Nouveau: Digital Vibrance setting

proxima_centauri · 2011-05-12 17:22:51

I recently switched to the nouveau driver for the first time, hoping for a better experience with GNOME3 - and I'm quite pleased with one minor gripe. Previously I had been using the nvidia settings to increase digital vibrance settings. Now without this, my display now seems extremely washed out.

Is there a configuration file, or maybe something related to xrandr I could use to make similar "digital vibrance" settings, or is this a feature lost in the move to nouveau?

schmidtbag · 2011-05-13 01:46:08

i had this same issue as well, as well as the other features that nvidia-settings has that noveau doesn't. shouldn't your monitor have these features? check your contrast or color values of your monitor, that tends to make a big difference. imo, relying on software color management should be avoided.

proxima_centauri · 2011-05-13 03:34:57

Using my Thinkpad T61p laptop, so no independent monitor settings unfortunately.

schmidtbag · 2011-05-13 13:49:31

aaaah yes that is a legitimate problem then. well, it wouldn't surprise me if there was a separate program that can fix this problem. do some research on linux programs that change brightness, contrast, and gamma values and i'm sure something will come up. nvidia-settings simply just overrides the default output options, while some video games can ever override nvidia-settings. that being said, i don't see why another program couldn't do that.

proxima_centauri · 2011-05-13 14:43:43

I have had some luck loading ICC color profiles from gnome-color-manager; but I think those work by mainly changing gamma, brightness and contrast values as you said. Still trying to find something closer to the digital vibrance setting. Will post back if I find anything.

schmidtbag · 2011-05-13 15:40:47

i'm not an artist so i'm not really aware of all features applicable to color but i'm sure "digital vibrance" is just a fancy word for contrast and gamma changes.

also just wondering but what card do you use? depending on which model, the open source drivers are actually considerably slower than the proprietary ones.

proxima_centauri · 2011-05-13 15:51:55

I'm lead to believe digital vibrance increases the intensity of all colours, and is dependent on graphic card & driver. There are similar settings in intel + ATI control panels as well. Anyways, I couldn't find any Linux compatible programs that allow you to create your own ICC profile, and none of the ones I found online for the T61p look better.

I'm using the laptop in my sig, so the card is the NVIDIA Quadro FX 570m. The official NVIDIA driver worked fine, except when I used certain gnome-shell themes, I would experience very minor lag when I exposed the workspace, enough to annoy me. With the nouveau drivers everything is smooth in the expose of windows, only now it lags when I use the workspace switcher (which I don't really use, but still - can't win!).

NVIDIA: Pro's: Good power management, nvidia xserver settings. Con's: Minor lag when using certain custom gnome-shell themes, Buggy suspend
Nouveau: Pro's: Smooth expose with all gnome-shell custom themes, suspend works, KMS. Con's: Warmer laptop (perhaps no scaling going on), lag on workspace switcher and notification bar

Can't win - tough call.

Last edited by proxima_centauri (2011-05-13 15:57:04)

schmidtbag · 2011-05-13 16:02:02

i'm not too familiar with the quadro series. i know what they are i just don't know how to compare them to other non-workstation cards.

contrast + gamma basically is color intensity. digital vibrance probably automatically configures those for you. so for example, it may increase contrast by 2 points and gamma by 1, or maybe the 2 fluctuate in certain patterns. i'm sure you can do it but it might take a while. otherwise, nouveau doesn't come with the proper tools.

another con for nouveau is it generally performs worse, but another pro is its a great way to get your video working out-of-the-box in many graphical distros.

proxima_centauri · 2011-05-13 18:06:35

schmidtbag wrote:

i'm not too familiar with the quadro series. i know what they are i just don't know how to compare them to other non-workstation cards.

It's essentially the workforce equivalent of the GeForce 8600M GT, optimized for programs like AutoCAD.

I decided to switch back to the official NVIDIA drivers out of concern for the higher heat temperatures with the nouveau drivers. I'll just have to stick to the default theme or figure out why certain custom themes lag slightly but not others.

Arch Linux

#1 2011-05-12 17:22:51

Nouveau: Digital Vibrance setting

#2 2011-05-13 01:46:08

Re: Nouveau: Digital Vibrance setting

#3 2011-05-13 03:34:57

Re: Nouveau: Digital Vibrance setting

#4 2011-05-13 13:49:31

Re: Nouveau: Digital Vibrance setting

#5 2011-05-13 14:43:43

Re: Nouveau: Digital Vibrance setting

#6 2011-05-13 15:40:47

Re: Nouveau: Digital Vibrance setting

#7 2011-05-13 15:51:55

Re: Nouveau: Digital Vibrance setting

#8 2011-05-13 16:02:02

Re: Nouveau: Digital Vibrance setting

#9 2011-05-13 18:06:35

Re: Nouveau: Digital Vibrance setting

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