There is no universal "right setting when it comes to setting the brigthnes of a monitor.
it depends on your working envirenment.
If you work in a cave like envirement ( like I do) 100 cd/m2 is about right for me, but if your work envirement is alot brighter then you need to set a higher brigthness value.
As for gamma. Most monitors have a native gamma close to gamma 2.2 ( 2,3-2,5 I think ) and the less you have to adjust the screen the better result you will get ( same with whitepoint where most monitors are close to 6500k)
Gamma 1,8 for Mac is a old thing and nothing to be bother with these days.
So with a whitepoint of 6500k and gamma 2,2 ( or D65 ) is right in most cases.
Brigthness you 'll have to set according to your working envirenment.
Patrick
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=105230\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
Monitor brightness & Working Environment:
There is a correct luminance for viewing and for the display. Your monitor, if too bright, can cause eye strain and effect your ability to perceive correct white levels--regardless of the overall brightness of your working environment. Anything above 140cd/m2 can cause these problems in my experience (as you pointed out Clem).
120cdm/2 is the ideal brightness as it is an optimal compromise between good contrast (white-point) and brightness (black-point) for LCDs.
Your working environment is recommended to be dim at around 32 lux (think the Bat Cave) however levels of 64 lux are acceptable in order to avoid depression. The more ambient light there is in an environment, the greater issue there is with glare. Particularly of your own mug being reflected off the screen.
Gamma:
Gamma is determined by the video card, not the monitor.
Macs used to be gamma 1.8 however that does not seem to be the case anymore. If I calibrate my ACD to native gamma it produces results that are near identical to 2.2 (My computer is a Dual 2.3 G5 with a Radeon 9650). My brother's Macbook (Intel video card) does the same.
It is best to calibrate gamma to either "Native" or L* as that will not adjust the video card LUTs prior to profiling.
Attached is a summary table of ISO 3664 and 12646 that lays out recommended settings. The image came from a Creative Pro article on the subject of the digital darkroom, but I've lost the link.