Although many modern devices are set to adjust the display brightness automatically, there's still a shortcut key for brightness on most desktops and laptops. When you've boosted brightness as high as it goes, though, you may want to take further measures to make things a little brighter. You can easily adjust the brightness on your desktop or laptop, but if the built-in range isn't bright enough, you can further adjust what you see using a screen brightness app or color calibration wizard.
Adjust Your Display’s Brightness
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There are several ways to adjust your monitor brightness, depending on whether you have a desktop computer, laptop or mobile device. The easiest way is to look on your keyboard for an icon that looks like a sun. It is usually found over the F1 and F2 keys, with the F1 key dimming the display and F2 brightening it. The shortcut key for brightness on a desktop computer only requires you to press F2 until you achieve the desired brightness.
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If you have Windows 10, go through the Action Center, which is a square icon on the far right side of your taskbar. This takes you to a slider that allows you to change the brightness of what you see on your screen.
In MacBook computers, you can manually adjust brightness by choosing System Preferences>Displays from the Apple menu.
If these options aren't bright enough, though, you can use either apps or calibration to reach the desired brightness.
Apps for Boosting Brightness
Android device owners have plenty of screen-brightness app options for upping the brightness level. The Lux app lets you customize the minimum and maximum brightness levels for your device. With the CF. Lumen app, your screen brightness changes based on where you're located and what time of day it is, but you can customize some of the adjustments.
If you have a Mac computer, a screen-brightness app called Brightness Slider may help. After it is installed, you can control your screen's brightness from the menu bar. This app lets you control the intensity of the backlight to customize your screen's look. This feature is mostly designed to cut down on blue light, though, so it gives you a less intense type of brightness.
Adjust Monitor Brightness Through Calibration
If you've used the shortcut key for brightness on a desktop computer and your screen isn't bright enough, calibration could be the key. Windows 10 has a Color Calibration Wizard to make this process easy. Simply go to Start>PC Settings>System and Display. Under Multiple Displays select Advanced Display Settings and click on Display Adapter Properties. Under the Color Management tab, click on the button that reads Color Management, Advanced and Calibrate Display.
MacBook users can also change monitor brightness through a calibration wizard. The Color Calibration assistant is under System Preferences>Displays>Color>Calibrate (or Option+Calibrate depending on your OS). Follow the prompts to calibrate your display. If your MacBook display seems unusually dark, it could also be that you've chosen to dim the screen while the laptop is operating under battery power in the Energy Saver system preferences to conserve battery power. Pressing the F2 button or the light icon on the control bar turns off that feature and resumes the desired brightness.
- Digital Citizen: 8 Ways to Adjust the Screen Brightness in Windows (All Versions)
- Microsoft: Change Screen Brightness in Windows 10
- MakeUseOf: The 5 Best Apps to Manage Screen Brightness on Android
- Mac App Store Preview: Brightness Slider
- Groovy Post: How to Calibrate Your Monitor Color in Windows 10
- Apple: Calibrate Your Mac Display