Nvidia gpu, gamma resets in games.

[deizel]

This seems to be pretty much a universal issue with nvidia cards. When a full screen game is launched, any windows gamma/monitor calibration you have done resets to default, which is in my case is way too bright. I've set the monitors brightness/constrast low but it's not same as gamma.

Is there anyway to prevent this from happening? I have a VG278h, windows 7, GTX Titan. It'd be nice if there was a gamma setting in the monitor itself but there doesn't seem to be. It's annoying because any dark games or even sort of dark games are absolutely totally washed out.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I don't remember a setting but there may be one that says "use application gamma settings" vs "use control panel settings" or something. I know there is one for video, I wonder if that applies?

 

[deizel]

I tried all the nvidia settings, the one where it says adjust desktop, video, and image. None of them helped at all. Even if I turn the gamma all the weigh down on any of those, once a i launch a game its like im staring at the sun.

 

[cmdrdredd]

That is odd. Maybe someone with your monitor will respond.

 

[destrekor]

I'm not fully sure what you are experiencing, and I'm having trouble coming up with ideas to suggest.

An initial bit of wisdom that pops into my mind is the fact that it isn't an Nvidia issue you are describing, but a Windows issue. Windows does not handle monitor calibration, ICC profiles, and color spaces in the way that OS X does, which is to say, it does it poorly. Applications are essentially allowed to do what they please for color space calibration, and this can include gamma correction.

With that said, again, I can't quite pinpoint something to check at this point. Hopefully someone thinks of something or I may with some sleep.

One moonshot idea: have you completely, 100% removed your Nvidia drivers, including deleting the cards from Device Manager, and rebooting, before proceeding with fresh driver installation? It may help to even utilize a driver cleaner in safe mode.

It is very rare these days that Nvidia drivers require anything that drastic, but it remains a remote possibility. I would be trying that at this point in the game.

 

[96Firebird]

OP has already stated he believes it is a Windows problem (elsewhere), and made a suggestion to MS about it. I think thats all you can do for now, there is no program that can lock gamma that I know of.

Have you tried looking into the Color Management settings in the Control Panel?

 

[destrekor]

OP has already stated he believes it is a Windows problem (elsewhere), and made a suggestion to MS about it. I think thats all you can do for now, there is no program that can lock gamma that I know of.

Ha. At this stage in the game, I don't reckon Microsoft will be doing anything about it. I suspect it is too deep in the display subsystem. As important as universal ICC display profiles are in the creative and printing world, that Windows still does not handle them as it should, would seem to suggest that perhaps the entire structure of the OS itself is incapable.

OS X was built upon a very different fundamental. I admittedly don't know if other Unix-based OSes operate this way, but the original MacOS, following through to the FreeBSD-based OS X, have had their display servers established in such a way that color matching between display and application is a universal standard, applications cannot have it any other way by default. Heck, I can't recall if it is still this way, but the original Mac display server was based on the Post Script print server language for assurance that printing was WYSIWYG. (and much of this applies to NeXT as well - I may actually be reciting OS specifics from NeXT that aren't true of the original Mac OS... I can't be bothered to go research all of that again at this moment )

I simply suspect that this kind of change to Windows would require a complete fundamental restructuring of the OS, and I imagine to the point that it could only be called Windows in name. It would be like the change from OS 9 to OS X

 

[deizel]

Is there anyway to like hack my monitor and change whatever internal brightness its set at? I just realized that the "brightness" setting on the monitor's OSD is not legit and is actually a backlight setting. It does not have the effect it should when turning it up or down at all.

So is there any software that could let me change the real brightness setting? That seems to be the only way to get around this issue outside of buying a new monitor.

 

[Gloomy]

What games does this happen in?

 

[deizel]

Resident Evil Remaster (just came out), Final Fantasy 13 are couple. I haven;t played too many different games lately but those and others totally ignore your calibrated settings and force Windows default setting but only when in fullscreen mode.


If I go to windowed mode (which I hate) it will not force windows default, and when I close the game if it were fullscreen it will revert back to my calibrated settings.

There are some games that do use your calibrated settings, like Duke Nukem megaton edition.

 

[ssokolow]

Since this thread is turning up among a bunch of other equally unanswered Google results, I hope people won't mind if I necro it to share a viable workaround for the benefit of other searchers.

What worked for me just this week on my Windows 7 "gaming console, except not a console" to tame an abandoned game with unplayably broken gamma was a utility named CPKeeper (short for Color Profile Keeper, also on MajorGeeks), which has a "Lock profile(s)" checkbox.

You use the * button to save your current color profile to file, then the ... button to select it, and then check "Lock profile(s)". It'll start watching for anything changing things and, when anything does, it'll then change it back.

Since games generally only meddle with the settings on startup and shutdown and trust they'll stay that way, it works perfectly.

There's also a "Minimize to tray" option hidden behind the cog/gear icon.