Best way to calibrate monitor?

[devavictrix]

I recently bought a 24" Samsung S24F350FHU monitor and I am very happy but i'm not sure i'm getting the best out of it. I have a few questions about calibration.

I have tried using the calibration tool built into Windows 10 but it leaves me with a dim screen that isnt very vibrant. I have found that if I set the brightness/contrast/sharpness/colour etc to dynamic (essentially auto, it adjusts and fixes the settings so that they cant be changed) I get the best picture for Windows and gaming.

But surely I can calibrate manually better so please could somebody help me find the best way/tools to use?

Also, is it better to use the monitors settings and leave the graphics drivers at default or to set the monitor to middle of the road value settings and use the graphics driver to adjust brightness, contrast etc? Nvidia drivers allow global setttings and application controlled settings.

Thank you

 

[USAFRet]

Here: http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/?
and here: http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/how-to-calibrate-your-monitor/

 

[devavictrix]

Thank you! Ill have a proper read through them, the first one in particular.

 

[devavictrix]

The first link was brilliant, thank you.

It turned out that HDMI black is defaulted to low on my monitor so I couldnt see half the colours on the contrast images and that Windows gamma settings were inhibiting the range of colours too. Once I set HDMI black to normal and let the Nvidia drivers control gamma (not windows) I was able to change the contrast and brightness to good effect.

Regarding my second query, the first website recommmends setting driver settings to neutral and adjusting the monitor. When everything is adjusted on the monitor the driver settings can then be used for fine tune adjustments.