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How to Fix a Stuck Gamma Setting on Windows

Windows stores the gamma setting as a file, and sometimes the state of the file is not properly reset by the system. This seems to be caused by certain combinations of video cards and/or drivers.

To correct the issue, all you need to do is change some value that writes settings back to that file. Sometimes a reboot is sufficient.

If a reboot doesn’t clear things up, you need to make a trip to your Display control panel.

The following steps should be performed when you are logged in as an administrative user.

First open your Control Panel, as depicted below. (Note: these illustrations are for Windows XP Pro; other editions of Windows behave similarly.)

...then double-click on the Display control panel, as shown below:

In the Display control panel, click on the Settings tab at the top. Note the setting of your Color Quality, highlighted below:

Change the Color Quality pop-up to another value, then click the Apply button. Then, change the Color Quality back to its original value, and again click the Apply button. If this fixes the issue, you're done!

Next, click the button labeled Advanced to open the Video Driver Properties window. Click on the Color Management tab at the top.

If a color profile is selected, make a note of it. If no color profiles appear in the listing, note that, too.

If you have more than one color profile in the list, select a different profile, then click Set As Default and click Apply. If you have only one color profile, or no color profiles in the listing, click the Add... button to summon a file selection dialog:

There will usually be several profiles from which you may select one. If you can't locate any, search the Internet for “Color Profile” and download one from a reputable source, then use the above dialog to locate the file you downloaded.

Click a color profile in the above dialog, then click the Add button.

Back in the Video Driver Properties window, select the color profile you just added, click Set As Default and then click Apply. This will almost certainly clear up the issue.

If you like the gamma, leave it as-is. Otherwise, click the Remove button and confirm your choice in the warning dialog the follows.

If the gamma is still stuck after all this, try changing other monitor settings.

Always make a note of the original setting, then change the setting to something else, then click Apply, then change the setting back to its original value.

 

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