Catalyst Color Correction being reset by games

[Wheelman56]

I just built a new computer with an ATI X850XT Platinum Edition, I downloaded the 5.3 drivers from the ATI site, and installed them. My monitor that I'm using is pretty old and has issues with brightness, so I have to jack the brightness up with the drivers to be able to see anything. My old computer used an Nvidia card and the brightness settings on the desktop manager for that was fine. The Catalyst Control center doesn't seem to be as reliable, as when I run a game, the color corrections are completely reset. I put the brightness settings for both the Desktop and the Fullscreen 3D, when I run Call of Duty (my test program for now), its all reset back to default and the game is dreadfully dark. I leave the game and also the brightness settings in Windows is reset, I have to open Catalyst again and move the slider a bit and it puts everything back. I'm running the latest version of Direct X (9.0c), could someone please help?

 

[Matthias99]

First, did you try any other applications, and/or DirectX ones? Maybe it's an issue with OpenGL or Call Of Duty specifically.

Second, did you try a different driver version? Maybe it's a bug in the 5.3s.

Third, have you considered a monitor that doesn't need the brightness/gamma cranked all the way up to see anything?

 

[Wheelman56]

I don't know of any other applications to make my computer more bright, if you could suggest some it'd be appriciated. I haven't tried any other driver versions except the one that came on my cd, I would liek a better monitor, too bad I don't have the money right now for one.

 

[bocamojo]

Download ATI Tray Tools (freeware). They have a "Colors" tab. Make your settings there, and it will override ATI's settings. These settings should carry over into any games you have.

Would recommend you download the latest drivers for your video card from ati.com. It may not fix your color issue, but it will likely give you a performance increase when playing your games.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: Wheelman56
I don't know of any other applications to make my computer more bright, if you could suggest some it'd be appriciated. I haven't tried any other driver versions except the one that came on my cd, I would liek a better monitor, too bad I don't have the money right now for one.

Sorry, maybe that wasn't clear. I meant you should try other gaming applications (or benchmarks), to see if the problem is confined to just Call Of Duty.

You can also submit a bug report to ATI on their website.

 

[Wheelman56]

I'm having really weird problems, I ran HL2 and it seems to have the same problem, but I can run the games in a window and go to the CCC and brighten up the desktop and it makes the games brighter. Although, in Doom 3 the brightness control thats actually in the game affects the desktop aswell when its being run in a window... what gives? Is there some link between the brightness controls of the ATI control panel and the ingame brightness of the games? I'm not used to all these problems I used the nvidia control panel for the longest time with no issue, my settings were never reset and the brightness always affected every game, which is what I want. I am considering getting a new monitor but the fact that when I run games in a window and use the in-game brightness settings it also brightens up my desktop bothers me... not to mention I want to have the ATI control panel there working that way if I ever need a game brightened up I can use it. Is anyone else experiencing this problem with the 5.3? I read somewhere that someone was having the same problem with Call of Duty, everyone gave him the advice to run the game in a window and brighten up the desktop (as I did) or they gave completely useless comments like "ATI'd". I guess if its a bug in the 5.3 I'll uninstall it, run driver cleaner and download the 5.2 or something if I can figure out where to get it without downloading a modded driver. I like ATI's cards and all but damn this software blows.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I've had this issue before, with ATI's drivers and UT99 4.36 using DirectX. I recommend un-installing, then using ATI's specific "cat uninstaller", and possibly even also DriverCleaner. Then re-install the drivers again, "really fresh", and then... pray. ATI's drivers seem to have the wierdest gamma bugs known to mankind.

 

[Wheelman56]

I uninstalled the drivers completely, ran DriverCleaner in Safe Mode, then rebooted the computer and installed the 5.1 drivers, did the same thing, so I did it again but with the 5.2 drivers, did the same thing. I just got fed up and did it once more but just put the 5.3 back on there. I guess my only solution is to get a new monitor. Although, even with a new monitor the ATI software will probably up my brightness a bit at startup and when I get out of games, it seems to be doing that now even though I did all this and I have no idea why. Its really irritating.

 

[Wheelman56]

It seems to only be an issue with games that have their own brightness settings. 3dMark05 was affected by the ATI Control Panel's brightness settings, it worked like a charm. I installed Far Cry and it wasn't affected by the brightness settings I had set up in ATI Control Panel, thankfully FarCry has its own set of color correction settings (Gamma, Brightness, Contrast) so I can play it without trouble thanks to those. But so far every game I've tried the brightness settings in the ATI Control Panel is just reset when the game is run (Call of Duty, Doom 3, Half-Life 2 [Demo], Far Cry).