New installation looks "washed out"

Quick to answer questions about finding your way around Linux Mint as a new user.
Forum rules
There are no such things as "stupid" questions. However if you think your question is a bit stupid, then this is the right place for you to post it. Stick to easy to-the-point questions that you feel people can answer fast. For long and complicated questions use the other forums in the support section.
Before you post read how to get help. Topics in this forum are automatically closed 6 months after creation.
powerchord84

New installation looks "washed out"

Post by powerchord84 »

Hi all. I just installed Mint 19 MATE on a HP ProBook G60 which has a Radeon HD 8750m video card. Everything looks so washed out! I tried changing to Cinnamon but no go.

I'm not sure how to tell which video driver I'm using. If anyone has any insights they will be greatly appreciated!

Image
https://ibb.co/4pfCQRg
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
User avatar
Pjotr
Level 23
Level 23
Posts: 19880
Joined: Mon Mar 07, 2011 10:18 am
Location: The Netherlands (Holland) 🇳🇱
Contact:

Re: New installation looks "washed out"

Post by Pjotr »

Please generate an overview of your system like this:
- Launch a terminal window (this is how to launch a terminal window);
- make the terminal window full screen, to avoid chopped lines;
- Copy/paste this command into the terminal:

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxz
(if you type: the letter F is a capital letter)

Press Enter.

Copy/paste the output in your next message.
Tip: 10 things to do after installing Linux Mint 21.3 Virginia
Keep your Linux Mint healthy: Avoid these 10 fatal mistakes
Twitter: twitter.com/easylinuxtips
All in all, horse sense simply makes sense.
powerchord84

Re: New installation looks "washed out"

Post by powerchord84 »

Code: Select all

brian@ProBook:~$ inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: ProBook Kernel: 4.15.0-46-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 7.3.0 Desktop: Cinnamon 4.0.9 
           Distro: Linux Mint 19.1 Tessa base: Ubuntu 18.04 bionic 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: Hewlett-Packard product: HP ProBook 650 G1 v: A3009DD10303 serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: Hewlett-Packard model: 2101 v: KBC Version 16.38 serial: <filter> BIOS: Hewlett-Packard v: L78 Ver. 01.05 
           date: 04/29/2014 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT0 charge: 55.7 Wh condition: 55.7/55.7 Wh (100%) model: Hewlett-Packard Primary status: Discharging 
CPU:       Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Core i5-4300M bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Haswell rev: 3 L2 cache: 3072 KiB 
           flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 20751 
           Speed: 898 MHz min/max: 800/3300 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 817 2: 839 3: 828 4: 805 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel 4th Gen Core Processor Integrated Graphics vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: i915 v: kernel 
           bus ID: 00:02.0 
           Device-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Mars [Radeon HD 8730M] driver: radeon v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.0 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.19.6 driver: ati,modesetting,radeon unloaded: fbdev,vesa resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Haswell Mobile v: 4.5 Mesa 18.2.2 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor HD Audio vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: snd_hda_intel 
           v: kernel bus ID: 00:03.0 
           Device-2: Intel 8 Series/C220 Series High Definition Audio vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
           bus ID: 00:1b.0 
           Device-3: AMD Cape Verde/Pitcairn HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 7700/7800 Series] driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
           bus ID: 01:00.1 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.15.0-46-generic 
Network:   Device-1: Intel Ethernet I217-LM vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: e1000e v: 3.2.6-k port: 4080 bus ID: 00:19.0 
           IF: enp0s25 state: down mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Broadcom and subsidiaries BCM43228 802.11a/b/g/n driver: wl v: kernel port: ef80 bus ID: 03:00.0 
           IF: wlo1 state: dormant mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 465.76 GiB used: 9.02 GiB (1.9%) 
           ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: HGST (Hitachi) model: HTS545050A7E680 size: 465.76 GiB 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 457.45 GiB used: 9.02 GiB (2.0%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 32.0 C mobo: 0.0 C gpu: radeon temp: 31 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Info:      Processes: 262 Uptime: 1h 21m Memory: 3.75 GiB used: 1.00 GiB (26.8%) Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: 
           gcc: 7.3.0 Shell: bash v: 4.4.19 inxi: 3.0.27 
brian@ProBook:~$
User avatar
Pjotr
Level 23
Level 23
Posts: 19880
Joined: Mon Mar 07, 2011 10:18 am
Location: The Netherlands (Holland) 🇳🇱
Contact:

Re: New installation looks "washed out"

Post by Pjotr »

Well, everything looks OK. You have the right drivers....
Tip: 10 things to do after installing Linux Mint 21.3 Virginia
Keep your Linux Mint healthy: Avoid these 10 fatal mistakes
Twitter: twitter.com/easylinuxtips
All in all, horse sense simply makes sense.
User avatar
karlchen
Level 23
Level 23
Posts: 18173
Joined: Sat Dec 31, 2011 7:21 am
Location: Germany

Re: New installation looks "washed out"

Post by karlchen »

Hello, powerchord84.

I have looked closely at the screenshot, which you had added to your initial post in order to illustrate the "washed out" look.
I admit that I am not sure what precisely looks "washed out" to you.

The only thing, which I could imagine is this:
Starting with Mint 19, when using the new default Mint theme, the colour of black fonts is less black than in the past, more like dark grey. There has been a small number of threads, where users complained about "reduced contrast".

Could you perhaps elaborate a bit what precisely looks "washed out" to you?

Best regards,
Karl
Image
The people of Alderaan have been bravely fighting back the clone warriors sent out by the unscrupulous Sith Lord Palpatine for 762 days now.
Lifeline
powerchord84

Re: New installation looks "washed out"

Post by powerchord84 »

I am looking at the screenshot on another computer and it looks perfect :/

Everything is too bright, hard to read, very...washed out. Maybe I should take a phone pic.
powerchord84

Re: New installation looks "washed out"

Post by powerchord84 »

https://ibb.co/yB8Xg7d

I took a pic side by side with my MacBook which looks fine. The pic doesn't do the difference justice: the one on the left is WAYY lighter and harder to read.
User avatar
MrEen
Level 23
Level 23
Posts: 18345
Joined: Mon Jun 12, 2017 8:39 pm

Re: New installation looks "washed out"

Post by MrEen »

I can see a difference in that pic. Looks like the Mac is using a dark theme. Have you tried that on the HP yet?
RIH
Level 9
Level 9
Posts: 2834
Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2015 3:47 am

Re: New installation looks "washed out"

Post by RIH »

That would be my recommendation too - try a dark theme instead.

Like you I am not a fan of the concept of grey on grey, for someone getting on in years & failing eyesight it is just not an option for me.
Indeed without resource to darker themes I would have had to look elsewhere for an operating System than the standard 19.1.
I know that light themes & transparent windows look elegant, unfortunately, for me, they are just not practical - luckily Mint still has plenty of options..
Image
powerchord84

Re: New installation looks "washed out"

Post by powerchord84 »

It's not the theme...the GREEN part is completely different. I noticed it on my work machine today as well (it looks fine and it's Windows).
rene
Level 20
Level 20
Posts: 12240
Joined: Sun Mar 27, 2016 6:58 pm

Re: New installation looks "washed out"

Post by rene »

Sounds like you have a backlight issue. Do the keys on your keyboard to adjust brightness work? If not, does this? https://itsfoss.com/fix-brightness-ubuntu-1310. Note, that specific BusID will assumedly be incorrect for you; identify your intel GPUs bus id from the output of lspci. Also see the comments, especially the recent dave_robbo one.
User avatar
Pjotr
Level 23
Level 23
Posts: 19880
Joined: Mon Mar 07, 2011 10:18 am
Location: The Netherlands (Holland) 🇳🇱
Contact:

Re: New installation looks "washed out"

Post by Pjotr »

Not too recent (Ubuntu 17.10?), and the author advises sudo gedit.... :shock:

This progressive scheme for fixing brightness issues that I wrote *is* up to date, and contains no wrongful use of sudo:
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... y.html#ID4
(item 4 and further)
Tip: 10 things to do after installing Linux Mint 21.3 Virginia
Keep your Linux Mint healthy: Avoid these 10 fatal mistakes
Twitter: twitter.com/easylinuxtips
All in all, horse sense simply makes sense.
User avatar
catweazel
Level 19
Level 19
Posts: 9763
Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2012 9:44 pm
Location: Australian Antarctic Territory

Re: New installation looks "washed out"

Post by catweazel »

rene wrote: Thu Mar 14, 2019 10:52 pm Sounds like you have a backlight issue. Do the keys on your keyboard to adjust brightness work? If not, does this? https://itsfoss.com/fix-brightness-ubuntu-1310. Note, that specific BusID will assumedly be incorrect for you; identify your intel GPUs bus id from the output of lspci. Also see the comments, especially the recent dave_robbo one.
I agree. That the first image looks perfect on my screen indicates that the GPU is correctly providing the image to the screen shot application on request. It makes sense then that the issue is not the driver or the GPU, but something after that, which leaves only the screen itself.
"There is, ultimately, only one truth -- cogito, ergo sum -- everything else is an assumption." - Me, my swansong.
User avatar
AndyMH
Level 21
Level 21
Posts: 13573
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2016 5:23 pm
Location: Wiltshire

Re: New installation looks "washed out"

Post by AndyMH »

Looked okay to me, but try playing around with the colour profiles for your monitor, in cinnamon preferences > colour.
Thinkcentre M720Q - LM21.3 cinnamon, 4 x T430 - LM21.3 cinnamon, Homebrew desktop i5-8400+GTX1080 Cinnamon 19.0
powerchord84

Re: New installation looks "washed out"

Post by powerchord84 »

None of these worked. But thanks for trying. I suppose I will give up on this particular machine and try another.
Pjotr wrote: Fri Mar 15, 2019 4:33 am
Not too recent (Ubuntu 17.10?), and the author advises sudo gedit.... :shock:

This progressive scheme for fixing brightness issues that I wrote *is* up to date, and contains no wrongful use of sudo:
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... y.html#ID4
(item 4 and further)
Can you explain what you mean by wrongful use of sudo?
User avatar
JoeFootball
Level 13
Level 13
Posts: 4674
Joined: Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:52 pm
Location: /home/usa/mn/minneapolis/joe

Re: New installation looks "washed out"

Post by JoeFootball »

powerchord84 wrote:Can you explain what you mean by wrongful use of sudo?
The author of the cited article is mistakenly advising to use sudo with a GUI-based application.

sudo is for command line tools, such as a non-GUI text editor like nano.

For GUI applications, such as gedit, you'd want to use pkexec (for LM 19.x and later), or gksudo (for LM 18.x and earlier).

Joe
User avatar
AndyMH
Level 21
Level 21
Posts: 13573
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2016 5:23 pm
Location: Wiltshire

Re: New installation looks "washed out"

Post by AndyMH »

Colour profiles - different colour profile, in this case artiflex PS RGB profile, certainly not 'washed out':
New installation looks %22washed out%22 - Linux Mint Forums - Chromium_028.jpg
Default colour profile:
(1) New installation looks %22washed out%22 - Linux Mint Forums - Chromium_027.jpg
Or do I just not understand the question?
Thinkcentre M720Q - LM21.3 cinnamon, 4 x T430 - LM21.3 cinnamon, Homebrew desktop i5-8400+GTX1080 Cinnamon 19.0
powerchord84

Re: New installation looks "washed out"

Post by powerchord84 »

I could not change or do anything under color profiles. I installed it on another ProBook and same exact issue. I gave up on them. Currently trying with a Dell Latitude E5570
User avatar
Moem
Level 22
Level 22
Posts: 16224
Joined: Tue Nov 17, 2015 9:14 am
Location: The Netherlands
Contact:

Re: New installation looks "washed out"

Post by Moem »

powerchord84 wrote: Fri Mar 15, 2019 10:22 am I could not change or do anything under color profiles.
If you go there and click on 'Add profile' then a list of available color profiles should show up. I would try and see if any of them looks better.
Image

If your issue is solved, kindly indicate that by editing the first post in the topic, and adding [SOLVED] to the title. Thanks!
powerchord84

Re: New installation looks "washed out"

Post by powerchord84 »

I added a couple but nothing happened.
Locked

Return to “Beginner Questions”