I don't tend to search with the intention of buying these days. I know what I want, and when I have the time I'll write it. I have most of the pieces needed already; time is the only missing factor. But I do still look at what's out there, so thanks for the links, when I get a chance I will take a peek.
But I remain on the lookout for other aids to my writing. I recently built a new system and this time around actually purchased two new screens. I do a lot of my work at night, so when I saw they said: "Low Blue Light", and "easy to access screen controls" that was what I wanted (okay, and lots of other good things too). The first claim is sort of true, the second is an outright lie. The Low Blue Light option, when adjusted to also use lower brightness (about 10% vs the 20% I use in standard mode), isn't bad, but switching it in every night and out every morning is a right PITA x 2 (a pain for each cheek). All of which leads me to this little gem that I've only just discovered, but apparently it's been around for a while:
ClickMonitorDDC. It's a bit geeky to set up (no install, just unzip it, and the instructions are a bit haphazard), but it's a wonderfully convenient and flexible little tool for adjusting your monitor's brightness (and also allows some limited colour temperature control). Windows only, sorry Mac users (though I'd be surprised if this capability didn't come built-in with your Mac). For this program to work your monitors have to support DDC/CI protocol, but lots (most?) do these days.
It's likely you've heard f.lux, or Windows these days offers "Night Light". These are programs/features that turn your screen orange - just like Kobo (and probably other) readers do on theory that too much blue light is bad for you sleep patterns. I've tried both f.lux and "Night Light" and can't stand either of them, they make my eyes hurt unless I turn them faint enough to be useless.
What makes ClickMonitorDDC different is that it changes your
monitor's settings! There is a big difference between reducing brightness and temperature in software, and actually doing it on the monitor - especially on modern LCDs. The image on the screen will retain much greater fidelity if you change the light behind the LCD rather than fiddle with system colours. After using ClickMonitorDDC you can actually bring up your monitor's settings and see that they've been changed. ... And, if you really want, there's nothing stopping you using Night Light or f.lux in combination with this, so you can still have your orange screen but also get proper control of the brightness.
Oh, and it's free.
Disclaimer: I have nothing at all to do with the creator of this software. I'm just seriously impressed to find something that finally does what I need in terms of screen brightness control for Windows. ... Let me just use the mousewheel here to nudge the brightness down a bit. See? So much better! 
ETA: There you go BookCat, just the help you were looking for - more software!
