Proper monitor calibration is important when editing or viewing images. Monitors are not created equal, some being vastly better than others.

When you first plug in your new monitor you can bet money that it won't be accurate. It will be nice and bright, nicely saturated, but not accurate.

Colour and brightness sell, but colour accuracy is not at the forefront of the most people's minds when they pick up a new monitor.

There are already many resources on the internet telling you how to calibrate your monitor. They're all good, and I don't wish to duplicate the information. I do recommend that you let your monitor warm up for at least 20 minutes before you attempt to calibrate it.

For good information on calibrating your monitor try these sites:

http://www.dmcphoto.com/monitor_calibration.htm

http://www.digitalmasters.com.au/Monitor_Calibration.html

http://www.PhotoFriday.com/calibrate.php

Alternatively you can purchase a calibration tool specifically for the job. One such tool is the Spyder from Colorvision. This is the tool I use for colour calibration of my monitors. Check out their website here http://spyder.datacolor.com/