What viewing angle?

[Workingdog]

I just started doing my PP on a laptop. I like the portability but what is the proper viewing angle for the computer screen? Too high and there is little contrast, too low and there's too much contrast. It certainly makes a difference when you adjust histogram, curves, etc. in PP. I'm thinking that my line of sight should be perpendicular to the screen both horizontally and vertically and directed at the center of the screen. Sorry if this is a stupid question but a few pictures that looked good on the laptop looked too dark on a CRT. Thanks.

[Canada_Rockies]

I find that my ThinkPad screen is brighter by far than the printer can ever be. Perpendicular to the screen gives the most even coverage, although there is still some vignetting visible. I would simply print an image, then hold the image beside your screen and match it, then remember how many clicks down on the brightness level you are.

MPix even sells a $5 CD and print to match their printers. I found it quite good to do a rough setup. On the other hand, if I were doing this for resale, I would calibrate the monitor with one of the hardware devices. I just don't have the $$$ to buy one right now.

[Quension]

The problem with most LCDs is the backlight, which simultaneously makes the base level gray instead of black, brightens the dim tones, and hides the darkest tones. A color calibration tool (colorimeter) can help offset this to some extent, but often things do look brighter on LCDs than many CRT-type monitors by default.

Yes, normally your viewing angle should be perpendicular. What I tend to do to adjust this for myself, on the cheap LCDs with the worst viewing angles, is view something fullscreen that either has a true black background or doesn't cover the entire screen -- I want a black strip along one side. Then I tilt the screen so the top edge is as close to actual black as possible (compared to the middle and bottom where it's gray due to the backlight) without going past black into inverted colors and strange contrast.

[gamgee]

Get yourself some second hand CRT for PP-ing at home (and for checking PP you did on the move).
You can get some high quality CRT-s for cheap now, since they are not "sexy" anymore. And they are waaay better for PP then LCDs in every aspect.