How to Fix Low Screen Brightness in Windows 8.x Computers

A friend of mine got a new Lenovo Flex 14 laptop, a couple of weeks back. The laptop seemed pretty great but suffered from a strange issue. The brightness of the screen was mostly very low even at full brightness. For the longest time I thought that was highest it could go, but at times i would see the screen go absolutely bright and then go back  dim.

Initially I was holding the Lenovo’s Energy Manager culprit for it, but the brightness remained unchanged even when the I turned it off. On doing a little research I found that Windows 8.1 has been making adjustments for you when it should bloody mind its own business.

Enter Windows Adaptive Brightness.  This is one of the clueless automatic brightness adjustment I have on any device.

This is how Microsoft defines this feature –

Enough talk , lets see turn this how we can turn this feature off!

Step 1 –

Double click on the battery icon in the taskbar and go to more power options.

 

 

 

 

 

Step 2 –

Click on ‘Change plan settings’.                                                                                       NOTE: You will need to repeat the same steps for all of your Power Plans.

Step 3 –

Click on ‘Change advanced power settings’.

Step 4 –

Expand the ‘Display’ section and navigate to the ‘Enable Adaptive Brightness’ and turn it off and click apply.

And now you see the difference.  Hope this helped. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

You Already Have the Best Camera Bag!

Few months back I decided to get a messenger camera bag as my backpack was getting way too cumbersome and I never liked using the free Canon bags as they always drive way too much attention anywhere you go and they also become an  obvious target for thieves and nobody wants that. I found some really good bags which didn’t look like the cliché camera bags, which made them perhaps the perfect choice,  except for their price.  Brands like ThinkTank, Crumpler, Lowepro can get pretty steep when it comes to their premium bags.  The prices are even more exaggerated here in India, due to limited availability of brands like ThinkTank and Crumpler. In pursuit of cheaper alternatives,  I found these-

Camera Bag Inserts

 Camera Bag Inserts.  They can be usually be found in most of the good camera bags as the removal partition ,  but they are also sold separately so that you can pretty much put them in any messenger bag.  The price varies for these products,  and I suggest getting an Insert which is covered from the top as well for added protection. If you are in the US, you have some good choices, but unfortunately here in India this concept isn’t very poplar. After having a look at many of these inserts I realized how surprisingly similar it was to the Canon Camera bags which came free with my DSLR.  They have a pocket for keeping memory cards, they are covered from the top and fit in most messenger bags.  Also unlike other inserts,  the sections can be configured accordingly to need. And the best part is that almost all of us already have them with us. Here in India,  finding quality inserts is a challenge but one can easily find these bags for cheap.  You can even buy unbranded ones if they offer enough protection.

So the choice is yours depending on how much want to spend, where you stay and how much you are willing to improvise.

Here is an article taking DIY Camera Bag to the next level!

My present configuration –

My primary messenger bag is a LowePro Exchange Messenger Bag, for an insane price of Rs. 1200 around $20 but it had absolutely no padding what so ever.

 Enter the free Canon Camera Bags! I have 2 of these Canon Bags due to a fortunate confusion with my Canon Edge Subscription.

 This is how it looks with camera bag inserted into the Lowepro Exchange Messenger bag.  Partitions can be reorganized to the configuration you want.

With all the gear in!

With everything zipped up, the my flexible tripod and Nexus 7 in the front flap.

So you can use practically any messenger bag lying around as your go to camera bag.  Let me know what you think if this combination in the comments below. Happy Shuttering!