ddcctl
BetterDisplay
ddcctl | BetterDisplay | |
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22 | 200 | |
1,807 | 15,979 | |
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0.0 | 8.6 | |
over 1 year ago | 23 days ago | |
C | ||
GNU General Public License v3.0 only | - |
Stars - the number of stars that a project has on GitHub. Growth - month over month growth in stars.
Activity is a relative number indicating how actively a project is being developed. Recent commits have higher weight than older ones.
For example, an activity of 9.0 indicates that a project is amongst the top 10% of the most actively developed projects that we are tracking.
ddcctl
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TIL there are apps that can control your monitor without touching the buttons on it
There are some other command line based open-source alternatives as well, like ddctl and m1ddc - the former only works on Intel, the latter on M1 Macs (M2 Pro and HDMI is not supported). Lunar has great CLI support as well for those who want a command-line based solution.
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Let's talk: name your favorite accessories that improved your PC/desk area.
https://github.com/kfix/ddcctl is what you are looking for! It works on my dell and asus monitors at least.
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Mac mini m2 pro not working with dell ultrasharp u3223qe over usb
Only TB supports DDC? https://github.com/kfix/ddcctl
- Monitor controls for Mac OS X command line
- The Apple TV expects you to have an iPhone in order to accept new iCloud terms and conditions
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Ask HN: Best tips for reducing eyestrain while coding with astigmatism?
I received the same diagnostic in 2017, which coincided with the year I got my first external monitor for my MacBook. Headaches and eye pain became a more common occurence in the first weeks, until I stumbled upon ddcctl [0] and the fact that monitor brightness can be changed from the OS.
That's when I developed the first version of Lunar (https://lunar.fyi) to adapt brightness automatically throughout the day based on the sun position in the sky. (reading the light sensor was not possible at the time)
That combined with Night Shift (macOS native version of f.lux) fixed most of my problems.
I also tried blue light filter glasses but the only effect they had was removing more money from my savings. I feel like this is just modern day snake oil for computer workers.
In the end, what fixed all of my problems was a LASIK [1] operation (well actually PRK because I had only a small abberation). I still recommend this to all my friends and relatives who are always complaining about their vision. It did change my life.
I still cringe when someone turns on an overhead lightbulb though, I never use those in my home. Turns out this wasn't my astigmatism, it's just that most LED bulbs are simply too bright single point lights.
I fit my home with TRADfri warm light lamps hidden behind sofa/door/desk [2], WLED-powered [3] LED strips and simple string lights (like you can see in the front page video on https://lowtechguys.com/volum/)
[0] https://github.com/kfix/ddcctl
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LASIK
[2] https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/tradfri-remote-control-kit-smar...
[3] https://kno.wled.ge/
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Ask HN: What is the best income stream you have created till date?
macOS apps which I share at https://lowtechguys.com/ bring me $7k/month on average at the moment, and it keeps growing.
It started in 2017 when I shared the first free and open source version of Lunar (https://lunar.fyi/), an app for controlling monitors.
At that time, there was only a command line for doing this stuff (https://github.com/kfix/ddcctl) and I wanted a more visual way of changing the brightness. So I learned Swift, learned how to bridge the ddcctl C code and call it from Swift, then made a rough interface and published it: https://www.producthunt.com/products/lunar#lunar-5
It turned out people did have a need for this and asked if they could donate. I set up a Buy me a Coffee page and in 4 years collected about $5k in donations. That's a lot of money for a Romanian.
When Apple Silicon appeared, Lunar didn't work anymore because the whole hardware arrangement and drivers were different, and there was no documentation on how to send I²C data. I took the plunge and quit my stressful job, bought an M1 MacBook and reverse engineered the I²C communication: https://alinpanaitiu.com/blog/journey-to-ddc-on-m1-macs/
Then published Lunar 4 as a Free version with a Pro paid upgrade. I was reluctant with this, didn't think anyone would buy it, but to this day I'm able to be unemployed and put my ideas into practice because of it.
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What are some useful cli tools that arent popular?
ddcctl - DDC monitor controls for the OSX command line
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Dasung Macos shortcuts on M1
Not really sure if ddcctl could help or is related to ddcutil, but in all case I had no chance with it.
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HDMI Firewall
No worries! The same sentiment is what keeps me enthusiastic about programming day after day :)
So computer monitors have support for a communication protocol called Display Data Channel which is normally used by the host (Mac, PC) to get info about supported resolutions, frame rates, signal timing etc.
On top of that, a command interface has been created called MCCS or Monitor Control Command Set [1] which allows changing brightness, volume, input and a ton of other aspects of the monitor, by sending specific bytes through the cable. That cable can be HDMI, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt, VGA, DVI. It doesn’t matter, as long as it has dedicated wires to carry the I2C signal.
I2C is the 2-wire communication protocol used by DDC, and it basically defines things like “a pulse of 5V (volts) of x milliseconds followed by 0V of y milliseconds means the 0 bit. The 1 bit is represented by a pulse of 5V of 2x milliseconds”. It’s a bit more complex than that, also defining TCP-like features with data frames and ACK packets, but you get the idea. It’s something that both devices agree on so that they can send raw bytes using 5 volt pulses.
I’ve created Lunar as an adaptive brightness app for macOS after finding out about a little CLI called ddcctl: https://github.com/kfix/ddcctl
That’s where I learned how DDC packets look like, where to place the payload (brightness value between 0 and 100, input ID, etc) and how to write that to the monitor using the macOS I2C APIs.
When Apple Silicon came out, none of that was possible anymore so I had to go looking around kernel assembly and private macOS frameworks for “the Apple Silicon way” of writing data through I2C.
If you’re also curious how I learned that, it’s a very cool domain called “reverse engineering” and I learned it while working as a Malware Researcher at Bitdefender. A bit hard to get started, but so many gems to discover once you know how to open binaries in IDA/Hopper and look around their disassembled code.
[1] https://milek7.pl/ddcbacklight/mccs.pdf
BetterDisplay
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Time to Upgrade Your Monitor
> the 4K monitors the author recommends are not good for macOS due to them not supporting native retina scaling above 1080p
Is this true even with the help of 3rd party apps?
My 3840x1600 ultrawide has that problem using the native screen resolution tools but I can get it to full-res HiDPI using BetterDisplay [0].
[0] https://betterdisplay.pro/
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Ask HN: Best Hacks for a Ultrawide Monitor?
2. "BetterDisplay" for better scaling quality on bigger screens, especially if you have a 4k ultrawide. https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay
- BetterDisplay: macOS Display Utility App
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Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers
It isn't a device, it's a software tool. It doesn't make the monitor magically 2x the resolution; it can trick macos to render onto a 5k buffer and then downscale the output to the physical display so it looks not-broken.
https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay
I'm not saying that it'll make 4k look good. I'm saying macOS is unusable on native resolutions - everything is either too small or too blurry, so a 4k display won't do me any good. 25x14 is the sweet spot for me, but I guess Apple decided I'm holding it wrong.
- MacOS tools to make your life easier
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My goodness does BetterDisplay improve 4K monitors
Download BetterDisplay (free to try, $18 for Pro, and well worth it IMO): https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay
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Man mini and monitor
This article is very good to explain this ppi thing https://bjango.com/articles/macexternaldisplays2/ also an extra app can make some monitors display sharper (hidpi) https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay
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monitor doesn't sleep
It can be found here: https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay
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An absolute must-have if you're using your Uperfect lapdock with a Mac!
So I installed the Better Display 2 app [link] , enabled HiDPI 1280x720, and suddenly everything looked both extremely sharp and in a good size. Judging by the size of the screenshot, it mimics Retina 2560 × 1440 and scales it down 2x to 1280x720, making it HiDPI. I can totally recommend you to do as I did.
- Hacking the LG Monitor's EDID
What are some alternatives?
ddcutil - Control monitor settings using DDC/CI and USB
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.
ddccontrol - DDC Control
Lunar - Intelligent adaptive brightness for your external monitors
winddcutil - Windows implementation of the ddcutil Linux program for querying and changing monitor settings, such as brightness and color levels.
displayplacer - macOS command line utility to configure multi-display resolutions and arrangements. Essentially XRandR for macOS.
BetterDummy - Unlock your displays on your Mac! Smooth scaling, HiDPI unlock, XDR/HDR extra brightness upscale, DDC, brightness and dimming, dummy displays, PIP and lots more! [Moved to: https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay]
OSX_GVT-D - Guide to pass iGPU to MacOS KVM guest.
awesome-macos-command-line - Use your macOS terminal shell to do awesome things.
display-switch - Turn a $30 USB switch into a full-featured multi-monitor KVM switch
awesome-mac - Now we have become very big, Different from the original idea. Collect premium software in various categories.