Hi there Esther, I downloaded, and it loaded itself, Brightness Control. So far, it works perfectly. I can finally reduce the brightness of my I Mac. Thanks a bunch. There is also an app in the app store, I forget it's name, for $2.95 that has a 4.5 rating. I'll stick to the freebee for now. Tom Frank vermont...@gmail.com
On Jun 11, 2011, at 12:20 AM, Esther wrote: > Hi Dan, Tom, Ricardo, and Others, > > OK, here's the results about iMac screen brightness for all the inquiring > minds that want to know. Apparently, the level of screen brightness is, > indeed, characteristic of the iMac backlight, and not a property of Macbooks. > I did some Google searching, and the first item I turned up was a program to > dim Mac monitors. There are apparently a bunch of these, but here's the > first one I found, which is a free program named "Brightness Control" with > the subtitle "Dim your monitor easily": > http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/10429/brightness-control > > That's the macupdate page for the program, and what's interesting is that > there are other, similar programs to dim iMac monitors. However, one of the > comments claims that although the program dims the pixels on the screen, it > doesn't turn off the backlight, so the amount of energy being used is the > same -- as though you had the screen curtain on. Also, apparently the color > balance gets thrown off when the program is run. This still might be useful > to Tom. > > The other interesting page was from a page by "Midwestern Mac, LLC", and it's > a blog post titled "How to Save 20 Watts while Running an iMac (or another > Mac)": > http://www.midwesternmac.com/tutorial/2009-05-21/how-save-20-watts-while-running-imac > > You can read it with Safari reader (Command-Shift-R on the page to read the > article text without distracting links). The quick summary is that the > blogger tested his 2008 iMac connected to a UPS that also monitored the power > usage of connected devices. Even with the display set to lowest brightness, > the computer used about the same amount of power as a 77 watt light bulb. > Turning the screen of the iMac off dropped that to 30 watts, and putting the > computer to sleep took that down to 4 watts. But because the backlight on > the monitor was always on, as long as the screen was turned on, it continued > to use a good deal of power. My guess is that they can't afford to sustain > that kind of power consumption on laptops because they're often run on > battery power. Anyway, here's an excerpted quote from the blog article > giving the stats. You can read more details about the experiment using the > link that I gave above: > <begin quote> > Detailed stats, for those so inclined: > > • Computer on, running a bunch of processes, full brightness = 125 Watts > • Computer on, highest brightness = 100 Watts > • Computer on, lowest brightness = 77 Watts > • Screen turned off (press Shift + Control + Eject) = 30 Watts > • Computer sleeping = 4 Watts average > • Computer off = 0 Watts > <end quote> > > Very interesting, since it explains that all these iMac monitors don't really > get down to 0 light level when you decrease brightness. It also means that > even if you dim the screen pixels even further, by using a program like the > one I mentioned at the start of this post, you're still using power that will > show up in your electricity bill. > > HTH. Cheers, > > Esther > On Jun 10, 2011, at 17:24, Dan wrote: > >> Another comment regarding screen curtain on my 27 inch iMac late 2010. Both >> my wife and son said that when the screen curtain is on, the screen is still >> lit and there is a cursor on the screen. Again, this is a brightness setting >> of 0. >> HTH. >> Dan >> >> On Jun 10, 2011, at 8:02 PM, Esther wrote: >> >>> Hi Dan and Others, >>> >>> I've never checked display brightness with an iMac screen. On all the Mac >>> laptop screens I've used, setting screen brightness to 0 seems to have the >>> same effect as turning on the screen curtain. That's why I asked whether >>> this was an iMac and what the display settings were in terms of automatic >>> adjustment under System Preferences. I'd be really surprised if a laptop >>> user said the screen stayed bright a 0 level display brightness setting. >>> >>> Cheers, >>> >>> Esther >>> >>> On Jun 10, 2011, at 16:52, Dan wrote: >>> >>>> Hello, >>>> When the screen brightness is set to 0, my family can still use the iMac's >>>> screen without any problems what so ever. >>>> >>>> Dan >>>> >>>> On Jun 10, 2011, at 7:38 PM, Esther wrote: >>>> >>>>> Hi John and Tom, >>>>> >>>>> Are you sure that you're using the appropriate keyboard shortcut? On my >>>>> Macbook Pro, where I have checked the box for "Use all F1, F2, etc. keys >>>>> as standard function keys" on the "Keyboard" tab of the "Keyboard" menu >>>>> under "System Preferences", using the Fn+F1 key to lower the display to >>>>> where it says keyboard brightness is "0 per cent" has the same effect as >>>>> turning my screen curtain on, according to other users. This also checks >>>>> out if I try to use the iPhone "Light Detector" app; I get no sound when >>>>> the iPhone is pointed to my laptop screen when the display brightness >>>>> reported by VoiceOver is "0 per cent" -- same as with my screen curtain >>>>> turned on. As soon as I start to raise my screen brightness with Fn+F2 >>>>> the "Light Detector" app on the iPhone picks it up. Of course, if I >>>>> don't press the Fn key along with the F1 or F2 key, nothing happens to >>>>> the brightness adjustment with the above settings. >>>>> >>>>> Are you using external displays like with an iMac? Also, what setting do >>>>> you use when you check your "Displays" menu under System Preferences? >>>>> Under the Display tab is the box for "Automatically adjust brightness as >>>>> ambient light changes" checked or unchecked? When you interact with the >>>>> slider and push it all the way down to 0 does your screen go dark? >>>>> >>>>> Cheers, >>>>> >>>>> Esther >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Jun 10, 2011, at 15:40, John Sanfilippo wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> Wow! I quite aggree with your need to dim the screen even further than >>>>>> it currently allows. I've resorted to the screen curtain (shift vo f11), >>>>>> though that's not really the answer. >>>>>> >>>>>> Thanks for sharing. >>>>>> >>>>>> John S >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> On Jun 9, 2011, at 10:25 PM, Tom Frank wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> Hi all, >>>>>> Even at zero percent the screen is too bright for me to see maps on >>>>>> Google . Is there any way to dial down the brightness even further? It >>>>>> may be limited because screens are now LEDs and not CRTs. >>>>>> Tom Frank >>>>>> vermont...@gmail.com >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> On Jun 8, 2011, at 10:21 PM, Ricardo Walker wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> Hi, >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Why not just leave it at 0%, and then when a person needs to see the >>>>>>> screen, just press function F2 to brighten to the persons desired >>>>>>> level. Then, just press Function F1 to lower brightness back to 0%? >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Ricardo Walker >>>>>>> rwalker...@gmail.com >>>>>>> Twitter, Skype, and AIM: rwalker296 >>>>>>> www.mobileaccess.org >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> On Jun 8, 2011, at 9:22 PM, Shameless FanGirl wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Hi again all, >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> For those of you who choose to dial your brightness down on your Mac, >>>>>>>> but who choose to have it bright enough to be able to be adequately >>>>>>>> viewed, should you need it via sighted assistance, I'm told it's still >>>>>>>> perfectly fine at 10 to 15% brightness. Just thought I'd share that >>>>>>>> observation with the list. >>>>>>>> >>>>> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en.
