Working Setup: Samsung S24D390 ← HDMI → MacBook Pro Retina 15'' (Mid 2014)

[porg]

Thanks for providing this software!

Hardware

• MacBook Pro Retina 15'' (Mid 2014)
• External Display: Samsung S24D390.
  • Connected via HDMI
  • No other external displays currently.

Software

• macOS 11.6.6 Big Sur
• ExternalDisplayBrightness 1.3.0

ExternalDisplayBrightness

Configuration

• Decrease brightness key: F1
• Increase brightness key: F2
• ☑️ Change brightness on all displays at once
  • 🔲 Require Command modifier to be pressed
• 🔲 Read initial brightness from the display before adjusting it

Notes on configuration

1. Read initial brightness from the display before adjusting it activated indeed froze my Mac and I needed to do a cold reboot.

• Nevermind. I do really not need that option. I simply increase the brightness to the min or max, and from then on the software-controls and the hardware are in sync again.

2. My setup only works with Change brightness on all displays at once ON!

• When I turn it off, then F1 and F2 do nothing. Regardless of whether Require Command modifier to be pressed is ON, and regardless of whether I press ⌘ additionally.
• I don't mind.
• Sometimes I anyhow want to regulate brightness on both 👉 Then I simply use Fn + BrightnessDown (=F1) and Fn + BrightnessUp (=F2)
• And if I want to regulate them separately
  • I first press Fn + BrightnessDown/Up (F1 or F2) and get the external display to my intended brightness.
  • I then press BrightnessDown/Up to regulare my internal display. Either back to where it was or to another brightness value.

The controls work correctly and (almost) lineary:

• Reduced to the minimum value via ExternalDisplayBrightness. Checked display's on-screen menu. Brightness = 6.
  • That's also the absolute minimum you can achieve with the HW menu.
• Reduced to the middle position via ExternalDisplayBrightness. Checked display's on-screen menu. Brightness = 50.
• Reduced to the max position via ExternalDisplayBrightness. Checked display's on-screen menu. Brightness = 100.

[porg]

• Another note. During initial setup and testing I too was puzzled by No persistent brightness change when auto-adjust is on. #13.
• But after some thought realized that this is by design.
• What could be done to improve an optimal user experience is to better info in the help/readme/first-use-assistant. I wrote that there as a comment.

[porg]

👍 Really great long time performance (June - October)

• Always worked. Never crashed.
• Very low CPU load. Now e.g. over an uptime of ~13 days the accumulated CPU time is:

    16h         WindowServer
     1h 43m     Finder
     1h 21m     Safari
            53s ExternalDisplayBrightness 👈