diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -52,8 +52,10 @@
 
 find_package(XCB REQUIRED COMPONENTS XCB RANDR DPMS)
 
+option(WITH_DDCUTIL "DDCUtil library support")
 if(WITH_DDCUTIL)
-  find_package(DDCUtil)
+  find_package(DDCUtil REQUIRED)
+  add_definitions(-DWITH_DDCUTIL)
   set_package_properties(DDCUtil
       PROPERTIES DESCRIPTION "DDCUtil library support"
       TYPE OPTIONAL
diff --git a/daemon/backends/upower/ddcutilbrightness.h b/backends/upower/ddcutilbrightness.h
--- a/daemon/backends/upower/ddcutilbrightness.h
+++ b/backends/upower/ddcutilbrightness.h
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 #include <QVector>
 #include <QTimer>
 
-#ifdef WITH_DDCUTIL
+#if WITH_DDCUTIL
 #include <ddcutil_c_api.h>
 #endif
 
@@ -43,14 +43,14 @@
     void setBrightnessAfterFilter();
 
 private:
-#ifdef WITH_DDCUTIL
+#if WITH_DDCUTIL
     QVector<DDCA_Display_Handle> m_displayHandleList;
     QVector<DDCA_Display_Info> m_displayInfoList;
 #endif //ifdef WITH_DDCUTIL
     //Per display properties
     //destription mapped to vcp values for easy retrieval
-    QVector<QMap<QString, int> > m_descrToVcp_perDisp;
-    QVector<QMap<int, QMap<int, QString> > > m_vcpTovcpValueWithDescr_perDisp;
+    QVector<int> m_usedVcp;
+    QVector<QVector<uint16_t>> m_supportedVcp_perDisp;
 
 
     long  m_tmpCurrentBrightness;
diff --git a/daemon/backends/upower/ddcutilbrightness.cpp b/backends/upower/ddcutilbrightness.cpp
--- a/daemon/backends/upower/ddcutilbrightness.cpp
+++ b/backends/upower/ddcutilbrightness.cpp
@@ -22,153 +22,93 @@
 
 
 DDCutilBrightness::DDCutilBrightness()
+    : m_usedVcp({0x10})
 {
     m_setBrightnessEventFilter.setInterval(100);
     m_setBrightnessEventFilter.setSingleShot(true);
     connect(&m_setBrightnessEventFilter, &QTimer::timeout, this, &DDCutilBrightness::setBrightnessAfterFilter);
 }
 
 void DDCutilBrightness::detect()
 {
-#ifndef WITH_DDCUTIL
-    qCInfo(POWERDEVIL)  << "[DDCutilBrightness] compiled without DDC/CI support";
-    return;
-#else
+#if WITH_DDCUTIL
     DDCA_Status rc;
 
     qCDebug(POWERDEVIL) << "Check for monitors using ddca_get_displays()...";
     // Inquire about detected monitors.
     DDCA_Display_Info_List * dlist = ddca_get_display_info_list();
     qCDebug(POWERDEVIL) << "ddca_get_display_info_list() returned "<< dlist;
     qCInfo(POWERDEVIL)  << "[DDCutilBrightness] " << dlist->ct << "display(s) were detected";
 
-    for (int iDisp=0;iDisp<dlist->ct;iDisp++) {
-        DDCA_Display_Identifier did;
-        DDCA_Display_Ref dref;
+    for (int iDisp = 0; iDisp < dlist->ct; ++iDisp) {
         DDCA_Display_Handle dh = nullptr;  // initialize to avoid clang analyzer warning
 
         qCDebug(POWERDEVIL) << "Create a Display Identifier for display"<<iDisp <<
         " : "<< dlist->info[iDisp].model_name;
 
         m_displayInfoList.append(dlist->info[iDisp]);
 
-        rc = ddca_create_dispno_display_identifier(iDisp+1, &did); // ddcutil uses 1 paded indexing for displays
-
-        char * did_repr = ddca_did_repr(did);
-
-        qCDebug(POWERDEVIL) << "did="<<did_repr;
-
-        qCDebug(POWERDEVIL) << "Create a display reference from the display identifier...";
-        rc = ddca_get_display_ref(did, &dref);
-
-        if (rc != 0) {
-            qCWarning(POWERDEVIL) << "[DDCutilBrightness]: ddct_get_display_ref() returned "<<
-            rc<< " ("<<ddca_rc_name(rc) <<
-            "): "<< ddca_rc_name(rc);
-            continue;
-        }
-
-        char * dref_repr = ddca_dref_repr(dref);
-        qCDebug(POWERDEVIL) << "dref= " << dref_repr;
-
         qCDebug(POWERDEVIL) << "Open the display reference, creating a display handle...";
-        rc = ddca_open_display(dref, &dh);
+        rc = ddca_open_display(dlist->info[iDisp].dref, &dh);
         if (rc != 0) {
             qCWarning(POWERDEVIL) << "[DDCutilBrightness]: ddct_open_display"<< rc;
             continue;
         }
 
-        qCDebug(POWERDEVIL) << "adding handle to list";
-        m_displayHandleList.append(dh);
-        qCDebug(POWERDEVIL) << "handles nb: "<<m_displayHandleList.count();
-        char* capabilityString;
-        DDCA_Capabilities* parsedCapabilities;
-        ddca_get_capabilities_string(dh, &capabilityString);
-        ddca_parse_capabilities_string(capabilityString, &parsedCapabilities);
-        qCInfo(POWERDEVIL) << "[DDCutilBrightness] " << parsedCapabilities->vcp_code_ct << "capabilities parsed";
-
-
-        m_descrToVcp_perDisp.append(QMap<QString, int>());
-        m_vcpTovcpValueWithDescr_perDisp.append(QMap<int, QMap<int, QString> >() );
-        //fill the feature description to vcp LUT
-
-        DDCA_Version_Feature_Info* featureInfo;
-        for (int iVcp=0;iVcp<parsedCapabilities->vcp_code_ct;iVcp++) {
-
-            int vcpCode=parsedCapabilities->vcp_codes[iVcp].feature_code;
-
-            m_vcpTovcpValueWithDescr_perDisp[iDisp].insert(vcpCode, QMap<int, QString>());
-
-            m_descrToVcp_perDisp[iDisp].insert(
-                QString(ddca_get_feature_name(vcpCode)), vcpCode);
-
-
-            ddca_get_feature_info_by_display(m_displayHandleList.at(iDisp), vcpCode, &featureInfo);
-            if (featureInfo == nullptr) {
-                continue;
-            }
-            qCDebug(POWERDEVIL) << featureInfo->feature_code<<":"<<featureInfo->desc;
-            if ((featureInfo->feature_flags & DDCA_SIMPLE_NC) != DDCA_SIMPLE_NC) {
-                continue;
-            }
-            for (int iVcpVal=0;featureInfo->sl_values[iVcpVal].value_code!=0;++iVcpVal) {
-
-                qCDebug(POWERDEVIL) << "\t"<<featureInfo->sl_values[iVcpVal].value_code
-                <<":"<< featureInfo->sl_values[iVcpVal].value_name;
-
-                bool thisVcpValIsSupported=false;
-
-                for (int iSupportedVcpVal=0; iSupportedVcpVal<parsedCapabilities->vcp_codes[iVcp].value_ct; iSupportedVcpVal++) {
-                    if(parsedCapabilities->vcp_codes[iVcp].values[iSupportedVcpVal]
-                        ==featureInfo->sl_values[iVcpVal].value_code) {
-                        thisVcpValIsSupported=true;
-                        }
-                }
-
-                if (thisVcpValIsSupported) {
-                    (m_vcpTovcpValueWithDescr_perDisp[iDisp])[vcpCode].insert(
-                        featureInfo->sl_values[iVcpVal].value_code,
-                        featureInfo->sl_values[iVcpVal].value_name);
-                }
+        QVector<uint16_t> tmpVcpList;
+        for (int iVcp = 0; iVcp < m_usedVcp.count(); ++iVcp) {
+            DDCA_Any_Vcp_Value *returnValue;
+            rc = ddca_get_any_vcp_value(dh, m_usedVcp.value(iVcp), DDCA_NON_TABLE_VCP_VALUE_PARM, &returnValue);
+            if (rc < 0) {
+                qCDebug(POWERDEVIL) << "[DDCutilBrightness]: This monitor does not seem to support " << m_usedVcp[iVcp];
+            } else {
+                tmpVcpList.append(m_usedVcp.value(iVcp));
             }
         }
-        ddca_free_display_identifier(did);
-        ddca_free_parsed_capabilities(parsedCapabilities);
+        //we only store displays that actually support the features we want.
+        if( tmpVcpList.contains(0x10) ) {
+            qCDebug(POWERDEVIL) << "Display supports Brightness, adding handle to list";
+            m_displayHandleList.append(dh);
+            m_supportedVcp_perDisp.value(iDisp).append(tmpVcpList);
+        }
     }
+
+#else
+    qCInfo(POWERDEVIL)  << "[DDCutilBrightness] compiled without DDC/CI support";
+    return;
 #endif
 }
 
 
 bool DDCutilBrightness::isSupported() const
 {
-#ifndef WITH_DDCUTIL
-    return false;
-#else
+#if WITH_DDCUTIL
     return !m_displayHandleList.isEmpty();
+#else
+    return false;
 #endif
 }
 
 
 long DDCutilBrightness::brightness()
 {
-#ifdef WITH_DDCUTIL
+#if WITH_DDCUTIL
     //we check wether the timer is running, this means we received new values but did not send them yet to the monitor
-    //not checking that results in the brightness slider jump to the previous vqlue when changing.
-    if(m_setBrightnessEventFilter.isActive()) {
+    //not checking that results in the brightness slider jump to the previous value when changing.
+    if (m_setBrightnessEventFilter.isActive()) {
         m_lastBrightnessKnown = m_tmpCurrentBrightness;
-    }
-    else {  //FIXME: gets value for display 1
+    } else {  //FIXME: gets value for display 1
         DDCA_Status rc;
-        DDCA_Single_Vcp_Value *returnValue;
+        DDCA_Any_Vcp_Value *returnValue;
 
-        rc = ddca_get_vcp_value(m_displayHandleList.at(0),
-                                m_descrToVcp_perDisp.at(0).value("Brightness"),
-                                DDCA_NON_TABLE_VCP_VALUE, &returnValue);
+        rc = ddca_get_any_vcp_value(m_displayHandleList.at(0),
+                                0x10,
+                                DDCA_NON_TABLE_VCP_VALUE_PARM, &returnValue);
         qCDebug(POWERDEVIL) << "[DDCutilBrightness::brightness]: ddca_get_vcp_value returned" << rc;
 
         //check rc to prevent crash on wake from idle and the monitor has gone to powersave mode
         if (rc == 0) {
-            m_lastBrightnessKnown = (long)returnValue->val.c.cur_val;
+            m_lastBrightnessKnown = (long)VALREC_CUR_VAL(returnValue);
         }
     }
     return m_lastBrightnessKnown;
@@ -179,18 +119,17 @@
 
 long DDCutilBrightness::brightnessMax()
 {
-#ifdef WITH_DDCUTIL
+#if WITH_DDCUTIL
     DDCA_Status rc;
-    DDCA_Single_Vcp_Value *returnValue;
+    DDCA_Any_Vcp_Value *returnValue;
 
-    rc = ddca_get_vcp_value(m_displayHandleList.at(0),
-                            m_descrToVcp_perDisp.at(0).value("Brightness"),
-                            DDCA_NON_TABLE_VCP_VALUE, &returnValue);
+    rc = ddca_get_any_vcp_value(m_displayHandleList.at(0), 0x10,
+                            DDCA_NON_TABLE_VCP_VALUE_PARM, &returnValue);
     qCDebug(POWERDEVIL) << "[DDCutilBrightness::brightnessMax]: ddca_get_vcp_value returned" << rc;
 
     //check rc to prevent crash on wake from idle and the monitor has gone to powersave mode
     if (rc == 0) {
-        m_lastMaxBrightnessKnown = (long)returnValue->val.c.max_val;
+        m_lastMaxBrightnessKnown = (long)VALREC_MAX_VAL(returnValue);
     }
 
     return m_lastMaxBrightnessKnown;
@@ -208,15 +147,14 @@
 
 void DDCutilBrightness::setBrightnessAfterFilter()
 {
-#ifdef WITH_DDCUTIL
+#if WITH_DDCUTIL
     DDCA_Status rc;
-    for (int iDisp=0;iDisp<m_displayHandleList.count();iDisp++) {          //FIXME: we set the same brightness to all monitors, plugin architecture needed
+    for (int iDisp = 0; iDisp < m_displayHandleList.count(); ++iDisp) {          //FIXME: we set the same brightness to all monitors, plugin architecture needed
         qCDebug(POWERDEVIL) << "[DDCutilBrightness]: setting brightness "<<m_tmpCurrentBrightness;
-        rc = ddca_set_continuous_vcp_value(m_displayHandleList.at(iDisp), 
-                                        m_descrToVcp_perDisp.at(iDisp).value("Brightness"), 
-                                        (int)m_tmpCurrentBrightness);
+        rc = ddca_set_continuous_vcp_value(m_displayHandleList.at(iDisp), 0x10,
+                                           (int)m_tmpCurrentBrightness);
 
-        if (rc != 0) {
+        if (rc < 0) {
             qCWarning(POWERDEVIL) << "[DDCutilBrightness::setBrightness] failed, trying to detect()";
             detect();
         } else {