A system and method for controlling the brightness level of an electronic display. An image capture device in proximity to the electronic display is used to capture images and/or video of the ambient environmental conditions local to the electronic display. The images and/or video is analyzed to determine the nature of the environmental conditions, and adjustments to the brightness level of the electronic display are made in consideration of said environmental conditions. In some embodiments, the images and/or video captured by the image capture device may be compared to stored images representative of different environmental conditions.