I’m really struggling with my external monitor setup on Ubuntu and could use some help. So, I have this cool dual-monitor setup at home – one is my laptop display, and the other is this larger external monitor that’s way better for multitasking. But here’s the thing: the brightness on the external monitor is way too bright for my taste, and I can’t seem to find a way to adjust it.
I’ve tried messing with the monitor itself, you know, the buttons on the side that adjust the settings, but they don’t seem to have an impact on the overall brightness in the Ubuntu system. It feels a bit like fighting with a stubborn beast because sometimes the brightness seems okay, but other times, it’s just glaring at me, giving me a headache.
I looked up how to adjust brightness in the system settings, and while I can do it for my laptop display without any issues, there doesn’t seem to be an option for the external monitor. It’s almost like Ubuntu isn’t recognizing the brightness controls for it, which is super annoying because it’s a pretty new monitor.
It’s also worth mentioning that I’ve tried a couple of different tools, like Redshift, which helps reduce eye strain by adjusting color temperature, but it doesn’t solve the problem of the brightness specifically. I feel like maybe there’s a hidden setting somewhere or a command I can run in the terminal, but I’m not exactly a Linux wizard.
Has anyone else faced this issue? What have you done to adjust the brightness on an external monitor while using Ubuntu? I’d really appreciate any tips you can share! If you’ve got a step-by-step guide or anything like that, I’d be super grateful because I’d love to get my work environment just right without feeling like the sun is shining right in my face all day.
How to Adjust External Monitor Brightness on Ubuntu
It sounds like you’re having a rough time with your external monitor brightness! Here are a few steps you can try to get a better handle on it:
Check Monitor Settings Again
You’ve probably already done this, but just in case – some monitors have different modes (like Standard, Movie, or Game) that can impact brightness. Make sure you’re in the right mode that suits normal use.
Using xrandr for Brightness Control
You can try using the
xrandr
command in the terminal to adjust the brightness. Here’s a quick guide:xrandr
to see a list of connected displays.HDMI-1
orDP-1
).Replace
[monitor_name]
with your monitor’s name and[value]
with a number between 0.0 (dark) and 1.0 (normal). For example:xrandr --output HDMI-1 --brightness 0.8
Using Third-party Tools
If the above method doesn’t help, you might want to look into tools like Brightness Controller. It’s a simple GUI that can help manage brightness across multiple monitors.
Check if Drivers are Up-to-Date
Sometimes, installing the correct drivers for your graphics card can help with monitor control issues:
Final Thoughts
If all else fails, check forums or your monitor’s manual online for specific settings that may not be obvious. Customization might take a bit of digging, but you can get there!
Hope this makes your monitor less glaring and your workspace more enjoyable!
If you’re facing brightness issues with your external monitor on Ubuntu, you might want to consider using the
xrandr
command-line tool. This tool can help adjust the brightness for your external monitor. First, you will need to determine the name of your external monitor. Open a terminal and typexrandr
, then look for the display identifier, which usually appears as something likeHDMI-1
orDP-1
. Once you have the correct identifier, you can adjust the brightness by running the command:xrandr --output [DISPLAY_NAME] --brightness [VALUE]
, replacing[DISPLAY_NAME]
with your monitor identifier and[VALUE]
with a value between 0 (completely dark) and 1 (normal brightness). For example, if your external monitor identifier isHDMI-1
and you want to set the brightness to 0.7, you would runxrandr --output HDMI-1 --brightness 0.7
.In addition to using
xrandr
, you might want to explore other utilities likebrightnessctl
, which can provide a more user-friendly interface for adjusting brightness levels. You can install it by runningsudo apt install brightnessctl
. After installation, check if it supports your external monitor by usingbrightnessctl --list
. If your external monitor appears in the list, you can set the brightness withbrightnessctl s 70%
to set it to 70%. If none of these solutions work, consider checking the display settings in your desktop environment (like GNOME or KDE) for additional options or exploring the monitor’s native settings and firmware updates that might influence compatibility with Linux systems.