Yeah, it's time to for me to ask something again... ;)

I've installed an ELSA Gladiac MX GF2 graphic card.
Works pretty fine for me...as long as I'm not playing games. No matter what I'm playing, there's not enough brightness in my opinion. On the PC of my g/f (S3 Virge), the screen is crisp and clear.
I have installed a number of Detonator drivers for the card (not every driver worked for my gc properly), a driver for the monitor (I have turned up the brightness settings to the max already), and I have toyed around with the settings of the card - all to no avail, the screen remains too dark to play.
I have adjusted the gamma correction in certain games like RTCW via console, but this is not how I want to change the settings each and every time.

Does anyone of you have a clue how to change the settings for games generally? I have heard that the lack of brightness while gaming is a general issue of ELSA cards - I would say that I will never buy any ELSA product again, but since they went into bankruptcy, it's no topic anymore. ;)

how old is your monitor? they gradually get darker and darker as they age....i'd try another monitor and see if you get the same problem

I had exactly the same problem with the same card, Wave. What I wound up doing was to use a gamma utility that brightened my desktop (loaded at startup). I used the one that is included with Adobe Photoshop, but I think there are others out there. I only know of one and it is shareware. The name is Powerstrip. (http://64.113.35.210/ps.htm)

Give it a try. It did the job for me.

Originally posted by space-invader
how old is your monitor? they gradually get darker and darker as they age....i'd try another monitor and see if you get the same problem

I had that exact same problem untill I got a new monitor :)

Using something like Adobe Gamma corection helped me untill I got the new monitor. It took a little fiddling around, but in the end I got it just right .... I simply put in a much brighter standard for playing games, since this isn't the same as viewing your desktop, I really didn't have any problems with it .... Hoipes this makes any sense :p

Short update...I have dl'ed Powerstrip, and I will also try to steal my g/f's monitor on Sunday. :D

Thanks for the help...more later. ;)

Let me know if that worked for you? Using a Gamma utility sure did the trick for me.

The age of the monitor CAN have an effect, not but always. My monitor was bought new in 4/99 and still works awesome. My g/f bought hers last year (used) and it a 96 model. Even though its 6 years old, the colors are still bright.

Unless the monitor is well over 5 years old, the phosphor dots usually don't fade out. I have a 10 year old monitor that doesn't have a very good picture anymore. Most monitors have to be VERY old before the picture fads, as in several years. Although if the CRT is a very cheap model, that could be a factor.

I was also going to recommend the gamma deal, but Shakey beat me to it. In most cases, that will fix it.

Also, some video cards use a more dull default set of colors. I have never used ELSA cards before. I don't know enough about them and they aren't as popular as most others, so I personally would never use them. Not saying its junk, but I don't know anybody who has one nor would buy one.

If this were my problem, right after swapping video cards, I would first suspect gamma settings, then possibly driver issues (perhaps the drivers on CD were older versions), if that didn't fix it I would try another card, and if that didn't fix it, I would swap monitors. Sounds like the card to me though.

Just a shot in the dark...

And here are the results from the test department... ;)

It seems that the graphic card is the main reason for the lack of brightness, with the monitor at #2 (far behind). I have found another board who had confirmed my suspicions, so I guess it's saving time once again (right after the vacation...don't worry, Smurf :D).

Once again, I'd like to thank everyone who had participated here for the helpful comments.

I figured the card was the culprit. The Elsa was a great card performance wise, but I did have the brightness problem myself.