monitor calibration

This is a rough guide to adjust your monitor for the best internet viewing possible. This page is not intended for LCD monitors.

First adjust your monitor to clearly show a difference in brightness between each of the 17 steps below. Each of these grayscale steps range from black (value of 0) to white (value of 255) with a step value of 16. Then adjust the color balance so that the gray background of this window does not show any color cast, it should be pure gray.

Now make sure the image below appears as a rainbow beginning and ending with red and with smooth transitions between all colors. The image should not appear broken, separating into vertical bands or composed of dots. If you see any one of these effects, make sure your monitor is set to either thousands of color or preferably millions of color to correct the problem. AOL may not resolve colors properly so if you've done all the above and the problem persists, use Explorer, Safari or Netscape.

Lastly set the gamma on your monitor. Gamma is not the same as contrast. Squint your eyes or step back from your monitor. If you have a Macinitosh, adjust the gamma so the box labelled "1.80" appears the same shade as the surrounding pattern. If you have a PC running Windows, adjust so the box labelled "2.00" appears the same shade as the surrounding pattern.
N.B. I recommend turning ColorSync OFF in Explorer for Macintosh because it will double up on the system settings giving a much higher gamma than the rest of the Mac including Netscape. To do this, go to the "Edit" menu in Explorer and select "Preferences", then select "Web Content" and uncheck the box for "Use ColorSync".