Fix Intel Adaptive Brightness

fix-intel-brightness.txt

Intel have introduced a "feature" for computers/laptops with Intel Graphics Adapters, that automatically adjusts the brightness/contrast 
of your screen depending on the image being shown on the display

Furthermore, they have removed the option to disable this functionality when the system is running on AC power (in other words, when not 
running on battery). I was not able to find it in "Intel Graphics Settings" control panel, or the "Intel® Graphics Command Center" 
downloaded from the Mirosoft Store (not even the Beta version).

The problem is, this "feature" seems to work in a counter-intuitive way: When there is dark (more black) content shown on the screen, 
the brightness is DIMMED, and when there is mostly light content (more white), the brightness increases!  The brightness adjustment is 
not instant, but takes a few seconds - so some people may not even notice the effect.

In my case, I thought there was something wrong with my screen as I was battling to read things whenever the screen was predominantly 
dark and the output brightness was being dimmed...

The good news is that there's an effective workaround for this strange behaviour (frankly a bug, if you ask me) which I found elsewhere 
and am just sharing here if anyone needs. A bit of technical know-how is needed as this involves a change to the system registry.  
Please contact me if you are unsure how to do this, as with enough interest I will consider making a small program/utility to do this 
automatically.

Step 1: Open Regedit

Step 2: Nagivate to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Class\{4d36e968-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}\0000]
(for me it was 0001 at the end. Full path was Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Class\{4d36e968-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}\0001)

Step 4: Find the value "FeatureTestControl"

Step 5: Open your Windows Calculator and switch to Programmor mode

Step 6: Click on "HEX", and then input the HEX value of the "FeatureTestControl" registry entry we found earlier

Step 7: Now check the Binary value in Calculator
(It will give you, for example:
HEX : c200
BIN : 110000100000000)

Step 8: Now for the important part. Change the 5th bit from the end to 1:
(In our example, BIN will now read 1100001000010000)

Step 9: Updated the BIN value in your calculator with the new BIN number as per Step 8

Step 10: Update the HEX value of the "FeatureTestControl" registry entry to the reflect the newly calculated HEX value

Step 11: Restart your PC

Step 12: Profit! :)