Screen brightness.

I couldn't find a thread about screen brightness, although I'm sure one exists, so.....

How can I determine if my screen brightness is set correctly so that when viewing pictures on a different computer, the images are not too bright/dark?

There are two routes to go. The first and best way would be to purchase calibration software which will let you set your monitor up so that your monitor will match the output for other displays and prints. The down and dirty method is to google online monitor calibration sites, there are a number of sites that have brightness test strips, where you can adjust your monitor so that you can see the page as it should be. It's not perfect but its quick and free.

There is no way to adjust your monitor brightness so images look good on other computers. That's because the brightness of other computers will be all over the board. For the most part, other computers will be way too bright because most will be at the "factory" setting.

Manufacturers set defaults to bright, high contrast, high saturation, because that's what sells, and generally only photographers adjust their monitors to more reasonable settings. Most of us try to calibrate monitors to match prints, but even that is a crap shoot because it depends on the light under which the prints are viewed.

Prints mounted on a home wall will often be in fairly dim light, so they may look too dark. But maybe not. Prints mounted under a bright spot light (think track lights) will, of course, look brighter. In a perfect world, your monitor brightness should be the same as the brightness of the light at the print display area. Only then is what you see on the monitor equal to what you get off the print.

You can measure brightness of a monitor and a print display area with a camera. Once you learn how to do this, it's fun to run around measuring brightness at various points in a home, and even more fun in an art gallery or museum.

Here's one way to do it: https://www.youtube.co​m/watch?v=_xU0pWjugTo

Look at this on your monitor. You should be able to distinguish each tonal area from each other.
if Brightness and Contrast are adjusted properly on your monitor..A vs B, Y vs Z

IMAGE LINK: https://app.photobucke​t.com …bb-4a14-87ab-d4efa75cd721

For Example, my 2017 iMac 27 “ 2TB Fusion Drive the Brightness level has 16 squares or “Chiclets” to choose from.
I keep my monitor on Chiclet 8. In the middle.
I then use a Spyder5 PRO to Calibrate.
When I print from my Canon PRO-10, spot on.
I do all of my Lightroom “Developing” at night with just one same lamp on at same Lowest power level, if using three way bulb. No outside ambient daylight light involved as room has three exterior walls with large windows and Cathedral ceiling.
If changing light bulb, Calibrate monitor again.