I have a G4 table lamp style iMac. Lately, the screen is a bit washed out and the contrast becoming harsher. Is there some procedure I can run on it to test this theory? All the settings in the Display settings preferences box do not seem to cure this. At the very least, is there a manual contrast setting I can make independent of the Display setting?

You can download LCD Test to check the basics, then run Apple's display calibration utility in Displays to set up gamma, gray scale, contrast, brightness, et al.

Sounds kinda like one of the cold cathode lamps may have gone out or else they aren't getting enough juice from the inverter power supply or perhaps their cathode work functions have just gotten low.

Does the brightness control in the Displays pane work normally?

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What it is, man, a low-down and funky feelin'