Tell me more ×
Unix & Linux Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for users of Linux, FreeBSD and other Un*x-like operating systems.. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 4 down vote favorite
1

I'm on a Dell Latitude E6320, and the screen doesn't get very dim. It's way too bright even when it's dimmed as far as Ubuntu will let it. How do I dim it more?

For example, when you have this problem on a windows system, you can install a program like Dimmer (http://www.mylittlehost.com/dimmer.aspx) that overlays a black over your whole display (and you can configure the opacity, allowing you to dim the screen beyond the normal max). Is there any way to deal with a too-bright screen in linux?"

Thank you!

share|improve this question

1 Answer

up vote 3 down vote accepted

The interface /sys/class/backlight has this. I.e.

echo 4000 > /sys/class/backlight/intel_backlight/brightness

Other interesting values are:

cat /sys/class/backlight/intel_backlight/max_brightness
4648
cat /sys/class/backlight/intel_backlight/actual_brightness
4000

Please note, pr. default, these are writeable by root only.

share|improve this answer
1  
You can use setpci to change these values as a normal user. The syntax is more cryptic though. For my system this is setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=XX where XX is a hex value between 00 and ff. The device (after the -s) can be found out with 'ls -l /sys/class/backlight/intel_backlight' where I see devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.0 in the device path. – Christian Jun 25 '12 at 7:39
1  
Oh and be careful in either case with 0 as display brightness. I have a Pixel Qi display and I will see something with the backlight switched off completely (and I searched long for a way to accomplish this) but you most likely won't see much so have a reverting line in your bash history where you can find it blindly. – Christian Jun 25 '12 at 7:44

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.