Comment 15 for bug 35223

I managed to fine-tune the LCD brightness to a greater degree by adding the 'Brightness Applet' to the Gnome Panel.
1.Right-click a specified location on the Gnome Panel and select 'Add to Panel...'
2.Select 'Brightness Applet'.

To achieve 7 adjustable levels of brightness on the function keys (instead of the usual 3), and to keep the LCD brightness from being set at the maximum after every reboot:
1.In a terminal, type “gksudo gedit”.
2.Open the file “/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist”.
3.Add a new line “blacklist video”.
4.Reduce brightness to mimimum (or desired level).
5.Reboot.