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Monitor brightness

jdphoto

Well-known member
This may seem like a silly, remedial question, but what do you set your monitor brightness at when editing?
I edit on an Eizo monitor emulating an sRGB, Adobe RGB and for magazines I use CMYK. What a good output of average brightness that what most will view at?
Very subjective I know, but is there an industry standard?
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
110 to 115 used to be the "standard" for photo editing. Myself, I find 125 a little better overall for me. YMMV.
 
This may seem like a silly, remedial question, but what do you set your monitor brightness at when editing?
After color calibrating my monitor, I set brightness to match the output of my printer, which means turning it down; otherwise prints come out too dark.
 

stngoldberg

Well-known member
90 is the number at which my Eizio monitor’s brightness matches the correct print color depth.
Stanley
 

pfigen

Member
There is no correct number for monitor luminosity because the ambient light in the room affects your perception of the image on the screen. The higher your ambient light, the brighter your screen needs to be to compensate. For those of us who keep fairly dark editing rooms or studios, 85-100 candelas is about right but if you have the lights on, you'll need higher. Also, if you need to turn down your screen after calibration, then you've calibrated to a luminosity that is too high. Knocking it down after calibration invalidates your monitor profile as well. Re-calibrate at the proper luminosity for you ambient light - one that matches your paper white as close as possible under a calibrated viewing booth that does not spill light on to your screen.
 
There is no correct number for monitor luminosity because the ambient light in the room affects your perception of the image on the screen. The higher your ambient light, the brighter your screen needs to be to compensate.[
Your monitor brightness needs to match your printer. You don't want a bright monitor and dark prints.
 

Shashin

Well-known member
Your monitor brightness needs to match your printer. You don't want a bright monitor and dark prints.
That also depends on the color of your desktop. If you print from Photoshop using the dark theme, your prints will come out dark because your visual system is compensating for the surround. The calibration device/software should be setting the levels, however. But the print environment needs to be considered for consistency.
 
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