Adjusting the brightness of the Windows 7 screen on a laptop. How to reduce brightness on a laptop. Problems and solutions
You can improve the perception of text or make the color of a photo or video more realistic by adjusting the brightness of the screen. For desktop computers, this is done in the monitor settings. In contrast, in laptops you can change settings using the Windows 7 system itself. This is due to the fact that in laptops the monitor is an integral element of the device itself.
Settings in Windows 7
In order to change the settings, you will need to go to the Control Panel. Here you should set the viewing mode to large or small icons. Select the Power Options section. In the window that opens, change the settings to those that are necessary.
If you click on the link Setting to turn off the display, we will see a list of characteristics that can be changed. The settings are divided into those that will occur when the laptop is running on mains power, and if it is running on battery power. In the latter case, it is recommended to set the brightness to a lower level, which will help save resource costs. In such a situation, when connecting and disconnecting charging, the brightness mode of the monitor will change.
So, in the power supply, you can choose the desired plan or scheme. Typically there are two options available: Balanced and Energy Saving. You can make a plan active by clicking on the button next to it. If necessary, the standard settings can be changed at your discretion. To do this, click on the link Setting up a power plan.
The developers also offer an additional plan, High performance. It is located at the bottom of the Power Options window. This mode consumes quite a lot of energy, but at the same time provides maximum performance.
In addition, laptops have a function key Fn. It will be needed in order to quickly change the brightness in the direction required. So, on the arrows you can usually see icons in the form of a sun or a triangle. On different models, they may be labeled on different buttons. In order to adjust the brightness, you must press Fn and one of these keys.
As you can see, for laptops in Windows 7 there are special modes that allow you to adjust the brightness of the monitor at your own discretion. If desired, all settings can be made manually. On personal computers there are special buttons on the monitor itself. By clicking on them you can set the mode that suits you.
It will also be useful for you to learn how to do it in Windows 7.
Those users who have previously worked exclusively on a desktop PC may be a little surprised when they start working on a laptop. One of the main features of a laptop screen is that you simply cannot adjust the brightness on it in the same way as on a regular monitor - there is no separate button or wheel for this.
Moreover, by default, the screen brightness is usually such that it can cause significant inconvenience to the user’s eyes - it is at a relatively low level, as a rule, in order to save energy, since the screen is one of the main consumers of energy.
Today I will tell you how to reduce or increase the brightness on your device. I will show an example on Windows 7, although there is no difference between other operating systems, including the still popular XP. In addition, this instruction is suitable for most modern laptops manufactured by companies such as Lenovo, Acer, Sasmung, Asus, Dell, Sony, etc.
First way
It's best to start with the simplest method. In order to use it, you will need 5 seconds of time.
At the bottom of the desktop in the notification area (tray) there is a certain number of icons. Find the battery icon and right-click on it, after which a menu will appear in which you need to select “Windows Mobility Center”.
A window will open in front of you with a large number of settings, including, for example, adjusting the sound and, of course, adjusting the brightness level of the laptop screen. Simply move the slider to one side or the other, thereby adjusting the brightness to your taste or desire.
Second way
If for some reason you cannot use the method indicated just above (for example, the Windows Mobility Center function is missing), you can try using another option.
There is a special Fn key on a laptop keyboard - it is used to type alternative commands. One of these commands is to adjust the screen brightness. Typically, brightness is indicated by a sun icon (filled and empty). Accordingly, to adjust the brightness, you need to hold down the Fn button, and then click either on the filled sun to increase brightness, or on the empty sun to darken. You don't need to press anything else.
As a rule, the icons on the keyboard are located among the F1-F12 keys, less often they are located in other places.
Third way
If you are not looking for easy ways, you can use the third, slightly more difficult method.
Go to the control panel, select “System” - “Power” - “Power settings” (in some cases the item is called “Setting the display to turn off” or “Setting the power plan”). This will take you to a menu where you can apply specific settings for your device. Including: screen brightness when using from mains or battery, dimming the display after a certain time, putting the computer into sleep mode, etc.
It is worth remembering that some laptop models, usually expensive ones, have an automatic brightness adjustment function, which in turn depends on external lighting. This feature can be disabled.
In cases where the brightness does not change, do not rush to take the laptop to a service center. The fact is that if it does not operate from the mains, but from a battery, then the screen brightness may not exceed a certain level in order to save energy. This setting can usually be changed.
But if the brightness does not increase in any of the modes, this may actually be related to the performance of the screen.
Today it is impossible to imagine life without computers. However, it is important to remember the rules for using a PC so as not to ruin your health.
The main organ that is most affected is the human eye. In order for the load on it to be minimal, you need to adjust the brightness of the image.
How to reduce brightness on a Windows 7 computer
The most common method is adjustment using the buttons on the display frame. Usually the buttons are "+" and "−" in the lower right corner. The menu button also allows you to specify contrast values.
The keyboard also has special keys. The combination Fn + up/down arrow (in some cases left/right) makes it possible to make the display brighter or dimmer. Or you can use the button with the image of the sun (F2 and F3).
System brightness setting
First, let’s go to “Power Options” in the “System and Security” section. Down there, by moving the slider, you can select the optimal brightness value.
There is also an item “Setting the power supply scheme”, where you can also create an optimal mode.
You can go to additional settings, where you can analyze in detail all the necessary brightness parameters:
- screen brightness from battery and network;
- screen brightness level in low brightness mode;
- adaptive adjustment.
Another way is to dim the brightness through the Mobility Center. To find it, you need to follow the following route: Start → Control Panel → Hardware and Sound. You can do this on Windows 7 using the Win + X key combination.
Solving driver problems
The reason for the violation of brightness settings can be either an outdated or a newly updated driver.
In the first case, you will need to download the latest driver. To do this, perform the following steps:
- right-click on “Start”;
- in the pop-up list we find the toolbar;
- in the window that appears, go to “Video adapters”;
- Right-click on the existing driver and select “Update”;
- You will be prompted to search for drivers on the network or on the PC itself, choose what suits you best.
The second case implies that the downloaded driver does not meet the system requirements of the device. To resolve this issue, you will need to restore the previous version of the driver.
To do this, we will again need the Device Manager. Having selected the desired video adapter, go to its properties, where we roll back the driver.
Adjusting brightness using special utilities
In principle, the methods described above on how to reduce the brightness on a Windows 7 computer are quite sufficient. But maybe someone is interested in programs, and it is easier for them to configure them with special utilities than to tinker with the system. There is a huge variety of software available on the Internet to solve this problem. But the most convenient and effective among them are:
- Display Resolution Manager;
First program allows you to set the color gamma, brightness and contrast values so that your eyes are not overstrained while working at the computer.
Download second utility , you will be able to adjust the brightness in the tray. In addition to the main functions, it also has such functions as turning off the screen (monitor icon in the lower right corner) and launching a screen saver (Screen Saver button).
By using You can create multiple profiles and switch from one to another if necessary. But you should be careful when using this software; it is not intended for old computers and can cause serious damage to them.
So, now you know all sorts of ways to control the brightness level on your PC. Choose the one that seems more comfortable to you and take care of your eyes.
The higher the brightness, the less battery life the laptop will run on. Therefore, many users are interested in how to reduce the brightness on a laptop. If you are also interested in this issue, we recommend that you read this article.
How to reduce screen brightness on a laptop in Windows 7
The Windows 7 operating system is equipped with a very convenient tool called “ Windows Mobility Center" Using this tool, you can quickly change all the main parameters that affect the autonomy of the laptop. For example, here you can either reduce the screen brightness, lower the speaker volume, turn off wireless modules, and also change the laptop operating mode.
To open " Windows Mobility Center"You need to right-click on the battery icon on the taskbar and select the desired item in the menu that appears (screenshot below).
After the window appears " Windows Mobility Center", you can reduce the volume using a special slider.
You can also reduce the brightness in the laptop's power settings. To do this, open the “Control Panel” and go to the “System and Security - Power Options - Set to turn off the display” section. Here you can adjust the brightness of your laptop screen when running on battery or mains power.
It should be noted that all power settings are tied to the power plan (by default there are three power plans: balanced, energy saving and high performance). However, reducing the brightness for one power plan will not affect others.
How to reduce screen brightness on a laptop in Windows 10
If you have an operating system, then you can reduce the screen brightness in another way. To do this, right-click on the desktop and select “Display Settings” from the menu that opens.
After this, the “Settings” window will appear in front of you, opened in the “System - Screen” section. In this window, you can reduce the screen brightness using a special slider.
A universal way to reduce screen brightness
You can also reduce the screen brightness on your laptop using the keyboard. This method works on most laptops, regardless of the version of Windows. Find the key with the brightness reduction icon on your laptop keyboard. Typically this key is the down arrow. By pressing this key together with the Fn key, you can reduce the brightness by one level.
By holding down these two keys for a while, you can reduce the laptop brightness to minimum.
The computer display is one of the most basic devices that provides feedback when the user contacts an electronic computer, and one of the main organs on the human body responsible for this communication in a significant number of cases are the eyes, which bear most of the load when working on a PC.
Obviously, it is necessary to reduce the load on this sense organ as much as possible in order to maintain full health and performance for as long as possible. You can minimize the degree of eye fatigue by making special adjustments to the settings in Windows 7, and in particular, ensuring comfortable screen brightness on Windows 7. However, owners of computers on the mentioned OS often have difficulty adjusting this parameter.
Below are detailed guides with step-by-step descriptions of how you can set the optimal screen brightness on a computer running the Windows 7 operating system, using which even novice users can quickly configure and adjust the brightness based on their own preferences.
Setup procedure using built-in Windows 7 tools
To make adjustments using the default “Seven” means, you must perform the following sequential steps:
The process of adjusting the monitor backlight using software from a computer graphics accelerator
A convenient method for setting a favorable level of monitor brightness is the PC video accelerator driver. Below is an example of an adjustment technique using Nvidia software. The algorithm of sequential actions consists of the following steps:
Using a laptop keyboard
To quickly change the brightness level, you can use special keys, for example, on a Lenovo laptop on Windows 7, the “Fn” buttons and the “Down” and “Up” arrows are used for this purpose.
Of course, for each individual laptop model, these button combinations may be individual, so it is recommended that you first check the instructions that came with the computer, which can also be downloaded from the equipment manufacturer’s website.
For our example, you need to do the following:
- If you want to reduce the power level of the display backlight, you should hold down “Fn” and click on the button with the arrow pointing “Down” several times;
- Using a similar technique, when you click on “Up”, the brightness will increase.
Using the capabilities of a desktop computer monitor
Most monitor manufacturers provide the ability to quickly adjust display backlight levels. For example, on “LG Flatron W1943SS” you need to perform the following steps:
Why do brightness settings fail?
This often happens due to incorrectly updated drivers or due to the lack of a video card software update.
To update the drivers you need to complete the following steps:
Sometimes difficulties are caused by a driver that does not match the system, and it is recommended to restore an earlier version of the software. In the “Device Manager” window, enter the driver properties and roll it back, as shown in the figure below. 
Setting the optimal backlight level through programs
Today, a large number of applications have been developed specifically designed to adjust this screen parameter. The most popular utilities include the following:
The utility at the top of the list is capable of working with several profiles and provides quick and convenient switching between them.
Application number two allows you to adjust the display backlight via the tray icon. Additionally, the utility is equipped with functions to turn off the monitor and turn on the screen saver.
And the last program in the above list, but far from the least in terms of the capabilities provided to the user, provides quick access to adjusting the levels of contrast, backlight and gamma, which makes working at the monitor optimal and significantly reduces eye strain. 
Conclusion
Controlling the brightness level of the display is not particularly difficult with detailed instructions, even for beginners. It is recommended to use the tools built into the system to configure this parameter so as not to increase the load on the computer with additional utilities.