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Brightness control

PepperPad

PepperPad

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 8, 2020
31
1
Hello,
I have a 2018 Mac Mini connected to a Viewsonic VG2455 monitor.
I connected an Apple Mac keyboard with brightness adjustment.
Despite several Apple technical support, nothing conclusive was found.
Is there a driver / driver, in order to adjust the brightness of my monitor from my Apple keyboard?
Thank you in advance.
 
The brightness and volume controls on my Apple Magic Keyboard don't work for my BenQ monitor connected to a 2018 Mini with a MiniDisplayPort to USB-C cable either. I have seen other posts that indicate the same. Not aware of any fix for this, but would be interested to hear if there is. Really isn't something that concerns me however.
 
There is a third party app that works for some displays if they’re connected via DisplayPort. I’ll get a link for it when I’m back at my desk (on phone right now)
 
Stephen.R said:
There is a third party app that works for some displays if they’re connected via DisplayPort. I’ll get a link for it when I’m back at my desk (on phone right now)
Click to expand...
Thanks a lot
I connected with HDMI
 
I have 27" LG I bought early this year and Mac mini 2020, have to use the monitor built in on screen setting for brightness and sound.
 
I don't believe you can control the brightness of 3rd-party displays with Apple software running on the Apple keyboards.

What you CAN do is use a 3rd party utility which can raise/lower brightness levels.

On my 2018 Mini (connected to a Viewsonic display) I use a little app named "Brightness Control" to do this. It will not increase brightness over and above that of where the display is manually set. However, it will "dim" the level of brightness as desired.

Download Brightness Control for Mac | MacUpdate

Download the latest version of Brightness Control for Mac for free. Read 20 user reviews and compare with similar apps on MacUpdate.
www.macupdate.com www.macupdate.com

There are other, similar apps out there.
 
I tried a program like that, it might have been the same one. It did not really control the "brightness" of the monitor however, the screen still operated at full brightness but it put a gray "overlay" on it. In other words, it was like changing the "brightness" of an image in Photoshop. That is why it couldn't raise the real (hardware) brightness level.

There were some bugs and I was not impressed with the results, but it might suit the needs of some people.
 
Sorry for the delay.

The software I was referencing is called MonitorControl. It's open source, and available from GitHub: https://github.com/MonitorControl/MonitorControl/releases/tag/v2.1.0

This is actual brightness (and even volume, if your display supports it) control - it uses DDC Protocol to make the adjustments on the display. I have no idea if this will work with a HDMI display, and your display still may not support it.
 
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Stephen.R said:
...The software I was referencing is called MonitorControl. It's open source, and available from GitHub: https://github.com/MonitorControl/MonitorControl/releases/tag/v2.1.0
...
Click to expand...
I also use MonitorControl on my 2018 Mini with 2 monitors, both connected via USBc ports. I can control the brightness of either/both monitors with the menu bar widget.

I have it set to use the Apple wireless keyboard to control the brightness on my main monitor ( BenQ EW3270ZL ). And use the menu bar widget to control the brightness on my secondary monitor ( DELL 2407WFP ).

GetRealBro
 
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Thank you all for your responses.
I have tried MonitorControl, the monitor seems to be recognized, but no reaction to increase or decrease requests.
As I indicated, I am connected via HDMI.
Do you think it really changes if I invest in a USB-C or Display Port cable?
 
I have HDMI cables for both of my monitors (BenQ and DELL). that “work”. BUT… they don’t work great. There was always some glitch (e.g. startup screen switching monitors during booting) or missing feature (e.g. keyboard brightness control), regardless of which monitor I hooked up via HDMI.

IMHO the 2018/20 Mini’s HDMI port is simply not fully functional. So I use USBc cables for both monitors, which do work great!

FWIW I really, really wanted to free up a USBc port by using the HDMI port on either of my monitors. But troubleshooting the HDMI glitches simply wasn’t worth the brain damage :(

GetRealBro
 
FWIW I have found that connecting through HDMI means using the monitors brightness and contrast controls. A bit of a pain with my NEC E243 as those micro switches are hard to find unless the room is bright enough to show the markings on the panel frame plus I have to cycle through the various choices to exit. My older NEC professional Monitor this is not really an issue as the buttons are easily located by touch and there is a button dedicated to exiting the control dialog.

Different ≠ Better
 
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