Through that USB-C connection, you can use a wide range of accessories and peripherals with the iPad, including external monitors. The ability to mirror your iPad’s ( ) display to an external monitor has been possible for years through an HDMI adapter (30-pin or Lightning). The iPad Pro uses the DisplayPort standard, but requires a high-speed cable in order to output at 5K resolutions. LG’s UltraFine 5K Display, on the other hand, relies on Thunderbolt 3 and will not work with the iPad Pro. Other apps, such as Adobe’s Lightroom, don’t give you the option to select what’s shown where. In the Settings app are a few options should you find yourself having issues with the quality of the output shown on a monitor or TV. Once there you can adjust the brightness of the external monitor and tailor the iPad Pro’s output to it.
How to Control the Brightness for External Displays with a MacBook
While you normally can’t use the brightness keys or system preferences to control the behavior of external hardware, some apps make it possible to do so. ExternalDisplayBrightness is a popular app that allows you to manage the brightness of your external device. Set the preferences by choosing the keys which you’d like to use to regulate brightness for your monitor. Once you’ve configured ExternalDisplayBrightness, use the keys that you selected to change the brightness on your external screen.
If you’d like to avoid tapping buttons on your monitor, you can control your preferences with Lunar. Lunar is a free app for Mac, designed to synchronize the settings on all your displays.
The only requirement is that your external device supports the Data Display Channel (DDC) protocol. If it supports it, you can install the Lunar app and start regulating brightness and other preferences of your monitor straight from your MacBook. The Sync Mode lets you synchronize the built-in display preferences to the external monitor. The Manual Mode, if selected, disables the adaptive algorithm and allows you to control your monitor by using the Lunar UI or custom hotkeys. F.lux is another free app that lets you control the brightness of your external display, albeit to a limited extent. This information will serve to generate a lighting schedule that you can edit later from the f.lux menu, which is located next to the clock.
If you’re using Lunar or some other app that allows you to synch the preferences of your displays, here’s how to control these settings on MacBook.
The defacto app for controlling monitor brightness
You can finally go outside and work on your laptop in the bright sunlight without squinting!
Can I change the brightness on a secondary display?
You can adjust each monitor separately, and set keyboard shortcuts for them as well.
MonitorControl/MonitorControl: 🖥 Control your display’s brightness & volume on your Mac as if it was a native Apple Display. Use Apple Keyboard keys or custom shortcuts. Shows the native macOS OSDs.
MonitorControl – for Apple Silicon and Intel Controls your external display brightness and volume and shows native OSD. Use menulet sliders or the keyboard, including native Apple keys! Supports multiple protocols to adjust brightness: DDC for external displays (brightness, contrast, volume), native Apple protocol for Apple and built-in displays, Gamma table control for software adjustment (recommended for OLED), shade control for AirPlay, Sidecar and Display Link devices. Synchronize brightness from built-in and Apple screens – replicate Ambient light sensor and touch bar induced changes to a non-Apple external display!
Modern, stylish and highly customizable menulet reflecting the design of Control Center introduced in Big Sur. Simple, unobstrusive UI to blend in to the general aesthetics of macOS (even the menu icon can be hidden).
The best app of its kind, completely FREE (donations welcome) with the source code transparently available! Use your keyboard or the sliders in the app menu (a brightness symbol in the macOS menubar as shown on the screenshot above) to control your displays.
Most modern LCD displays from all major manufacturers supported implemented DDC/CI protocol via DisplayPort, HDMI, USB-C or VGA to allow for hardware backlight control. DisplayLink, Airplay and Sidecar are supported using shade (dark overlay) control.
Some displays (notably EIZO) use MCCS over USB or an entirely custom protocol for control. DisplayLink docks and dongles do not allow for DDC control on Macs, only software dimming is available for these connections.
Note to f.lux users – please activate Avoid gamma table manipulation under Preferences » Displays ! If you want, you can fork the code yourself and submit a pull request to improve the app (Note: accepting a PR is solely in the collective hands of the maintainers).
Help-not able to adjust display brightness on external monitor after macOS beta update.
There is a piece of softare called “Lunar” that uses software (controls gamma) to adjust the brightness of the external display, and will use the keyboard commands or a drop-down slider from the menu bar.
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