I have a Framework Laptop 13 DIY with AMD 7040 series.
When I use the volume keys to adjust the volume, or the display brightness keys to adjust the display brightness a little line shows that’s clearly supposed to indicate roughly where I am in the range of adjustment.
However it is White on a slightly, barely perceptably, dimmer white and it is very difficult to read it!
Why isn’t there be a bit more contrast between the two shades?
It doesn’t matter so much with volume because a number is also shown but for some reason no number is shown for brightness!
Why?
You might argue that with brightness you usually just adjust so that it’s as bright as you want, and in many cases that’s true. However one might also want to set it exactly as it was last time you did such and such a task, if only for some assurance that the battery will probably last as long as it did last time.
Hi what OS are you using as surely that’s has some influence on what you see etc.
I use Win 11 here is the temp on the desktop
Look under [personalisation] in Windows, what you see is set by the user and the background.
Here is the brightness on black background
However on a dim brightness setting there will be little difference between the highlighted part of the bar and the static part.
So with a darker background you don’t need to worry about the bar differences This is more of a user issue and settings and not a ‘feature’ of Framework
You want me to mess up the colour scheme of everything else to so I can see how bright I have set my screen? Not happening.
They should have either used higher contrast or included a number on the brightness as they did with the volume.
I think what amoun is trying to let you know is that this is an OS level setting, and not really something that Framework can change. Other users can recommend alternate solutions, but if you don’t like them you’ll need to complain to Microsoft, not Framework.
You’re on Windows 11 (assuming your post history is still relatively current).
So, you can do this regarding brightness percentage:
Fn+F7 or F8 to get the onscreen indicator to show up…then hover the mouse cursor over the onscreen indicator… Use the cursor…and drag…you’ll see the percentage show up. (at 1 percent increment)
Or, if you prefer a pure keyboard shortcut route:
Win+A, Tab, Tab, Tab (to get to the brightness slider), left/right arrow key
For volume, I just hover my mouse cursor over the speaker icon in the system tray…then use the scrollwheel (scroll up / down) to adjust the volume…and it shows the volume percentage as it changes in a tooltip popup.
Going dark mode also gives you better contrast if that’s the issue.
As mentioned there is no ‘they’ nor ‘should’ but you can try a few ideas.
At low brightness there is clearly little contrast and this is what you are complaining about surely? And on such a low brightness a number would be equally dull and no easier to see
So yes in low brightness the controls for both are dull, but otherwise . . . .
And as mentioned by @Second_Coming I do use the notification area to control brightness if I want to fiddle with very low settings, often below 7%
So what levels of brightness do your problems start? Maybe you have a poor screen.
Regarding the above quote: I can just use the F7 | F8 keys that are the brightness controls by default. I have no need to use the [Fn] key
and the percentage is really clear, so hopefully you won’t have a problem ~ try that and let us know if you are happier with what you see.
@Brian_Gregory I can understand your frustration, but I want to reiterate that this is not a Framework feature request, but rather a Windows feature request that would be best presented to Microsoft for them to take into consideration, should they choose.
Here the community is trying to help you find a work around that works for you. That is just how the Framework community roles.
The graphics driver is responsible for allowing windows to interface with hardware. It doesn’t define how that hardware is used. Windows and the software you run on Windows determines how graphics are done.
This has been this way since Windows 95 and all the way back to DOS.
On my Lenovo T430, running Windows 7, I’m prettty sure nothing at all visibly happened on the screen when I changed the volume or brightness with the special keyboard keys (obviously when changing the brightness the brightness visibly changed), unless you had installed a certain Lenovo program that drew nicer clearer higher contrast versions of what happens on the FW Laptop 13 on the screen. It also showed an on screen indicator for caps lock and maybe more, I’m not sure.
So you’re saying yes it has changed since Windows 7 or are you accusing me of lying or being mistaken about my Lenovo T430?
ADDED LATER:
Near perfect solution found: Search Windows Store for “ModernFlyouts (Preview)”. Only problem it doesn’t seem to be able to disable the original “flyouts” on Windows 11.
