlon 2500+ (1.8 gigs), Radeon 9600 (128 mb), 512 mb RAM, Sony 500PS monitor, XP Pro SP2.

Can anyone suggest what might be doing this and what I might try to correct it?

The timeline is a reasonably light shade of green on both of my monitors, so it’s either a monitor problem, or a monitor setup problem. Your particular monitor is a very sophisticated one – the last of the CRT Mohicans. It has its own drivers, distinct from the video card drivers, and even a stand alone self test mode. I would go through the drill that Sony provides and see if the monitor passes its own tests:
<http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/model-faq.pl?mdl=GDM500PS#>
Disable any screen calibration software you may have installed, and run Adobe Gamma . Keep the sliders ganged together. It could be a failed gun in the monitor, though this is less likely since you said that most colors look OK, and the self test should detect that. In any case, it’s worth swapping monitors to see if the problem follows the monitor – if it does, it’s back to the Sony page to mess with the monitor’s color controls and monitor’s driver software.

I did the monitor self test and it appears that the green is not functioning properly. That is, the test shows four RGBW bars and the green bar is showing almost all white with a slight green tint. All other bars show the correct color.

So I am assuming that the green gun is shot.

Does that conclusion make sense? Guess it is time for a new monitor.

Thanks,

Bob
MR
Mike Russell
Oct 29, 2007
From: "Hymer" <[REMOVE].net>

[re monitor that displays green as white]

I did the monitor self test and it appears that the green is not functioning properly. That is, the test shows four RGBW bars and the green bar is showing almost all white with a slight green tint. All other bars show the correct color.

So I am assuming that the green gun is shot.

Does that conclusion make sense? Guess it is time for a new monitor.

This does unusual enough that I would experiment further. In my experience a gun always fails either by being on all the time, which in the case of the green gun would create an overall green washed appearance, of off or at a lower level, which would give everything a magenta cast.

What you are describing seems to be that the red and blue guns are kicking in, but only when green is on. Normally the colors do not interract with one another in this way, so this sounds like a moniitor adjustment issue to me, rather than a failed gun.

You’ve probably been through all the settings by now. See if there is a color temperature setting that might be set to a very low value, or some other adjustment that might cause the self test to display incorrectly. There should also be a global reset for the monitor’s own firmware. —
Mike Russell – www.curvemeister.com
E
ergobob
Oct 30, 2007
[re monitor that displays green as white]

I did the monitor self test and it appears that the green is not functioning properly. That is, the test shows four RGBW bars and the green bar is showing almost all white with a slight green tint. All other bars show the correct color.

So I am assuming that the green gun is shot.

Does that conclusion make sense? Guess it is time for a new monitor.

This does unusual enough that I would experiment further. In my experience a gun always fails either by being on all the time, which in the case of the green gun would create an overall green washed appearance, of off or at a lower level, which would give everything a magenta cast.

What you are describing seems to be that the red and blue guns are kicking in, but only when green is on. Normally the colors do not interract with one another in this way, so this sounds like a moniitor adjustment issue to me, rather than a failed gun.
You’ve probably been through all the settings by now. See if there is a color temperature setting that might be set to a very low value, or some other adjustment that might cause the self test to display incorrectly. There should also be a global reset for the monitor’s own firmware.

Hi Mike,

Actually, the color on the monitor looks fine when I am not focusing on a particular green color. So I really don’t notice the loss of green when generally using the monitor.

I have played with the adjustments but the color adjustments on this monitor are not what I am used to seeing. So I don’t know what I am doing.

Perhaps you know. In addition to the Centering, Zoom, Geometry, etc. here is what I have on the screen for color adjustment:

5000K 6500K 3

R BIAS
G BIAS
B BIAS
R GAIN
G GAIN
B GAIN

Each of these has a slider and shows a number from 1 to 100. Also, the 5000K and 6500K change the overall tint of the screen. I have it set now so the colors look decent when generally using the monitor.

I don’t see anything for brightness, tint, and the usual things you see. The manual could not be downloaded for some reason.

Can you see what adjustments I might make?

Thanks,

Bob
MR
Mike Russell
Oct 30, 2007
"Hymer" <[REMOVE].net> wrote in message
[re adjustments to monitor that displays green as white]
Perhaps you know. In addition to the Centering, Zoom, Geometry, etc. here is what I have on the screen for color adjustment:

5000K 6500K 3

R BIAS
G BIAS
B BIAS
R GAIN
G GAIN
B GAIN

Each of these has a slider and shows a number from 1 to 100. Also, the 5000K and 6500K change the overall tint of the screen. I have it set now so the colors look decent when generally using the monitor.

Bias and gain are brightness and contrast, respectively. Set the bias to 100 and the gain to zero in each case. A color temp of 6000 is standard.

The big puzzle is how the monitor can be smart enough to have only greens be "washed out" This is hard to do without having the colors interact with one another, adding red and blue only when pure green is at a certain level. Until this is solved, I would be reluctant to replace the monitor.

My next step would be to try to characterize this problem. First, display a neutral gradient, and have Photoshop display each of the channels,in color, to see if there is a falloff of green when things get brighter. Another idea would be creating an image with various levels of pure green to see where the red and blue presumably kick in. Also, have your wife or other female associate give this a look-see, to rule out any chance of color blindness playing a role in this – green is a particularly onerous color in this regard.

On a totally different tack, do what you can to turn off any system color management for the monitor. For example, you may have a profile and/or LUT installed for that video card. Running the monitor on another system that is known to work would be ideal. Second best might be to swap out the video card for another one, to rule out specific driver and/or system profile issues. During boot, go into the bios and see if it displays any pure red, green, and blue color display, even as setup text and/or warning messages.


Mike Russell – www.curvemeister.com

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