Disable display dimming via the command line

Feb 21, '07 07:30:05AM

Contributed by: bigbold

I have one of those 24" iMacs that hums loudly whenever the display is any dimmer than max. Luckily I like maximum brightness, but I've always had to set Energy Saver to never turn off my display because the dimming creates a loud hum. I have, however, found the solution. Go to Terminal and type this command (and enter your password when prompted):

sudo pmset -a halfdim 0
The halfdim mode is now disabled, and your display(s) will simply turn off at the interval designated in Energy Saver without ever dimming. Now I can stop leaving my display on permanently and get a bit more life from it.

[robg adds: We've run a number of hints on using pmset in the past, but the halfdim setting hasn't been covered before.]

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