how to disable Imac brightness

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Level 1

106 points

how to disable Imac brightness

We have a selection of Imacs that are colour calibrated using Xrite i1. Once colour calibration is set the brightness of the monitor needs to be fixed at the point the photometric device has valued as being appropriate to the accurate representation of colour.

Unfortunately in a multi fingered user environment this setting is constantly being played with and the brightness akeeps being changed stopping us from being able see photographic images correctly.

Does anyone have a solution to lock out the brightness ability of iMacs? is there any software or preference that can prevent wandering fingers from changing this in the OS?

As always muchos appreciation for input on this and any help offered will be rewarded with bars of gold and silver (ok that was an egzageration😝 we dont have gold or silver but the sentiment is there)

any help or ideas are better than non😉

Posted on Oct 22, 2013 4:26 AM

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Answer 1

Dec 8, 2017 11:10 AM in response to pclark@rkstratman

I know it's been a few years.,..LOL I was in need of the same fix and came across this three. I found the solution.

go to system preferences

click on keyboard

click the keyboard tab at the top of the window

check the box next to (Use f1, F2 etc. keys as standard function keys.

Now the only way the brightness keys work is if you are holding down the fn key while pressing either of the brightness keys.

Cheers,

Hutch

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Answer 2

Dec 8, 2017 11:12 AM in response to dabbat3

I know it's been a few years.,..LOL I was in need of the same fix and came across this three. I found the solution.

go to system preferences

click on keyboard

click the keyboard tab at the top of the window

check the box next to (Use f1, F2 etc. keys as standard function keys.

Now the only way the brightness keys work is if you are holding down the fn key while pressing either of the brightness keys.

Cheers,

Hutch

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Answer 3

Jan 18, 2018 2:37 PM in response to nikon hutch

I've been looking for the same "lock"-ability for a long time. I manage a lab where we changed to the settings suggested above, but unfortunately, our college users figured out the fn-key press very quickly. So, they regularly crank up the brightness anyway---and then wonder why their prints are such a bad match to their carefully-edited screen image!

I would dearly love to be able to make a custom key sequence for brightness, and disable the normal brightness buttons altogether.

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Answer 4

Oct 22, 2013 7:42 AM in response to dabbat3

Are you looking to disable the brightness control from the keyboard and System Preferences or only the keyboard?

If brightness is changing by users accidentally hitting the keys in the top row you know you can set them up to require that the function key be pressed to get the special function. This would cut down on users mistakenly changing the setting.

If the change is not accidental then you'd also need to lock out System Preferences->Displays. A bit more involved. Any chance to set up these accounts as managed?

Message was edited by: Frank Caggiano - BTW are you sure that changing the brightness is messing with the calibration? The brightness adjustment of an LCD panel is different then the adjustment on a tube display. You're only changing the back lighting. I would think with an LCD the calibration should hold throughout the brightness range.

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Answer 5

dabbat3 Author

Level 1

106 points

Oct 23, 2013 2:03 AM in response to Frank Caggiano

Hi Frank, Thaks for the response. all the systems are managed as user accounts.

If brightness is changing by users accidentally hitting the keys in the top row you know you can set them up to require that the function key be pressed to get the special function. This would cut down on users mistakenly changing the setting. This is a great plan for the finger stopping I shall look into setting it up.

Displays. A bit more involved. Any chance to set up these accounts as managed? this is the bit I need as much info on as possible and is the answer im looking for.

thanks (I am preparing the gold bars and silver 😉)

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Answer 6

Jun 16, 2014 6:57 AM in response to dabbat3

Anyone have a solution to lock the Brightness control so that a user cannot change the brightness setting without admin priveleges?

Despite the thought that the Backlighting would not change the color, it does indeed. The color calabration takes the color temperature of the monitor and modifies the colors sent to screen to be accurate, but if you change ANY settings for the monitor (Brightness, contrast, temperature) then the calibration is thrown off. And when dealing with art created on one machine, approved on another, and separated for screen printing on a third, consistency is vital.

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