I've been having a problem with my monitor ever since I bought. Well it isn't really a problem, and is more like how the monitor acts. In a nutshell, it is too dark. I can barely play some games even after turning the in game brightness up all the way (counter-strike would be an example). The monitor’s gamma and brightness settings are maxed.

Now, I do have a work-around. If I change the desktop brightness (that's desktop, not 3d brightness) in my ati settings (oh BTW: ATI AIW 9600) then the brightness will carry over in games. Usually.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Often times another game will reset the resolution and thus reset the brightness. After this happens I'm S.O.L. since no matter how many times I change the desktop brightness again it will always reset in any game. I have to restart and then try and play more.

This is an unusual problem that stems from my monitor just being too dark. I've tried multiple things (like setting hotkeys for direct 3d) but that seems to do nothing to my 3d games at all. It's always the desktop brightness.

Anybody have any suggestions?