# Help with laptop monitor

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-laptop-monitor/426705>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 16, 2007, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-laptop-monitor/426705 "2007-11-16T16:39:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-laptop-monitor/426705/1 "2007-11-16T16:39:08Z")

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I’ve been having trouble with my laptop power cord for some time. It keeps slipping out of place, and even when it’s plugged in, it often loses its connection. Yesterday, I was trying to restart it after it had shut down for lack of power. As it was starting, I jiggled the cord to make sure it was charging. The screen dimmed, but the computer restarted OK.

Now it seems to be in a strange state. When it’s running on battery, the screen is fine, but whenever I get the AC to connect, the screen dims again. It’s really the opposite of what you would expect. I’ve gone into the Power Settings, but nothing seems to cover screen dimming. I’d appreciate any advice!

It’s an HP Pavillion zv5000, about 4 years old now. Thanks!

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**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-laptop-monitor/426705/2 "2007-11-16T17:32:30Z")

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You should be able to adjust the brightness using a combo of the Fn key (laptop specific key) and some F# key, usually f7 or f8. The laptop will remember the brightness settings for ‘on ac power’ and ‘on battery power’ and revert to the appropriate one when power source changes.

The intention is that you can set the monitor dimmer during battery power to increase runtime, but to the computer it really doesn’t matter which is dimmer.

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**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-laptop-monitor/426705/3 "2007-11-16T17:42:18Z")

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You can also get to the dimness settings by right-clicking on the battery icon on the taskbar.