Some video cards allows you to programmingly modify the Gamma Ramp values. You can use this feature to change the brightness of the entire screen.
The SetDeviceGammaRamp API function receive an array of 256 RGB values. Increasing the values in this array will make your screen brighter, and decreasing these values will make your screen darker. You can also increase or decrease the intesity of the red/green/blue components. For example: Increasing the blue component in all RGB values will add more blue color to the entire display.

The following class encapsulates the calls to GetDeviceGammaRamp and SetDeviceGammaRamp, and provides the SetBrightness function for setting the brightness of the screen.

Code:


#include <windows.h>
#include "gammaramp.h"


CGammaRamp::CGammaRamp()
{
   //Initialize all variables.
   hGDI32 = NULL;
   hScreenDC = NULL;
   pGetDeviceGammaRamp = NULL;
   pSetDeviceGammaRamp = NULL;
}

CGammaRamp::~CGammaRamp()
{
   FreeLibrary();
}


BOOL CGammaRamp::LoadLibrary()
{
   BOOL bReturn = FALSE;

   FreeLibrary();
   //Load the GDI library.
   hGDI32 = ::LoadLibrary("gdi32.dll");
   if (hGDI32 != NULL)
   {
      //Get the addresses of GetDeviceGammaRamp and SetDeviceGammaRamp API functions.
      pGetDeviceGammaRamp =
         (Type_SetDeviceGammaRamp)GetProcAddress(hGDI32, "GetDeviceGammaRamp");
      
      pSetDeviceGammaRamp =
         (Type_SetDeviceGammaRamp)GetProcAddress(hGDI32, "SetDeviceGammaRamp");
      
      //Return TRUE only if these functions exist.
      if (pGetDeviceGammaRamp == NULL || pSetDeviceGammaRamp == NULL)
         FreeLibrary();
      else
         bReturn = TRUE;
   }

   return bReturn;
}


void CGammaRamp::FreeLibrary()
{
   //Free the GDI library.
   if (hGDI32 != NULL)
   {
      ::FreeLibrary(hGDI32);
      hGDI32 = NULL;
   }
}


BOOL CGammaRamp::LoadLibraryIfNeeded()
{
   BOOL bReturn = FALSE;

   if (hGDI32 == NULL)
      LoadLibrary();

   if (pGetDeviceGammaRamp != NULL && pSetDeviceGammaRamp != NULL)
      bReturn = TRUE;

   return bReturn;
}


BOOL CGammaRamp::SetDeviceGammaRamp(HDC hDC, LPVOID lpRamp)
{
   //Call to SetDeviceGammaRamp only if this function is successfully loaded.
   if (LoadLibraryIfNeeded())
   {
      return pSetDeviceGammaRamp(hDC, lpRamp);
   }
   else
      return FALSE;
}


BOOL CGammaRamp::GetDeviceGammaRamp(HDC hDC, LPVOID lpRamp)
{
   //Call to GetDeviceGammaRamp only if this function is successfully loaded.
   if (LoadLibraryIfNeeded())
   {
      return pGetDeviceGammaRamp(hDC, lpRamp);
   }
   else
      return FALSE;

}


BOOL CGammaRamp::SetBrightness(HDC hDC, WORD wBrightness)
{
   /*
   Changes the brightness of the entire screen.
   This function may not work properly in some video cards.

   The wBrightness value should be a number between 0 and 255.
   128 = Regular brightness
   above 128 = brighter
   below 128 = darker

    If hDC is NULL, SetBrightness automatically load and release
   the display device context for you.

   */
   BOOL bReturn = FALSE;
   HDC hGammaDC = hDC;

   //Load the display device context of the entire screen if hDC is NULL.
   if (hDC == NULL)
      hGammaDC = GetDC(NULL);

   if (hGammaDC != NULL)
   {
      //Generate the 256-colors array for the specified wBrightness value.
      WORD GammaArray[3][256];

      for (int iIndex = 0; iIndex < 256; iIndex++)
      {
         int iArrayValue = iIndex * (wBrightness + 128);

         if (iArrayValue > 65535)
            iArrayValue = 65535;

         GammaArray[0][iIndex] =
         GammaArray[1][iIndex] =
         GammaArray[2][iIndex] = (WORD)iArrayValue;
         
      }

      //Set the GammaArray values into the display device context.
      bReturn = SetDeviceGammaRamp(hGammaDC, GammaArray);
   }

   if (hDC == NULL)
      ReleaseDC(NULL, hGammaDC);

   return bReturn;
}