Tweaking settings on a TV? It seems too dark with my smoked glass...

[sofakng]

Last night I finally got around to installing my smoked glass and the cabinet now looks 98% complete!  However, a bit to my disappointment, the TV looks a bit too dark.  Obviously I knew that the smoked glass would darken everything, but it's also supposed to bring out the colors more, right?

So, I'm wondering if I should fool around with the settings on the TV (brightness, color, etc, etc...)  Are there any tools to help tweak the TV settings?  Should I even bother with this?

By the way, I'm using s-video right now, but I plan to upgrade to component very soon.

[Pasqualz]

Sofakng, I'm not sure if you still check the messgae boards, or if you''l get an email alert about my followup, but I was curious if you ever changed your TV settings after installing the glass. I have a TV in my cabinet and I'm looking to buy smoked glass for it. What type of glass did you buy? what adjustments did you make to your TV? What type and darkness of glass did you buy? Thanks!!!

[Hiub1]

Try messing with the gamma settings in mame. That worked for me.

[Pasqualz]

Hiub1,  I was thinking of that, but my worry is that everything outside of the games will still appear dark (MAME32, Daphne, StellaX, Windows desktop, etc..) That's why I was thinking of taking care of this by changing the TV settings instead. Thanks for your input!

[Hiub1]

Well then you should be able to change the gamma settings within your display driver. I know for a fact the ATI display drivers adjust gamma. Also, do a search on the internet for Nokia Monitor Test. Its a neat little app to adjust your monitor properly.

[sofakng]

Sofakng, I'm not sure if you still check the messgae boards, or if you''l get an email alert about my followup, but I was curious if you ever changed your TV settings after installing the glass. I have a TV in my cabinet and I'm looking to buy smoked glass for it. What type of glass did you buy? what adjustments did you make to your TV? What type and darkness of glass did you buy? Thanks!!!

Sorry for the very late reply.  If you'd like more prompt responses feel free to e-mail me at jklimek@gmail.com.

Anyways, I bought a "Smoked Gray Tempered Glass" from a local glass shop (Mesko Glass in Northeastern Pennsylvania).  I was about to say that my setup actually looks perfectly fine, but I re-read my original post so I must have thought it looked too dark in the beginning.  Anyways, I must have grown used-to-it because I didn't change any settings and it really looks fine.  I did upgrade to component video (480i using ATI HDTV dongle), but that really didn't change much at all. 

I'm sorry if that response isn't too helpful, but the best advice I can give you is to MAKE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN you are using AT LEAST S-VIDEO.  I cannot stress that enough.  Composite (not component) is absolute garbage.

Good luck!