If like me you bought a 24″ screen with your iMac, you’ve probably noticed how it tries to burn out your eyes.
The monitor is very bright, but unfortunately using your keyword shortcut or using your monitor settings in Utilities will not result in the brightness being reduced very far.
It seems to be a bug in the iMac that the brightness settings in the 24″ monitors are stuck on high and can;t be taken down to a comfortable level for long-periods of use.
Luckily, there are a couple of different programs you can use to reduce this:
Shades
Shades is a simple downloadable program that sets up a new brightness bar on your desktop, allowing you to reduce the brightness significantly.
This is what I use on my iMac, too - and it means my Apple is much more pleasant to use with the brightness range much more in normal parameters for general use.
You can find it here - just download to a folder and double-click to install: Shades - control the brightness of your screen
Splasm
Another one that seems to work via a slider on your desktop display, to help reduce monitor brightness.
I’ve not used this application, but it states that changing out - if you want to - is pretty easy:
The effects of Brightness Control are completely reversible by quitting the application, hitting the escape key, or using its handy ‘Restore’ button!
You can download it from here: Splasm Software: Brightness Control
DarkAdapted
This looks like a much more advanced program that keeps the artist in mind - instead of simply looking to reduce contrast, it allows for specific manipulation of gamma levels and more.
So if you are not simply looking to reduce the glare but instead need to control it tonally, then this sounds like something you may be more interested in.
According to the feature list:
# Customizable gamma presets. Use predefined settings, create your own, and manipulate your presets with ease. For example, use the “Dark Red” setting to preserve your dark adaptation. Or create a preset to deal with monitor characteristics or viewing conditions.
# Adjust gamma values via sliders or from the keyboard.
# High-resolution sliders allow you to adjust red, green, and blue video components individually and in real time. Sliders can be set to report gamma values as percentages or as raw gamma values.
# Keyboard control of gamma color values, using raw gamma values or percentages. Switch between percentage/raw display with a press of the spacebar.
# Ganged Slider Mode allows you to control all three gamma components in unison, optionally preserving the gamma’s relative values between adjustments.
# Small screen mode hides advanced controls, minimizing the use of valuable screen real estate. The control window may also be hidden entirely.
# Select a preset by typing the first few letters of its name.
# Export and import gamma presets to and from disk files. Many sample presets files are included with the download.
# Full AppleScript support (on Mac OS), including a sample AppleScript with the Mac OS download.
# “Gamma Toggle” keys offer a quick return to full brightness. Modifier keys are fully assignable, and display in the control window to remind you what they are.
# Switching to gamma presets is performed via smooth fades, never abrupt shifts in screen color or brightness.
# Gamma fade duration is user-configurable (from instantaneous to two seconds), and slider controls may be set to update in real time during the fade.
# Almost all windows “remember” their positions on your screen.
# Saved gamma preset can be restored when DarkAdapted is launched, and reset when DarkAdapted quits.
# Automatic refresh preference can override gamma adjustments made by screen savers or other software.
# Automatic or manual checking for updates via the Internet.
# Useful display features show gamma changes’ effects on selected text, as well as text on different backgrounds.# Useful numeric and graphical readouts of gamma values.
# Includes the same powerful night vision technology as ScopeDriver, a full featured telescope control program.
# Excellent, hyperlinked documentation can be opened from within DarkAdapted.
# Try DarkAdapted Pro’s advanced features for free, as often as you like.
# And many other time savers and productivity enhancers.
(Note: there is also a Pro version for Mac with more features.)
Sounds a bit more complicated than what I need, but if it’s something that appeals to you, you can download it here: DarkAdapted