One thing I remember vividly from my time going to demoparties, is the glow at night. Usually there were no, or very little lights on, yet the entire room was lit by computer monitors (CRTs, back then) Personally, I don’t like to use a monitor at night without background light. It’s just so bright on my eyes. Obviously, you can tweak the brightness and contrast settings, but why risk messing up your perfect daytime settings?
So why wasn’t there a tool that automated the adjustment for you?
I don’t know, but now there’s F.Lux. A little program that automatically adjusts your monitors brightness and even the color temperature. It tries to match the color and brightness of the room. During the day, bright and shiny and at night, dimmed and yellow-ish.
I’ve been trying it out for a few days now, and while it takes a bit getting used to, I think Flux will stay on my system. It’s probably not for every one, but it’s free, so why not try it out and give your eyes a rest.