Color Correcting for web - how to calibrate computer monitor?

[salils]

With more and more stuff being online, I want my video to look just as good online as it does on an NTSC TV set (SD). Here's my question: How can I calibrate my monitor to get the best reference point to color correct from? I believe Macs and PCs use different gamma settings which can screw things up, what to do? Another thing, I know the quicktime player plug-in does something with the contrast or gamma...not sure what though...seems like less contrast? Any ideas on how to color correct in this world of varied monitors and weird software messing up how your video is being displayed?

 

[cal20Dennis]

TESTING....you need to choose as many standard settings as possible so you can narrow the variables and then upload short test clips so you can visualize the final results. I "discovered" that I was unable to calibrate my LCD monitor to match the printed photos edited in PHOTOSHOP. I installed an old cathode ray tube (Good quality SONY) which can be calibrated so what you see on the monitor is what you can print. (My LCD monitor is backlighted so you don't have control over levels of brightness and contrast that are needed for editing video)When calibrating a PC, the Macintosh default settings (Choose control panel>Adobe gamma> Wizard monitor calibration....etc) are best for photos and video editing in my opinion., The Mac monitors seem to be excellent right out of the box.
Your video looks good....I think fewer blown out highlights and "lost" important shadows will evolve if you work extra hard on lighting.