Back in February 2005 , I cover a nifty usefulness , Brightness Control , that provides a simple slider for dimming your Mac ’s screen . Such a program was needed by some , I explained , because many third - political party displays have only basic brightness controls , and some of those displays are still far too bright even at their lowest scene . ( I in person found my then - new 20 - in Dell display to be so bright , even at the dimmest setting , that it was fundamentally unusable once the sun went down . ) In plus , some the great unwashed find Apple ’s display — laptop and Cinema — to be too hopeful , even at their lowest mise en scene , when work on in the dark .

( Some of you might be saying , “ But how many people really crop in the dark ? ” Turns out , more than you might believe . In addition to folks trying to do some Web browsing without disturbing a quiescence spouse , there are , for example , astronomers who need dim display that do n’t impact their dark adaption , and students who want to take notes in dark classroom . Even a dimly - lit work environment can present challenge if your presentation is too bright . )

I ’ve since discovered a couple gemstone that provide undecomposed functionality than Brightness Control . The first is Charcoal Design’sShades 1.1.5r1 (; innocent ) . Like Brightness Control , Shades give you a childlike slider for dim your filmdom , but Shades ’ command is more accessible : it can appear as a menu - bar menu ; a float , semitransparent luger ; or both ; the floating slider can be orient vertically or horizontally . Even comfortably , you may hide both the menu - streak item and the float controller and aline the showing via keyboard shortcut ; for illustration , I chose Shift+Control+Down to lessen luminousness . A decent touch : if you unintentionally put the light to its lowest degree — making your screen rake - inglorious — Shades keeps its bill of fare - bar item and the cursor bright so you may recover . I also care the option to keep Shades from appear in the Dock .

Shades controls

My independent complaints about Shades are similar to those I had about Brightness Control : it simply dim the screen , which also reduces line at lower luminance levels , and it does n’t let you dim multiple displays independently . ( My two too - bright presentation have different brightnesses , even at their lowest built - in preferences ; when the independent one is set just right using Shades , the other is too dark . ) Still , for simple brightness control , it ’s a in effect option .

If you need more options , a better solution is AquilaDigital Partnership’sDarkAdapted Pro 2.2 (; $ 10 ) . The program ’s canonical brightness- and colour - switch feature are available via a floating window with a pop - up menu heel all presets : brightness levels at 5 - percent increments , several cherry-red levels , and several green level . ( The red presets , which give your total video display a crimson chromaticity , are useful for conserve dark vision — DarkAdapted Pro was originally designed as a tool for astronomers . ) you may take presets using the computer mouse cursor , a mouse scroll wheel or trackpad scroll , or by type the first few characters of the preset ’s name ; for instance , typing80automatically switches to the 80 % cleverness preset . You get one of these control window for each display connected to your Mac , and each works severally of the others — in other words , each exhibit can have dissimilar options .

But DarkAdapted Pro also lets you customize each display ’s Vasco da Gamma values via the Show Details pick , which expand the window to show red , unripe , and gloomy sliders . you’re able to correct the sliders independently or lock them to adjust them together . you could also lock away the sliders relative to one another , so you could exchange one or two value andthenlock ; this preserves the relative differences between the slipper when you move them together . Another useful detail is the set of text boxes at the bottom of the window , which show how black , white , and highlighted text will wait on white , red , green , or blue backgrounds using your current options . As you ’re make change , the show changes swimmingly in real clock time . ( If your showing ever becomes difficult to take in , crush Shift+Command+Return to restore it to standard brightness . )

DarkAdapted basic controls

If you lean to frequently change over between scope , or combination of options , you’re able to store your own presets and preset sets ; the latter apply a different preset to each connected show . DarkAdapted can export and import these presets and sets , as well .

DarkAdapted Pro also makes its presets , as well as a few extra choice , usable via a systemwide menu - bar menu . For example , you’re able to contribute up float smartness and people of color sliders in any app ; these sliders let you speedily adjust your context and then vanish once you move the pointer away from them . ( Unfortunately , it ’s more unmanageable to curb multiple display independently using these sliders , as you have to first choose the display to control and then show the controller . )

DarkAdapted Pro includes AppleScript support so you may get at its features from within AppleScripts and Automator workflow . you could choose keyboard shortcuts for lot , presets , AppleScripts , commands in the DarkAdapted Pro bill of fare , as well as to toggle between the current configurations and full brightness .

DarkAdapted extended controls

There are also numerous other minor - but - utile feature of speech uncommitted via DarkAdapted Pro ’s Preferences window and menu - ginmill fare . For example , you may choose to have your configurations utilise to just your own chronicle or to all report ; to veil the Dock icon so that all setting are made via the menu - barroom computer menu ; or to shroud the Dock icon and the menu , control DarkAdapted Pro only using the keyboard .

One of my favorite option is the automatic - refresh mise en scene . If you ’ve used a screen - dimming utility before , you know that many apps that take over the intact screen — games , video players , screen saver — reset the screen to full brightness ; when you quit the program , that setting remains , squeeze you to go back to your dimming public utility company and readjust your preferable stage . DarkAdapted Pro can mechanically refresh your screenland ’s da Gamma and light options at an interval you pick out , which avoids this problem .

in the end , DarkAdapted Pro can be scheduled to apply specific presets at specific times . This is utilitarian , for example , if your desk sits near a window so your ambient light-headed storey changes throughout the day . you’re able to tell DarkAdapted Pro to apply one preset at 10AM , another at 3PM , and another at 7PM . Even more telling , if you insert your longitude and latitude , DarkAdapted Pro can grab dawning and sunset times for your positioning . you could then set the usefulness to use exceptional presets at those times — or relative to those time ; for example , an hour after sunrise and two hr before sunset .

DarkAdapted menu

( AquilaDigital Partnership also offers a innocent , standard translation of DarkAdapted . The free version lack a number of Pro ’s unique features , but still offers more options than Brightness Control and Shades . In fact , the Pro version ’s features are still available to you in the free version ; however , after using them a few sentence , you ’ll occasionally see a reminder window asking you to buy Pro . )

DarkAdapted Pro is an telling public utility company ; its basic feature are easygoing to apply , and although its full functionality is likely overkill for many people , it extend enough unparalleled features that even owners of Apple ’s own displays , which can be controlled using features of Mac OS X , may encounter something appealing here .