Geforce 4 MX440 too dark

I have a PNY GeForce 4 mx440 64mb AGP 8X video card, HP m90 monitor, 300w power supply. The card works flawlesly except some videos and pics are much darker than on other computers. Games are almost impossible to play if you don't turn the gamma all the way up. I'd leave the gamma settings all the way up but it makes text and browsing way too bright. is there any software or settings I can change to correct the problem.

 

Go into control panel, display, settings, Advanced. Click on the NVidia tab. Click on nView Display Mode, then Device Settings button. Play with your stuff there.
These settings apply to everything in Windows.

 

I've played with all the display settings in the Nvidia pannel. The problem with that is if I turn the brightness or gamma up enough to view videos or games, web browsing and text are way too bright. My monitors brightness is all the way up too. I think it may just be a crappy vid card.

 

Hi hudnut

What are you using for monitor settings?
Have you tried a very basic 800x600 with 75 Hertz refresh.
If this improves your situation, the monitor may be the culprit. Do you have access to another monitor? Does it display the same conditions? These suggestions are to isolate the problem. It could be just finding a screen resolution / refresh that are compatibly to Vcard, monitor and your preferences. Of course if you push the settings for game use, this will test the limits of both Vcard/monitor.

 

I had the same problem with the same card on this machine.

I put a GeForce FX 5200 128meg in here ( XP Pro ) and put the old card into another machine ( 98SE ) for testing and it is just fine.

Sometimes it is not just one thing or the other but the combination that creates the problem.

The OS. The Video card ( including drivers ) itself. The Monitor. If one or the other is off just a little in compatability then not so nice results can arise.

The Refresh rate. The Color settings ( 16 or 32 bit ) can make a difference.

For the heck of it I just looked and I see the refresh rate on here is set ( by default ) to 60hz. The old card defaulted to 85hz.

That is why when I am working with Video settings I use Links Golf 2003 as a test program. I have found that If the Video behaves there ( it is VERY fussy ) it will behave anyhere. And as of right now I have to sometimes wonder if I am on the computer or the Real Life course.

I have also noticed that changing Video cards ( in both machines )has greatly improved Internet ( on this one only ) or LAN play of all games.

BillyBob

 

FWIW, I have the same card, and the same problem, in my wife's machine.
If I set it up perfectly for web browsing, games are too dark. If I set it up for her game (Dungeon Siege), then it's too bright to surf. Adjusting the gamma within the game allows her to see what's going on, but it get's washed out on the lighter screens, losing detail.
As a temporary fix, I enabled two profiles (in XP), one for surfing, one for gaming, and that also allowed me to shutdown bunches of services not needed in each.
As a permanent fix, about all you can do is upgrade the video card.
In one of my other machines, I went for the GF Ti4200, and it makes a world of difference, over the GF4 MX440. That's a fairly cheap way to go, unless you've got the money for a Radeon 9500Pro or somesuch.
I still prefer the crispness of the GF cards, especially in games, but the Radeon is better for overall use in just about everything else.