Help with probably my last rodeo

[handrawn]

what setting is your monitor on and have you calibrated it?

calibration is important - a visual calibration such as is provided by windows 10 may help the monitor colours look better to you [at least you don't yet need to sync two or more ]

type calibrate into the windows 10 search and click on Calibrate display colour Control panel - follow the instructions

do this under what for you are 'normal lighting conditions' - then try it at night with all other lighting off - see which works best

if you have changed any of your monitor settings I would recommend you put them all back to default first before you calibrate - you can then re-tweak them after as necessary

[pauland]

OK, about the software that you are using..

anim8or

Pretty old software with a low hardware requirement:

• Windows WinXP, Vista, Windiws 7, 8 or 10.
• OpenGL accelerated graphics card or integrated graphics,
• 512 MB memory, 1 GB recommended.
• 25MB disk space.

I think your existing machine is fine for this.

Art of Illusion

Again, pretty old software with a low hardware requirement:

• Operating System: Windows XP/Vista/7/8/8.1/10.
• Free Hard Disk Space: 30 MB of minimum free hard disk space required.
• Installed Memory: 512 MB of minimum RAM required.
• Processor: Intel Pentium 4 or later.

I think it's fair to say that this vintage software will also benefit little from any upgrade to your machine.

Blender

Minimum requirements:

• 64-bit dual core 2Ghz CPU with SSE2 support
• 4 GB RAM
• 1280×768 display
• Mouse, trackpad or pen+tablet
• Graphics card with 1 GB RAM, OpenGL 3.3
• Less than 10 year old

Your kit easily meets the minimum requirements and is not so far from the recommended requirements.

pov-ray

Requirements are so low, just about anything can run it.

My thoughts.

You are far from a power-user. If you favour POV-ray you may have some issues with the display settings inside the program.

I think generally from what you have said and the software that you use, that your existing system is up to producing anything you are working on. You aren't working on huge scenes with millions of polygons, you aren't trying to create toy-story 4 or Lord of the Rings.

You mention wanting to see eye popping-colours, etc. and you have not once mentioned slow rendering times or sluggish performance otherwise. Your POV-ray settings may need tweaking, possibly calibrating your monitor will help, but really just playing with the display settings may be fine.

If you have eyesight problems a larger display could help. My wife has cataracts and is awaiting an operation. We recently switched from a 43" HD TV to a 55" 4K TV and suddenly things have become a lot clearer for her simply because the display is bigger and the picture processor better at handling contrast and colour.

An SSD will make your system seem more responsive. I'm not sure if a RAM expansion will make much difference if you are using POV-RAY. A bigger monitor, or even a smaller 4K TV set might be useful.

It seems to me that your main issue is with what you see rather than with what you do to get there, so I think the eye-popping colour is down to your display, your POV-ray settings and your artistic ability.

[Boy]

It seems to me that your main issue is with what you see rather than with what you do to get there, so I think the eye-popping colour is down to your display, your POV-ray settings and your artistic ability.

Thoughtful analysis and advise!

[handrawn]

and you have not once mentioned slow rendering times or sluggish performance otherwise

these things are subjective if you have no benchmark to compare them with. or no other expectation



it will make a difference

....

but as the main query is regarding colour, the monitior and the render settings are the place to start as has already been said

I thought of cataracts too - if a medical issue exists, then I would be looking to advice from a [medical] professional in the use of computers for such purposes...

[pauland]

these things are subjective if you have no benchmark to compare them with. or no other expectation



it will make a difference

....

but as the main query is regarding colour, the monitior and the render settings are the place to start as has already been said

I thought of cataracts too - if a medical issue exists, then I would be looking to advice from a [medical] professional in the use of computers for such purposes...

I can definitely say that my wife's cataracts ( unsurprisingly ) makes her see everything as being darker than I do. She wasn't aware she had them until she had an eye test. Just over a week ago our change to a larger 4K TV brought out some unexpected enthusiasm from her because the TV picture became clearer.

Her perception of the world as being darker has increased as her cataracts have worsened. Don't get me wrong, she does everything that she could do before, but she's definitely lost some definition and brightness. Roll on her operation.

[handrawn]

they can creep up on you, slow change is not always noticable.. I hope all goes well, it is at least a routine op in most cases - one eye at a time....

[louyo]

I can definitely say that my wife's cataracts ( unsurprisingly ) makes her see everything as being darker than I do. She wasn't aware she had them until she had an eye test. Just over a week ago our change to a larger 4K TV brought out some unexpected enthusiasm from her because the TV picture became clearer.

Her perception of the world as being darker has increased as her cataracts have worsened. Don't get me wrong, she does everything that she could do before, but she's definitely lost some definition and brightness. Roll on her operation.

Had cataract surgery about 3 years ago. Minimal discomfort, worst part was putting in eye drops for a few days after. Left eye corrective lens for reading, right one for distance. Rarely wear any glasses, mostly when I drive (just to be sure). Couldn't believe how much brighter the world is and now the trees have leaves instead of green blob.

[pauland]

Had cataract surgery about 3 years ago. Minimal discomfort, worst part was putting in eye drops for a few days after. Left eye corrective lens for reading, right one for distance. Rarely wear any glasses, mostly when I drive (just to be sure). Couldn't believe how much brighter the world is and now the trees have leaves instead of green blob.

Thanks for the info - I'll tell my wife.