Seeking advice on monitor adjustment

Joe Dunfee

 As I get older, my ability to focus on things is diminishing.  This partially due to aging, but also because of Diabetic Retinopathy. The retinopathy makes the retina a bit bumpy, and so those areas are not in sharp focus.

I realize that if I make the room brighter, my eye's iris closes more and therefore I have a greater depth of field, and therefore the image is sharper.  I figure I should also increase the brightness of my monitor, which is actually a HD 24" TV/monitor.  This is where I am not sure how best to proceed.

If I increase the brightness all the way, the dark areas are less visible.  If I increase the contrast, the colored lines start to get lighter, and therefore harder to see. The sharpness adjustment does not seem to have any visible effect.

Since there are also settings on my video card, I worked with those a bit.  I took the Gama correction down a notch, which made the colored lines darker.  Then to help make it easier to distinguish their color, I increased color saturation a bit.

Any one else with guidance about this? 

I have never compared a professional computer monitor side-by-side with a low cost HDTV. Should I expect a noticeable difference?

-Joe

martin@enco.us

I recommend getting a monitor to replace the TV.  A monitor made for graphics design will be better than a generic monitor.  I'm using an Asus ProArt series monitor and the difference in color and contrast between the ProArt and the other monitors in the office is striking.  I also recommend considering matte vs. glossy screens.  Matte works much better for me because there are no visible reflections of lights, windows, etc.  Be sure to look at the bezel, too.  I want the bezel on my monitor to be matte to eliminate reflections.