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Choose the right Windows colour control
“Change the colour of my screen” can mean several different things. Selecting the correct tool prevents you from using a comfort feature when you need colour accuracy, or changing HDR when the real issue is ordinary SDR brightness.
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| Goal | Windows feature | What it changes | Hardware or software limits | How easy it is to reverse |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reduce glare or dim the screen | Brightness | Overall screen luminance | The Windows slider may be absent on desktop PCs with external monitors; use the monitor’s controls instead. | Move the slider or restore the monitor’s previous value. |
| Make evening viewing warmer | Night light | Reduces cool-looking colour temperature and adds warmth | Availability depends on the display driver. Microsoft specifically notes problems with some DisplayLink and Basic Display drivers. | Toggle it off or set Strength to zero. |
| Improve consistency and accuracy | Color profile and Calibrate display | How Windows and colour-managed applications interpret the display’s colours | Each display needs its own profile; results depend on the display and calibration conditions. | Remove or replace the profile, or select another default. |
| Use brighter highlights and deeper shadows | HDR and HDR/SDR brightness balance | High-dynamic-range output and the appearance of ordinary SDR desktop content while HDR is enabled | Requires an HDR-capable display, compatible graphics hardware and supported drivers. | Turn Use HDR off, or adjust the balance. |
Change brightness in Windows
Use the Settings slider
- Open Start, then select Settings.
- Choose System > Display.
- Select the display you want to change if more than one monitor is connected.
- Move the Brightness slider until the desktop is comfortable to read.
On supported PCs, Windows can also offer an automatic brightness option. Its presence is hardware-dependent, so a missing option is not necessarily an error.
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When there is no Brightness slider
Many desktop computers connected to an external monitor do not expose monitor brightness to Windows. Press the buttons or joystick on the monitor, open its on-screen menu, and change the backlight or brightness there. This is separate from Windows colour profiles and Night light: a monitor-level change affects every input source, while a Windows setting affects the selected Windows display.
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If a laptop or all-in-one should have a brightness control but does not, check that Windows identifies the intended display and that the graphics driver is installed correctly. The exact controls shown in Display are determined by the display and driver combination.
Make the screen warmer with Night light
Turn Night light on and set its strength
- Go to Start > Settings > System > Display.
- Open Night light.
- Turn Night light on.
- Move Strength to choose how warm the image should look. A higher value produces a stronger warm cast.
Night light is designed for visual comfort and evening use. It does not create a colour-accurate profile, and it should be disabled when judging photographs, video colour or other work that must match a reference.
Schedule Night light automatically
In the Night light settings, use the scheduling controls to choose Sunset to sunrise or enter custom start and end times. The sunset-to-sunrise option follows the location and time information available to Windows; custom hours are useful for shift work or a fixed bedtime. You can still turn the feature on or off manually without deleting the schedule.
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Night light is missing or greyed out
Microsoft documents that Night light may be unavailable with certain drivers, including DisplayLink or Basic Display drivers. First confirm that the correct display is selected under Display. Then update the display or graphics driver through the normal support channel for the computer or graphics hardware and restart Windows. If the control remains unavailable, the limitation may be imposed by the current driver or display path rather than by a hidden setting.
Set a colour profile and calibrate the display
Open Color profile
- Open Start > Settings > System > Display.
- Select the display you want to configure.
- Open Color profile.
The Color profile page can let you add a profile supplied for the display, remove an existing profile, choose which profile is the default, and enable Automatically manage color for apps when that option is offered. A profile describes how that particular display reproduces colour; it is not a warmth slider and it does not replace Night light.
Run Windows’ calibration workflow
- On the selected display’s Color profile page, choose Calibrate display.
- Follow the on-screen patterns and adjustments. The workflow creates a display profile from the settings you make.
- Finish the wizard and leave the resulting profile selected if it gives the most useful result for your work.
Calibrate each monitor separately. A profile made for one panel should not be treated as a universal profile for another panel, even when both have the same resolution. If you later change the monitor, its connection, or significant display settings, revisit the profile selection and calibration.
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Know what calibration can and cannot fix
Calibration and profiles primarily help Windows and colour-managed applications translate colour consistently. They cannot turn an SDR panel into an HDR panel, increase a panel’s physical gamut, or correct every limitation of a low-quality display. Keep Night light off while calibrating, because its warm overlay changes the appearance you are trying to measure.
Configure HDR without making the desktop look wrong
Turn HDR on for a compatible display
- Open Settings > System > Display.
- Select the HDR-capable display.
- Open its HDR settings and turn on Use HDR.
Microsoft describes HDR as producing “brighter highlights, deeper shadows, and a wider range of colors than Standard Dynamic Range (SDR).” The benefit applies only when the display, graphics hardware, driver and application support the relevant HDR path.
Balance SDR desktop content
With HDR enabled, ordinary Windows desktop elements and SDR applications may appear too bright or too dark. In the display’s HDR settings, adjust HDR/SDR brightness balance until desktop text, menus and SDR applications look natural. This control changes the mapping of SDR content while HDR remains on; it is not the same as the monitor’s backlight control.
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Why HDR colours can look washed out or oversaturated
HDR displays have a wider gamut, but external displays do not all map standard sRGB desktop colours correctly. A poor mapping can make SDR content look muted, overly vivid or incorrectly bright even though HDR games or video look acceptable. Check the display’s HDR mode and its own picture settings, adjust the HDR/SDR balance, and compare the result with HDR disabled. When buying hardware, display certification and independent reviews are useful indicators of how well a model handles SDR-to-HDR mapping; Windows cannot correct every display firmware limitation.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Calibrate HDR with the Windows 11 app
Windows HDR Calibration is a software workflow for Windows 11; it is not a requirement to buy a separate hardware calibrator. Microsoft requires Windows 11, an HDR-capable display with HDR already turned on, and a sufficiently recent graphics processor and driver for the saturation-calibration feature.
Run the three test patterns
- Install Windows HDR Calibration from the Microsoft Store.
- Move the app to the HDR display you are calibrating and run it full screen.
- Use the first pattern to set the darkest visible detail. Adjust until the intended dark details are just distinguishable without lifting black unnecessarily.
- Use the second pattern to set the brightest visible detail.
- Use the third pattern to set the display’s maximum brightness.
- Set SDR/HDR saturation in the app when the option is available on your graphics hardware and driver.
- Save the result, then inspect the desktop and an HDR application on that display.
The three patterns address different limits: shadow detail, highlight detail and peak brightness. Do not assume that a single brightness adjustment replaces all three. Run the app again after changing the monitor, its HDR mode, the connection, or a major graphics-driver setting.
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Calibrate HDR video on a built-in display
Windows has a separate Display calibration for HDR video workflow for built-in displays that support HDR video. Open Settings > System > Display > HDR and look for that calibration option. Microsoft distinguishes this built-in-display workflow from calibration of an external HDR monitor, which uses the Windows HDR Calibration app. Choose the workflow that matches the display you are actually viewing video on.
Troubleshoot common colour problems
| Symptom | Most relevant check | Action |
|---|---|---|
| No Windows brightness slider on a desktop monitor | External display control path | Use the monitor’s physical buttons or joystick and its on-screen menu. |
| Night light is missing or disabled | Display and driver support | Confirm the selected display, then update the display/graphics driver. DisplayLink and Basic Display drivers are documented causes of unavailability. |
| Colours are warm even during colour-critical work | Night light schedule or manual toggle | Turn Night light off while editing or calibrating; leave scheduling enabled for later if desired. |
| Two monitors do not match | Per-display profile selection | Select each display separately under Color profile and add, remove or calibrate its profile independently. |
| SDR desktop looks too bright or too dark with HDR on | HDR/SDR brightness balance | Adjust the balance in the selected display’s HDR settings, or turn Use HDR off when HDR is not needed. |
| HDR looks washed out or excessively vivid | SDR mapping and display HDR mode | Compare HDR on and off, adjust HDR/SDR balance, review the monitor’s HDR picture mode, and rerun Windows HDR Calibration after setup changes. |
| HDR Calibration cannot offer saturation calibration | Windows, GPU and driver requirements | Confirm Windows 11, HDR enabled on the target display, and a sufficiently recent GPU and driver. |
A practical order for setting up a new monitor
- Connect the monitor, select it under Settings > System > Display, and set basic brightness using Windows or the monitor’s physical controls.
- Decide whether the immediate goal is evening comfort, colour accuracy or HDR. Use only the feature that addresses that goal first.
- For comfort, set Night light Strength and a schedule. Disable it before colour-critical work.
- For accuracy, add the display’s profile or run Calibrate display, then leave Automatically manage color for apps enabled when Windows offers it.
- For HDR, turn on Use HDR, set HDR/SDR brightness balance, and run Windows HDR Calibration on Windows 11 when the requirements are met.
- Recheck settings after changing drivers, monitors, cables, HDR modes or the physical display controls, because those changes can alter the result.
Brightness and Night light are quick, reversible viewing adjustments. Profiles and calibration are display-specific colour-management settings. HDR is a separate dynamic-range mode that depends most heavily on compatible hardware and correct SDR mapping. Keeping those roles separate makes it easier to diagnose a problem instead of stacking several conflicting adjustments.
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