waydabber/BetterDisplay
BetterDisplay
BetterDisplay is a comprehensive display management utility and virtual display engine designed to provide granular control over monitor configurations. It functions as a low-level hardware controller that interacts directly with graphics drivers and system APIs to override manufacturer limitations, enabling users to manage resolution, scaling, brightness, and color profiles across complex multi-monitor setups.
The project distinguishes itself through its ability to generate synthetic virtual displays and inject custom framebuffers into the graphics pipeline, allowing for arbitrary resolutions and screen mirroring to specialized hardware. It provides advanced visual comfort features by manipulating GPU color tables and hardware-level settings to disable temporal dithering and mitigate pulse-width modulation flicker. These capabilities are supported by a robust automation toolkit that exposes display controls through command-line interfaces, network-accessible web requests, and system-wide notification buses.
Beyond core configuration, the software facilitates workflow integration by allowing users to synchronize brightness across heterogeneous displays, calibrate HDR output, and automate settings through custom shortcuts or external scripts. It serves as a centralized hub for managing both physical hardware and virtual workspaces, ensuring consistent visual performance and display behavior across diverse environments.
Features
- Hardware Brightness Management - Extends the control range of display backlights and synchronizes brightness levels across heterogeneous monitors.
- Instrumentation & Hooking - Interacts with graphics drivers to disable temporal dithering and manage pulse-width modulation thresholds.
- Hardware Drivers - Interacts directly with graphics drivers to override hardware-level settings like temporal dithering and pulse-width modulation thresholds.
- Advanced Display Configuration - Manages complex multi-monitor setups by overriding default system limitations for custom resolutions and scaling.
- Virtual Display Management - Provides comprehensive management for creating and mirroring virtual displays across physical hardware.
- Virtual Workspace Expansion - Creates and manages virtual displays to extend desktop real estate or mirror content to specialized hardware.
- Command Line Display Tools - Executes precise display adjustments like brightness and contrast directly from the command line.
- Display Workflow Automation - Integrates hardware display settings into broader system automation tasks using command-line tools and web requests.
- Display Configuration Services - Intercepts low-level display APIs to override hardware identification and scaling behaviors.
- Virtual Device Drivers - Creates synthetic display devices by injecting custom framebuffers into the system graphics pipeline.
- Display Configuration Managers - Offers granular desktop control over monitor resolution, brightness, and color profiles.
- Virtual Display Mirroring - Creates and mirrors virtual displays to physical hardware to achieve custom resolutions.
- Brightness Enhancement Utilities - Extends peak display brightness beyond standard limits using software-based rendering methods.
- Virtual Display Environments - Enables the creation and configuration of virtual screen environments for desktop expansion.
- Display Scaling - Flexible HiDPI Scaling — a named example documented in this learning resource.
- Display Automation Tools - Provides command-line and network-accessible tools for scripting complex monitor configurations and workflow integration.
- Inter-Process Communication - Uses inter-process communication channels to broadcast display state changes and receive control commands from external applications or scripts.
- HDR Calibration Tools - Provides manual controls to optimize high dynamic range levels and prevent white saturation.
- High-Brightness Display Support - Supports XDR and HDR extra brightness modes for compatible high-end displays.
- Virtual Screen Streaming - Generates virtual screens that stream content to secondary displays with custom aspect ratios.
- Display Scaling Utilities - Upscales content on high-density displays and synchronizes brightness levels across multiple screens.
- Display Synchronization Tools - Matches brightness levels across multiple screens and enables high-refresh rate virtual displays.
- Visual Comfort Utilities - Reduces eye strain by eliminating screen flicker and applying readability filters for extended work sessions.
- Display Synchronization Tools - Coordinates content and refresh rates across multiple screens for consistent visual performance.
- Inter-Process Messaging - Uses system-wide messaging channels to broadcast display state changes and receive control commands.
- Mobile Display Extensions - Streams virtual display content to connected mobile tablets with custom orientation settings.
- Resolution Scaling Tools - Allows smooth adjustment of desktop resolutions and scaling for connected displays.
- Software Dimming Tools - Provides extra dimming capabilities via software-based brightness overlays.
