the Result of Moving my Monitors - screen has less contrast

[Isaac]

So my daughter's friend was going to stay with us for a week and everyone wanted me to move my office to the master bedroom so they could sleep in what is normally my office - I predicted this would happen and it did (only because something always happens it seems) - JUST from the exercise of unplugging and re-plugging back in my monitors (both from laptop to monitor, as well as power cord to wall) ::

Now, the contrast is just different. For example, when I right-click on a file in File Explorer, you know how you see the right-click options get highlighted as your mouse moves over them and hovers? It's a very nicely visible grayish-dark highlighting, if not a blue one, depending on your settings. Well my contrast is so poor at this point that I can't even see that visual cue of which option my mouse is hovering over - it's nonexistent. I have to just judge where my cursor is instead of seeing where the highlight is.

This EVEN carried over into my work virtual desktop too - when I right-click on a File, and as I move my mouse up and down, there is zero visual cue as to which option my mouse is currently over. And that's a VMWARE virtual desktop.

Why would that happen just from unplugging my monitors and plugging them back in and how can I prevent/fix it?

 

[GPGeorge]

My first thought would be to consider differences in ambient lighting between the two locations. I know I get different effects from closing or opening the blinds on the window behind my desk. Probably not as great as you describe, but definitely noticable.

 

[Isaac]

As another example of what I am talking about, turning on "high contrast mode" solves the problem (by creating an aggressively strong highlight of the type I am talking about) but of course it creates 100 new problems, as everything is crazy looking at that point.

Yeah, I've tried it in the dark and light. it is a little bit lighter here in the bedroom i guess

 

[Isaac]

well turning the contrast Down a little on my monitor did help actually, thanks for prompting me to think about light/dark

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Let us put it this way. If unplugging and plugging in your monitor without moving it made a difference, you are about to buy a new monitor anyway. Moving a monitor, however, can be a very different experience. I'm using the same monitor now that I used for my main machine's predecessor, but when both machines were workable (a temporary solution), this monitor was 180 degrees around (on a different desktop) and the glare from a nearby window was radically different. Same power, didn't change the settings, and yet it was a difference in visibility. A little contrast tuning and all was well with the world again.