Why is my display so light?

I used my desktop last night and it was fine. When I turned it on this morning, it was so bright/light that it's unusable. I searched the control panel and it said to adjust the brightness on the physical monitor. I turned it down to 0, and it still looks washed-out. I downloaded f.lux, which did nothing. Can anyone tell me what happened?

Try unplug power of monitor. Also try a System Restore point if possible.
See if there is a factory reset option on monitor, check OSD menus.

I'm sorry, I should've also mentioned that the monitor is a Coby TV. When I switch to another input, it looks fine. I've tried unplugging the power. I've installed all updates. Even with the brightness turned down, it is still pretty light.

Go into your GPU's configuration software and check the gamma setting.
Also right click desktop empty space - screen resolution - advanced and check the tabs. Maybe color profile got changed?

Okay... listen: I've done all of the obvious things. I don't understand why people reply on these threads when they don't really have any intelligent suggestions. I'm pretty sure it's a problem with my graphics card (probably driver). It's an old tower. I want to know WHAT CAUSED THIS. Please no more "unplug it and plug it back in".

Good luck with this attitude, we are not psychic you know.

To further tick you off try these if you are serious to understand what is going on:
- Try another port on your TV if there is one, are you using HDMI?
- Try another cable
- Try the other display port on your GPU if there is one, you can use a converter for HDMI to DVI, they are cheap and passive. (You may even have one lying in your GPU box, they are usually included.)
- Download Linux Mint Mate and burn to DVD/ bootable USB, and see if colors are correct there.
- Try in Safe Mode

Who's we? You seem like a real pro. I've tried all of the switching around that can be done. Please stop commenting. I'm almost sure it is a driver problem.