Under Brightness and color, move the Change brightness slider to adjust the brightness. For more details, see: Change screen brightness. Windows 8: Press Windows key + C. Select Settings, then select Change PC Settings. Select PC and devices Display. Turn on Adjust my screen brightness automatically. For more details, see: Set brightness and contrast. Windows 7 Forums is the largest help and support community, providing friendly help and advice for Microsoft Windows 7 Computers such as Dell, HP, Acer, Asus or a custom build. Hi, I've a pc desktop with Win 7 and LCD monitor connected on internal lvsd not on vga-dvi, and i need to control the screen brightness with shortcuts or how to restore.
Simple methods to change screen brightness in Windows 10 or 8.1 or 7.
Alternate methods to control monitor brightness using graphics card and adaptive brightness.
Windows 10 has in-built screen controls to adjust screen brightness automatically.
Why to Adjust Screen Brightness using Software Controls
Old CRT monitors had good hardware controls for monitor brightness control.
But some new LCD desktop monitors have very poor switches to control screen brightness. This is a very odd inconvenience.
As many times, we want more light in the morning and less in the night.
You can use NVIDIA brightness controls to do the above tasks with much ease.
All you have to do is move some sliders.
To increase or reduce screen brightness, we can also use software switches.
How to Change Brightness on Windows 10
With the recent changes in 2019, the light control features have become part of the OS.
It is so easy in Windows 10. All you have to do is click a button.
This works even in 1809 and 1903 updates.
Set the timings when you want daylight and night light settings. The following steps will show.
- Click the Action Center in the taskbar beside the system timing at the bottom.
- The list of items will open.
- Find the Night Light and click it.
- Once you click it, the screen brightness will reduce with optimal features.
This is useful in night.
In the dark, your eyes will strain.
To adjust the night light settings, one can use Windows Settings feature of Windows 10.
Looking at the monitor screen becomes less tireless, when you reduce brightness.
In the morning, when you want to increase screen brightness, just disable it. These features also can be controlled as follows –
- Press the Win key and Settings icon.
- The Windows Settings will open.
- Click the System icon.
- Another windows with many features on the left will open.
- Click the Display icon.
- On the right hand side, Color feature.
- Under it, you can toggle the night light feature.
- Below it there is a line , that says, “Night light settings“.
- Click it. Another window will open.
- Here you can customize the night light settings.
In this window, you have different options which can be customized to change brightness on monitor automatically.
For example, you can set the time, color temperatures, schedule, turn on and off hours and location.
Generally, you can set a time, when you want your desktop screen brightness to change to a desired color temperature. This will dim the screen brightness.
How to Use Location Service to Automatically Adjust Screen Brightness in Windows 10
The time is a taken based on your system time.
But if you use location services in Windows 10 and set a location, it will change on the location time.
Generally, both the location time and system time will be the same.
Keeping the color temperature as default is the preferred choice.
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But if you feel it is little dark or bright, you can change it here. You can also change the timings when you want the pc screen brightness to change.
If you want to use a different method to adjust brightness and want more precise control, you can use the following methods in Windows 10 or 8.1 or 8 or 7.
Method 1 – NVIDIA Brightness Control Windows 10
If you are using a graphics card like NVIDIA, then your job becomes more simple.
- Go to Control Panel > NVIDIA Control Panel
- Navigate to Display > Adjust desktop color settings, on the left-hand side.
- Select the 2nd option that says, “Choose how color is set” on the right-hand side.
- Check the option “Use NVIDIA settings”.
- There are 3 options here – 1. Brightness 2. Contrast 3. Gamma
- You can move the sliders left or right, till you reach your desired level of brightness. You can also see the percentage of each, beside each slider.
- Just click on the “Apply” button at the bottom.
This method is especially useful if you are using a desktop or PC.
Method 2 – Using ATI Video Card Control Panel
This is a similar way of using graphics card. But here you are using the Video Card Control Panel. If you are using ATI Video Cards, you can use this feature.
- Launch the ATI control panel in the Control Panel and clicking “Catalyst™ Control Center” at the top of the context menu. A pop-up window with three sliders will appear.
- Adjust the “Brightness” setting which is the second control in the window by moving the slider left or right.
- Click the “Apply” button.
Change Brightness Windows 7 Software
Method 3 – Using Caliberation Scale Features in Windows 7
This method is useful for screens connected to desktop and don’t want to use the default hardware controls provided with the monitor. You can use the default Calibration scale feature provided in Windows 7 and above, to set the require brightness settings using the software controls itself.
It may take a little trial and error to adjust, but it is easier than playing with the monitor controls.
Method 4 – Update Intel’s Graphics Drivers
Sometimes you need to just update the display drivers to have the right brightness. For example, if it’s an Intel hardware without graphics video card, you can just update those drivers by searching automatically on the net. Otherwise, you can download from the Intel website and install them. This solves most of the display problems.
Method 5 – Using Function Keys (F1 & F2) on Laptop
If you are using a laptop, there are certain keys on your keyboard using which you can increase or decrease the level of brightness. Generally, these are available as part of the F-keys. You see a symbol, something like a sun icon. Most probably these are the F1 and F2 keys.
All you have to do is press the Fn key on your laptop keyboard and the above keys. One is used for dimming the light and the other to augment it.
These settings are not available on your desktop.
Method 6 – How to Adjust Monitor Brightness in Windows 10.
If you are using a laptop, then you can clearly see a battery icon in the notification area at the right-hand side bottom corner.
In Windows 10, when you click that icon, you can see several tiles. One of them is the brightness tile. You just have to click that tile more than once, to adjust brightness in increments of 25%.
The same kind of operation can also be done from System Settings in Windows 10.
Click Start > Settings (Gear icon) > System > Display.
Change Brightness Windows 7 Control Panel
On the right-hand side, you can see the brightness adjustment slider that says “Adjust brightness level”. You just have to drag that meter left or right to increase or decrease the brightness.
On the same pane, you can also see the option that says “Change brightness automatically when lighting changes”. You just have to toggle the button below to activate it.
This is especially useful when you go out into the sun or working in daylight. This will consequently adjust the lighting without your involvement.
Method 7 – How to Adjust Monitor Brightness in Windows 7 or 8.1?
In the previous versions of Windows, you don’t have a Settings app.
But you could do brightness control in Windows 7 or 8 or 8.1 using the Power Options setting in Control Panel.
Navigate through Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Power Options.
On the right-hand side, you will see a slider that says “Screen brightness” at the bottom. You may have to scroll a bit, to see that option. Otherwise, it may not be visible.
Method 8 – How to Adjust Monitor Brightness using Windows Mobility Center?
This feature was introduced in Vista, to adjust the brightness, volume, battery, wireless, external displays and sync options. This is a location in Microsoft Windows that allows a laptop or mobile user to quickly access to the most common hardware features.
In Windows 10 and 8.1, you can select “Mobility Center” by pressing the Start button. In Windows 7, you can use the Win + X keys. You can move the “Display brightness” slider left or right to adjust the monitor lightning.
Method 9 – How to Adjust Brightness Level of Laptop on Battery and Plugged In?
The typical adjustments for laptop depend upon whether it’s on battery or plugged into a power source. It is the same with brightness adjustment also. If you are on battery, you prefer lower brightness to reduce the end of battery life. But when you are at home or office and connected to power source, you would like better brightness.
Select Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Power Options > Change Plan Settings. Then select your power plan for eg. Balanced.
There are two settings here – 1. On battery and 2. Plugged In
Below each setting, there is a slider which says “Adjust plan brightness”.
So, if you are on battery you can dim the screen and when you are connected to electricity, you can increase the percentage of brightness level.
Method 10 – How to Use Adaptive Brightness for Ambient Light in Windows 10?
In most of the new laptops, there is an ambient light sensor that detects the light level of the current environment and adjusts the display brightness. This is known as Adaptive brightness and is enabled by default. But sometimes it’s frustrating that this feature does not work consistently and you can OFF it.
To enable or disable this feature in Windows 10,
Start > Settings > System > Display.
There is toggle option that says “Change brightness automatically when lighting changes”. You can ON or OFF, to suit your needs. This option for automatic brightness control based on ambience works only if you have an ambient brightness sensor built into your laptop.
This same option can be enabled in the “Power Options” section from Control Panel.
Method 11 – How to Adjust your Monitor Brightness with F.lux?
The alternate way of changing brightness in day and night is to use third-party programs available in the market. Some are paid and some are free. F.lux is one such proprietary software that adjusts display brightness using color temperature controls according to location and time of day. This is mostly useful to reduce eye strain during night-time and reduce sleep defects.
F.lux is not generally recommended for graphics designers and people with color blindness.
To use it, you need to download and install the software. Then you need to provide your location in the form of latitude and longitude, so that the software can transition the colors on your screen with the change in timing of the day. When there is sunrise, there will be more brightness and when it is night, the brilliance will decrease.
There are several options like Incandescent, Halogen etc which you can choose to suit your lighting needs. You can also disable this software for 1 hour or more, if you require temporarily. F.lux will also adjust the monitor brightness based on your room lighting, which you need to provide in the settings.
Method 12 – Third Party Premium Service – Adjust Laptop Brightness 2.0
This software costs around $20, to suit your needs. This is a tuning utility to adjust the screen brightness on laptop, notebook, netbook and ultrabook. This will save battery and protect your eyes from backlight of your monitor.
There is a vertical slider using which you can adjust your monitor brightness. You can use the options like min brightness, max brightness to get the desired effect instantly. You can also restore the default brightness using another option.
This piece of software works on different brands like Dell, COMPAQ, IBM, LENOVO, Sony, Toshiba, Samsung, Panasonic etc and has good support. But the program is little costly compared to F.lux as it free.
Method 13 – How to Adjust Screen Brightness using PowerShell in Windows 10?
To open an elevated PowerShell command window, type “powershell” in the taskbar or Cortana search. Now from the results, select “PowerShell”, right-click it and run as Administrator.
Enter the following command in the PowerShell window and press Enter.
(Get-WmiObject -Namespace root/WMI -Class WmiMonitorBrightnessMethods).WmiSetBrightness(1,<Brightness Level>)
You have to substitute the brightness level in the range of 0 to 100. Higher the number, higher will be the brightness level and vice-versa.
Conclusion
As you can see there are several ways on how you can control the intensity of brightness of your LCD monitor using software controls.
It is always better to check the latest drivers of your computer hardware to see that no brightness control software has any problems.
If you are using any third-party program to adjust screen brightness, make sure you have the latest version of the software.
Always first try to use the in-built options available in Windows 10 or 7. If they don’t work out then you can try using outside software.
Some games need more brightness while some programs like Office do not need much. So make sure it fits your eye protection needs and health.
All the above methods are simple to implement and are easy to do.
This will save the headache of every time going to monitor panel to press buttons or switches, to control screen brightness.
If you love the above methods, please share in your social media circles and comment of any problems you face in trying these solutions.