Adaptive Brightness - Turn On or Off in Windows 8

How to Turn On or Off Adaptive Brightness in Windows 8 and 8.1​

   Information

This will show you how to turn adaptive brightness on or off to have Windows 8 use a light sensor (usually built into the display) to automatically adjust the screen brightness to match the lighting conditions in your PC's surroundings.

To determine if your laptop or computer monitor supports adaptive brightness, look for the Enable adaptive brightness setting in Power Options in the steps below. If the Enable adaptive brightness setting is not available, then it doesn't support adaptive brightness.

This will affect all users on the computer that use the same power plan that you have this set for.

OPTION ONE

To Turn Adaptive Brightness On or Off in Power Options

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1. Open the Advanced Power Settings for your power plan.​

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2. Expand Display and Enable display brightness, then set adaptive brightness to be turned on or off for when your computer is On battery and Plugged in. (see screenshot below)​

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3. When finished, click/tap on OK, and close the Power Options window. (see screenshot above)​

OPTION TWO

To Turn Adaptive Brightness On or Off in PC Settings in Windows 8.1

   Note

This option will turn on or off both the On battery and Plugged in settings for your power plan in OPTION ONE above.

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1. Open PC settings, and click/tap on PC and devices on the left side. (see screenshot below)​

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2. Click/tap on Power and sleep on the left side, and turn on or off Adjust my screen brightness automatically on the right side under Brightness. (see screenshot below)​

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OPTION THREE

To Enable or Disable Adaptive Brightness in Services

NOTE: This option should really on be used if OPTION ONE or OPTION TWO above did not work for you.

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1. Press the Windows + R keys to open the Run dialog, type services.msc, and press Enter.​

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2. Do step 3 or 4 below for what you would like to do.​

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3. To Enable Adaptive Brightness​

NOTE: This is the default setting.​

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A) Enable the Sensor Monitoring Service, and set it as Manual (Trigger Start).​

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4. To Disable Adaptive Brightness​

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A) Stop (if running) and disable the Sensor Monitoring Service.​

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5. You can now close Services if you like.​

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OPTION FOUR

Enable or Disable Adaptive Brightness in Intel Graphics Control Panel

NOTE: This option is only if you are using Intel HD graphics on your PC. You may need to do it in addition to the options above. If you are using NVIDIA or AMD graphics instead, then this does not apply to you.

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1. Open the Intel Graphics and Media Control Panel.​

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2. Click/tap the Power icon, and do step 3 or 4 below for what you would like to do.​

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3. To Enable Adaptive Brightness​

NOTE: This is the default setting.​

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A) Check or turn on the Display Power Saving Technology box for both On battery and Plugged in, and click/tap on OK or Apply.​

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4. To Disable Adaptive Brightness​

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A) Uncheck or turn off the Display Power Saving Technology box for both On battery and Plugged in, and click/tap on OK or Apply.​

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That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Create a Power and Sleep PC Settings Shortcut in Windows 8.1
• How to Adjust the Display Screen Brightness in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Turn On or Off Automatic Dim Display Brightness in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Add or Remove "Dim display after" in Power Options in Windows
• How to Change Power Plan Settings in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Set to Turn Off the Display after Specified Time in Windows

 

[CB]

Just realized it is there.

Thanks Shawn.

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Kevin.

 

[mcampellone]

OMG - this makes me look SO incredibly lame! WHY did I not research further, and find this great forum earlier? I am just (as my profile says) so darn impatient and I never read directions LOL - that needs to change!

ADAPTIVE BRIGHTNESS - DUH! I am again - VERY lame! After installing the Windows 8 Release Preview last week on my NEW Dell Inspiron Duo, I could not get the screen to stop dimming ALL of the time! So what did I do? I cracked the thing open, took it all apart, and I unplugged the light sensor cable from the motherboard! LOL LOL - again - I am LAME! I deserve the LAME hat!! LOL

If only I had found this sooner. Oh well - now I DEFINITELY have Adaptive Brightness OFF - and FOR GOOD! LOL

Mike

 

[Brink]

Hello Mike, and welcome to Eight Forums.

LOL, don't worry about it. We are all always learning.

 

[studiorat]

awesome thanks...

 

[Brink]

You're welcome studiorat, and welcome to Eight Forums.

 

[bagavan]

Brink, I did not know till date that my laptop had a light sensing detector..

Thanks.

 

[Brink]

You're welcome Bagavan.

 

[xraiderv1]

........is a light sensor standard equipment these days on laptops?

or is that just another use of the inbuilt webcam?

 

[Brink]

........is a light sensor standard equipment these days on laptops?

or is that just another use of the inbuilt webcam?

Hello xraiderv1,

It varies, but most new laptops have this light sensor for adaptive brightness these days.

 

[xraiderv1]

well frak... mine doesnt have that setting. it'd be nice though..

 

[Brink]

I wouldn't worry about it. Most people end up turning it off anyways due to it not adjusting the screen brightness properly or to their liking.

 

[xraiderv1]

alright.

thanks.

 

[Talmarsh]

Well for some reason this didn't do the trick for (and I've been stuck with this, very frustrating feature for about a month now)

What did work however, was disabling the Sensor Monitoring Service.

 

[Brink]

Sorry to hear that Talmarsh. I added that option to the tutorial for those that have the same issue.

Thank you for posting back with your results.

 

[Talmarsh]

Maybe it was just wishful thinking... and maybe this weird feature got the better of me.. But it seems yet to remain ON! Can't get rid of it :-\
I love win 8 but this is really annoying... It doesn't adjust the screen lighting (which would still be annoying), just the brightness parameters and makes everything look all washed out...

 

[Brink]

Hello Talmarsh,

Double check your other dim settings in Power Options to see if they may be set to dim the display after X amount of minutes.

If this is for a monitor, then it may have it's own separate built-in adaptive brightness settings.

 

[Talmarsh]

Wow this is embarrassing!
Playing around with the services turned the Adaptive Brightness in both of my custom power plans (I'm positive it was switched to "off" state...)! in retrospect, I may have disabled/enabled the service a few times to check for differences.. Never thought to check inside the power plans again..

Hope this one lasts
Cheers!

 

[Brink]

No worries. I'm glad you got it sorted.