So, not really Vista related.
Lately I have been trying to learn the basics of digital photography, being busy developing a couple of thousands raw pix, taken over the summer. Now, I got I a Spyder3Elite to calibrate my monitor. This was more of a manual piece of work than I expected. My Spyder is running in version 3.1.1. I have a Dell 2407WFP-HC (high Gamut) monitor. My pix will be shared with other people (not over internet) and printed at home and in labs.

Anybody there with experience of monitor calibration?

When using the Spyder in ambient light calibration mode, it suggests I calibrate my display to a white point of 5800 K, a gamma of 2.2 and a luminance of 125 cd/m2 (120 is usually LCD default). 5800 makes it a bit yellow, I think, so after studying various reco's on the internet, I calibrated it to 6500K instead. Better.

The monitor has controls for brightness and contrast. The manual says that "Brightness adjusts the luminance of the backlight" and "The Contrast function adjusts the degree of difference between darkness and lightness" (well, surprise).

To adjust luminance, I should adjust brightness first and then contrast to achieve my desired luminance.

To do this, I used a "grey scale" and reduced the brightness control until I could barely see a difference between the two darkest boxes; then contrast until I got 125 as my measured luminance.

Basically, this method, to first adjust the brightness control and then the contrast, gives an endless amount of possible settings, starting with brightness at 0.5% and contrats at default 50% to whatever. I ended up with brightness at 26% and contrast at 42%, but I cannot say if this is the best choise when I develop my raws.

Anyone available to give me guidance?
Is there a good grey scale anywhere on the net to find the best setting?

How much does it matter, what settings I choose?

I have heard of companies in the US who will match printer and monitor so what you see on one matches the other. But I don't see how it could work...

Monitors deal with light, printers deals with toner or ink. There are going to be differences between the two simply because they are different media.

Years ago I was, for a short while before changes university majors, a theatrical design major. One of the other students asked the tech director and the scenerary director about color matching in light and paint. After they stopped laughing, they pointed out it is almost impossible.

Note this was long before digital cameras.

Color matching between the two will likely depend on how much money you are willing to spend. You might look the info up locally and ask them their basic prices.

Last I heard, over 5 years ago, it cost around $1,000 US to match a printer and a monitor for color match.

Oh, note that the results you and others see will depend on their and your color vision. Something you cannot control, and the seeing results could vary wildly, even if all of the printers and your monitor are color matched.

Thanks for those links archie, I have two monitors that are being a pain in the a** to match together. The other problem you may get with printing is using different media. The colour of the paper is so subtile that you would not notice it until you have printed.