MonitorPy

MonitorPy is a simple system tray Python application for Windows 10/11 that allows you to control brightness and contrast of multiple monitors directly from the tray.

Features

• Adjust brightness and contrast for connected monitors.
• System tray icon with quick access menu.
• Select between multiple monitors. Plugged or unplugged a monitor? Use Refresh monitors in the tray menu (it also refreshes by itself the next time you open the window).
• Edit Presets for brightness and contrast.
• Global hotkeys (work from any application, even when the window is hidden):
  • Ctrl+F10 / Ctrl+F11: brightness down / up
  • Alt+F10 / Alt+F11: contrast down / up
  • If another program already uses one of these keys, MonitorPy tells you at startup.
• Autostart on Windows startup option.
• Lightweight and easy to use.

Requirements

• Python 3.8+

The following dependencies are used only if you run MonitorPy.py or build the standalone executable.

• monitorcontrol
• pystray
• pillow
• pyinstaller
• sv-ttk and darkdetect for the Light/Dark themes
• pytest, only needed to run the test suite (see Development)

Usage

• Download and run the standalone MonitorPy.exe file from the Releases section. To uninstall, just delete the file.

• Download MonitorPy.py, install the dependencies with:

  pip install -r requirements.txt

  and run

  python MonitorPy.py

• To build the standalone executable, use PyInstaller:

  pyinstaller MonitorPy.spec

• To push a new tag version and upload the MonitorPy.exe to Releases:

  git tag v1.0.4
  git push origin v1.0.4
  gh release create v1.0.4 dist/MonitorPy.exe --title "v1.0.4" --notes "your notes"

How it works

• The app discovers all connected monitors supporting DDC/CI.
• You can select a monitor and adjust its brightness and contrast using sliders, and presets.
• The tray icon provides quick access to show controls, presets and edit presets values, autostar and exit.
• Supports modern Light and Dark mode themes (with System Default sync) via the tray menu.

Development

The code lives in the monitorpy/ package (MonitorPy.py is just the entry point); tests/ holds a pytest suite covering it.

pip install -r requirements.txt
pytest

Most tests use a fake monitor and never touch real hardware or your actual %APPDATA%. A few, marked hardware, exercise whatever monitors are actually connected and skip themselves cleanly if none are found or if a check doesn't apply:

pytest -m "not hardware"   # skip the ones that need real monitors
pytest -m hardware         # only those

Settings and logs

Both live in %APPDATA%\MonitorPy\:

• config.json: your Day/Night presets and theme. Older versions used presets.json; it is migrated automatically. If the file is ever corrupt, MonitorPy starts with defaults and keeps the broken file as config.json.bad.
• monitorpy.log: diagnostic log (rotates at 256 KB). Attach it when reporting a problem.

Troubleshooting

• If you see "No DDC/CI" next to a monitor, it means the monitor does not support DDC/CI or is not detected.
• Make sure you have the required permissions and drivers for monitor control.

License

MIT License

Author

paulomarconi