Monitor question / issue

Hey guys, I have a Shimian (Korean IPS 27") monitor. I have a strange issue.

1st, the rig,

Asrock z77 Extreme4 Motherboard
Intel i3770k Ivy Bridge CPU
Corsair 850w PSU
GTX 570
16gb RAM

I have two monitors. The Shimian, connected via DVI, and also a BenQ G2400WD 24" 1980x1200 monitor connected via HDMI.

Here is what happens; for only video that is local to my machine that I play (I have tried .mpeg, .avi, and .m4v so far), it "fades out" somehow on my Shimian monitor. When I play it back on the BenQ, it looks fine. But then I move it back to the shimian and it fades out again. Almost like it slightly desaturates.

Here is a short video demonstrating the issue

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjmbD-M8PAI

That almost looks like an issue of HDCP handshaking on the monitor, causing something similar to the older style of VHS tapes fading in and out if not run directly to a TV. Was the video you had one that was professionally done, or was it a recording of your own?

*Edit* - Macrovision was what I was thinking of re: the fading in and out of the VHS tape.

My own video edited in adobe premiere and exported to mpeg (also tried avi with same result). I tried a few other videos as well and had the same issue.

Quote from Parafly9 : My own video edited in adobe premiere and exported to mpeg (also tried avi with same result). I tried a few other videos as well and had the same issue.

Ah, dang.....

Does your Shimian have HDMI out? And correspondingly, does the BenQ have DVI? I'd be curious to swap the cables around and see if it does the same thing (to test if it's the video drivers on the GC).

Unfortunately not... the shimian has only one dvi port. I know I was previously using the dvi with another monr monitor (19" dell) with no issues.. I'll prob start by double checking driver updates ....

That's a beauty of a problem.
Never seen that one before.
What happens when you play video with the player half on each screen?
The first place I would look is in the menu settings of the Shimian.
It can clearly show the colours to perfection, until it starts moving, ie: playing video.
I don't know what type of setting there might be that would affect video that way, but logic tells me that it's the Shimian making the decision to play it in a faded way, based on a setting.

I'll try some more tonight when i get home from work. The Shimian being one of the Korean monitors has no OSd at all.

I have nvidia drivers but my display is calibrated with a colorimeter - a Datacolor Spyder 4, to ensure the most accurate reproduction i can get for video and photo work.

could you try booting off a linux live distro and seeing if the colours are still washed out? That would at least tell you whether it's something on the monitor or in software

Quote from Parafly9 : I have nvidia drivers but my display is calibrated with a colorimeter - a Datacolor Spyder 4, to ensure the most accurate reproduction i can get for video and photo work.

Maybe that's the program that is disagreeing with the Shimian.
I take that the two monitors have different settings, correct?
Are there default settings that you can try, both on the monitor itself and also with your colour program?
As it has been suggested in another reply, swapping out the cables could tell you a lot about what's going on.

Couple things: First of all, I can't tell in video you posted, but does the entire screen dim or only the portion with the video?

Next, download the portable version of media player classic home cinema [sourceforge.net] and play a video to see if you still encounter the same problem. If you don't, it's probably a codec issue. If not, finally...

Check in the Nvidia Control Panel. There are a couple of video color settings. Namely, click the 27" monitor, select "Adjust video color settings" and click on the "Advanced" tab. One is "Dynamic contrast enhancement". Try unchecking that and seeing if that helps the issue.

Quote from kakomu : Couple things: First of all, I can't tell in video you posted, but does the entire screen dim or only the portion with the video? Next, download the portable version of media player classic home cinema [sourceforge.net] and play a video to see if you still encounter the same problem. If you don't, it's probably a codec issue. If not, finally... Check in the Nvidia Control Panel. There are a couple of video color settings. Namely, click the 27" monitor, select "Adjust video color settings" and click on the "Advanced" tab. One is "Dynamic contrast enhancement". Try unchecking that and seeing if that helps the issue.

The screen doesn't change, just the video playback itself.


I tried disabling the colorimeter calibration and the same thing happened. I will try playing with disabling services in a few moments.


Also doing an NVidia driver upgrade, I was a version or two outdated.

EDIT: Figured it out! In the NVIDIA control panel, there is an option called "VIdeo --> Adjust Video Color Settings".

For some reason my one monitor was set to function from the video card. The 27" monitor however was set to take video settings from the NVIDIA card and the brightness was cranked up to 90%.


I'm not sure how / why that happened, but I changed it and now it's consistent.

Quote from Parafly9 : The screen doesn't change, just the video playback itself. I tried disabling the colorimeter calibration and the same thing happened. I will try playing with disabling services in a few moments. Also doing an NVidia driver upgrade, I was a version or two outdated. EDIT: Figured it out! In the NVIDIA control panel, there is an option called "VIdeo --> Adjust Video Color Settings". For some reason my one monitor was set to function from the video card. The 27" monitor however was set to take video settings from the NVIDIA card and the brightness was cranked up to 90%. I'm not sure how / why that happened, but I changed it and now it's consistent.

Quote : I don't know what type of setting there might be that would affect video that way, but logic tells me that it's the Shimian making the decision to play it in a faded way, based on a setting.

Who could have known that someone changed those settings in the NVIDIA panel??
So naturally thought it was a setting on the monitor itself.
How the heck did that setting get changed that way, including cranking up the brightness.
Is there a practical joker living in your house?