What is the recommended colour temperature for Trainz?

[narrowgauge]

Looking at some of the screenshots, I get the impression that some people have differing colour temperatures and contrast settings. What is the standard?

Peter

 

[Dinorius_Redundicus]

Can there ever be a standard? Wouldn't it depend on each user's taste (some prefer warm tones others like cooler tones), the characteristics of the particular display monitor, and maybe even on local ambient light conditions?

 

[Azervich]

I think it's to do with Graphics Card colour range, monitors are only receiving the colour output and doesn't send a colour input to the computer, normally people adjust the screen rather than the actual GPU colour.

 

[ZecMurphy]

Hi Peter
There is far more to this than meets the eye (no pun intended!).

The first thing to keep in mind is that each monitor can vary quite wildly, unless you are paying for a 'pro' monitor. Even then, they can vary a little, and will actually change over time...

To get things looking 'correct', you really need to calibrate your monitor. The DataColor Spyder4 is the most common monitor calibration tool these days (both of my monitors get calibrated every few months with one; and yes it can change quite a bit during that time; even with a 'pro' monitor!). With everything calibrated, I run my monitor at 6400K; but this will vary between each monitor (my second monitor doesn't have 'kalvin' measurements for the colour temperature, so can't give a value for that one).

It should also be noted that the colour on the screen can greatly change depending on the lighting in the room, especially with LCD's.

Note, a properly calibrated monitor profile won't actually change how screenshots look for other people. But, it will mean that, on calibrated monitors, it looks pretty much the same. OTOH, on a monitor that is badly needing calibration, it may not look anything close to 'right'. As such, it's more going to effect how your content looks when you create the textures (or when you choose different objects for a map)...

Regards

 

[NeonTheGriffon]

Hi Peter
There is far more to this than meets the eye (no pun intended!).

The first thing to keep in mind is that each monitor can vary quite wildly, unless you are paying for a 'pro' monitor. Even then, they can vary a little, and will actually change over time...

To get things looking 'correct', you really need to calibrate your monitor. The DataColor Spyder4 is the most common monitor calibration tool these days (both of my monitors get calibrated every few months with one; and yes it can change quite a bit during that time; even with a 'pro' monitor!). With everything calibrated, I run my monitor at 6400K; but this will vary between each monitor (my second monitor doesn't have 'kalvin' measurements for the colour temperature, so can't give a value for that one).

It should also be noted that the colour on the screen can greatly change depending on the lighting in the room, especially with LCD's.

Note, a properly calibrated monitor profile won't actually change how screenshots look for other people. But, it will mean that, on calibrated monitors, it looks pretty much the same. OTOH, on a monitor that is badly needing calibration, it may not look anything close to 'right'. As such, it's more going to effect how your content looks when you create the textures (or when you choose different objects for a map)...

Regards

With that in mind, I'd grab a color puck as we photographers call it and calibrate your screen if possible. I set my screen temperature on 5000K (Daylight temperature) but it's in a dark room.

 

[narrowgauge]

[QUOTENote, a properly calibrated monitor profile won't actually change how screenshots look for other people. But, it will mean that, on calibrated monitors, it looks pretty much the same. OTOH, on a monitor that is badly needing calibration, it may not look anything close to 'right'. As such, it's more going to effect how your content looks when you create the textures (or when you choose different objects for a map)...
][/QUOTE]

That is exactly what I had in mind. This is a an aspect that does not get considered by the average user/creator. It appears that for Cad-Cam and by extension, Max Blender and Gmax, 9500 is recommended for greater precision, while the mid-point appears to be 5500, at 4000 everything has a warm tint.

I'm not particularly fussed about this, I just wondered whether Auran/N3V had specified a setting for their in-house work.

Thanks for your comments, hopefully someone will read this thread and be concerned enough to check their monitor.

Peter

 

[WindWalkr]

I'm not particularly fussed about this, I just wondered whether Auran/N3V had specified a setting for their in-house work.

I don't think so. Whatever standards might have been set for Trainz 1.0, we're now heavily reliant on third-party content which means that it's basically impossible to enforce strong control over things like this. There have also been substantial changes to how lighting is rendered since Trainz 1.0 which mean that any careful colour balancing undertaken with the initial content set have long since been completely rebalanced.

chris