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Why Is One Monitor Brighter Than the Other & How to Fix It

Here’s how to sync brightness on dual monitors quickly and easily

4 min. read

Updated onOctober 4, 2023

updated onOctober 4, 2023

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Key notes

Let’s say you’ve recently bought a new monitor to use for your dual setup. It turns out that more often than not, one monitor is brighter than the other.

If such is your case, you’d definitely want to know how to calibrate dual monitors to match so you can enjoy the best possible experience.

But sometimes, things aren’t as straightforward as they seem.

Despite the fact that the newmonitoris maybe identical to the old one or their settings are exactly the same, theirbrightnessis not. Now, we’re not asking why do colors look different on different screens.

The scenario goes as follows: same monitor, same settings, different colors. In comes the big question: why is my second monitor darker?

Realistically, you’re supposed to take things as they are. You always need two identical monitors with identical panels/technologies to get any sort of brightness and color match.

Even so, they can slightly vary betweenmonitorsof the same model. One possible solution would be touse display color calibration softwareif you want to accurately calibrate your monitors.

Why is one of my monitors brighter than the other?

➡️ The age difference between monitors often affects their similarity. When a monitor is older than the other one, it may also be slightly less bright.➡️ Keep in mind that the latest laptop monitors often sacrifice color reproduction for lightweight functionality.➡️ Any differences in wall color or furniture color have a high impact on the light that’s arriving at the monitor. Try to compare your dual monitors under similar lighting conditions.➡️ Finally, keep in mind that it’s hardly impossible to match two screens from different monitor models, manufacturers, and panel technologies as far as color is concerned.

Color, brightness, or contrast can be roughly matched by calibrating them, but that’s pretty much all you can get.

We’ll definitely take you through a series of troubleshooting steps. And speaking about that, you might also find the following solutions helpful in these situations:

How do I fix the brightness on my second monitor?

1. Manually adjust the difference

As said before, if it isn’t happening to a professionalmonitorthat comes withcolorscalibrated, you’re most likely experiencing a variation in production.

In this case, you will need to give a boost to yourmonitorsto match each other.

That’s why we recommend manually adjusting the difference.

You could adjustGamma/ Brightnessand evencolor correction, either inWindows settings,monitor settings, or theGraphics card Settings Panel.

2. Calibrate display via Color Management

There is also a Color Management option in Windows which may help you out. With it, you can accurately calibrate your displaycolors.

Color Management lets you check the properbrightness, contrast, etc. based on themonitor, so give it a try as well and let us know if it works.

3. Use the same color profile when dual monitor colors are not matching

You’ve done your best, but it seems that you just can’t reconcile the differences easily. Remember that all monitors use the System’s default color profile.

If you think that the Color profile is the culprit, change the color profile as well. Do the same with the second monitor and check whether it fixes the problem or not.

4. Use the same type of ports to connect the monitors

If you use different ports (DVI, VGA, HDMI) to connect your dualmonitors, you may get high or low color depth and different brightness levels. Stop using the VGA port to fix this.

Instead, use either DVI or HDMI port to connect bothmonitorsand see if you notice any improvement. Have a look at thesehigh-speed HDMI cableswhile you’re at it and pick the one that best suits your needs.

Following the above tricks can bring your dualmonitorsas close to the brightness and color ideal as technology makes it possible these days.

If you are lucky enough, you may be pleased with the result. Nevertheless, sometimes the differences may still exist even after trying all these methods.

Why Is One Monitor Brighter Than the Other & How to Fix It#

Why is one of my monitors brighter than the other?#

How do I fix the brightness on my second monitor?#

1. Manually adjust the difference#

2. Calibrate display via Color Management#

3. Use the same color profile when dual monitor colors are not matching#

4. Use the same type of ports to connect the monitors#