10 Best Free Monitor Brightness Control Software [2023 List]

6. Gammy

Gammy is an interesting tool because it works by auto adapting the brightness of the display depending on what is on screen. It does this by taking and analyzing several screenshots per second in the background. Open a window with a lot of light colors and Gammy will lower the brightness. Have lots of dark areas on the screen and the brightness will be raised. Gammy is a portable and open source program.

Gammy

The Min and Max brightness levels will control how high and low the brightness can go while the Temperature slider will lower the blue levels at the same time. There are other sliders in the window although you probably won’t need to touch them unless you know how the program works. Uncheck the Auto box to get a standard brightness slider which adjusts brightness manually.

Download Gammy


7. Desktop Lighter

Desktop Lighter lets you adjust the brightness of your screen by clicking on the tray icon and adjusting the slider up and down, or by using keyboard hotkeys. The only real problem with Desktop Lighter is it was released in the XP era and its slider looks very dated in Windows these days.

Desktop lighter

The keyboard combination to alter brightness is Ctrl+< and Ctrl+> which is very similar to proprietary software and Fn key hotkeys found on many laptops. The other options available are starting with Windows, widening the slider and remembering brightness settings.

Download Desktop Lighter


8. Eye Saver

Eye Saver has a few interesting features apart from being able to set the standard options of brightness and color temperature. It has a Breaks tab which allows you to set up a deliberate interruption that reminds you to look away or take a break from staring at the screen for a few minutes. Another feature is the automation rules window where you can apply one of the built-in modes to specific running programs.

Eye saver

Thre are seven built-in mode presets that set brightness and temperature to a pre-configured level. New modes cannot be added but if you alter the settings of a current mode, they will be remembered until you press the restore button. Modes and breaks can be accessed quickly from the context menu of the tray icon. Three effects can also be applied but they are mostly for fun and probably have little practical use.

Download Eye Saver


9. Free Monitor Manager

Although Free Monitor Manager is obviously free to use, it’s a shame that some of the best features like hotkeys, switch profiles with the mouse, and activate on application are only available in the paid version. There are still some useful features available in this free version, like selectable profiles and support for multiple monitors.

Free monitor manager

After install, click on the tray icon to open the main window. From there, you can change brightness, contrast, red/green/blue, select a different monitor or save and select user profiles. Pressing the restore button resets the monitor settings to the point before Free Monitor Manager was installed. A start with Windows option is available but most other settings are trial only.

Download Free Monitor Manager


10. RedShift GUI

RedShift GUI works similarly to f.lux and Windows Night Light by automatically altering the color and brightness of the screen. It does this to change the warmness of the display which should make things easier on the eyes during the evenings and night time. RedShift GUI hasn’t been updated since 2010.

Redshift gui

Select your location either from your IP, town/city or type your own coordinates if you know them. It appears the city/zipcode option no longer works because of the program’s age. As the sun rises or sets in your location, the display temperature will change to reflect it. There’s a disable auto adjust option and a simple slider to adjust brightness manually. Portable, setup installer and Linux versions are available.

Download RedShiftGUI

Changing Brightness Using the Built-in Video Driver

If you have a common video adapter from the likes of Nvidia, AMD or Intel, you will have the ability to change settings such as brightness, contrast and gamma from within the driver’s own configuration window. If you just want to make a fine adjustment and leave it, this is a useful option.

For Nvidia Graphics Adapters

Right click on the Desktop and select “NVIDIA Control Panel”. Then click on “Adjust desktop color settings” in the display tree on the left hand side navigation bar.

Nvidia control panel color settings

Choose the display if you have more than one, and then select “Use NVIDIA settings”, you can now move the slider for Brightness, Gamma and Contrast. Digital vibrance and Hue can also be changed. Click Apply once you’re finished.

For AMD Displays

AMD/ATI video drivers also have the ability to alter brightness, contrast and gamma settings for the display, although access to the settings pane for these values can differ between driver versions.

Amd Catalyst Control Center color settings

All you need to do is right click on the desktop and select “Catalyst Control Center” from the context menu. The options should be under the Color, “Display Color” or “Dekstop Color” section.

For Intel Displays

The Intel driver brightness settings are easy to get to, right click on the desktop or in the system tray and select “Graphics Properties…”, or find the Intel driver option in Control Panel.

Intel control panel color settings

Click on “Color Correction” or “Color Settings” down the left and adjust your settings for gamma, brightness, and contrast. Click Apply or OK when you have finished.

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