Adaptive Screen Dimmer (Windows)

Automatically dims your screen when content gets too bright to reduce eye strain and flash blindness. Includes a simple GUI and multi‑monitor support.

Features

• 🛡️ Eye protection: Smooth overlay dimming based on brightness
• 🖥️ GUI: Simple dark UI with logs and status
• 🖲️ Multi‑monitor: Monitor 1, Monitor 2, or both
• ⚙️ Auto‑adjust: Continuously adapts between thresholds
• ⏱️ Fast: Checks brightness every ~50ms
• ⏸ Pause/Resume: Quick control without closing the app

Quick Start

You can run either the locally built EXE or the Python script. We do not ship prebuilt binaries.

Option A: Build EXE locally

1. Ensure Python 3.10+ is installed.
2. Build the EXE:

   ./build_exe.bat

3. Start the executable: dist/AdaptiveScreenDimmer.exe
   • Tip: Right‑click → “Run as administrator” can improve overlay reliability.

Option B: Python

1. Install requirements:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

2. Start via batch:

   .\adaptive_dimmer_START.bat

   or directly:

   pythonw adaptive_dimmer.py

Building the EXE

This project uses PyInstaller to create a one‑file GUI executable. We do not provide prebuilt EXE files; build it locally on your machine.

./build_exe.bat

The build output is placed in dist/AdaptiveScreenDimmer.exe. After building, you can copy this EXE anywhere; it runs without needing Python installed.

Notes on repository contents

• Do not commit build artifacts like dist/ or build/ – they are ignored via .gitignore.
• If you need to share the EXE, build locally and distribute it outside the repository (e.g., attach to a release).

Usage

• On launch, the app auto‑starts and begins monitoring.
• Select mode: “Nur Monitor 1”, “Nur Monitor 2”, or “Beide Bildschirme”.
• Use “⏸ Pausieren” / “▶ Fortsetzen” to control dimming.
• Status shows current brightness and dimming percentage; logs display detailed activity.

Configuration

Adjust parameters in adaptive_dimmer.py:

THRESHOLD_START = 25   # Dimming begins above this brightness
THRESHOLD_MAX = 100    # Maximum dimming reached above this brightness
MAX_OPACITY = 240      # 0–255 alpha (higher = darker)
CHECK_INTERVAL = 0.05  # Seconds between brightness checks

Requirements

• Windows 10/11 recommended (Windows 7+ may work)
• For Python mode: Python 3.10+ recommended

Notes & Tips

• Administrator mode may be required for reliable top‑most overlays in some setups.
• If overlays do not appear on a monitor, switch the mode and back again.
• Multi‑monitor coordinates are read via mss; unusual DPI/arrangements may need admin.

Contributing

PRs and issues are welcome.

License

MIT License — see LICENSE.