[Hi I'm Ben]

So the iMac also happens to be where I'm sleeping ideally I'd want to shut off the monitor when I am laying in bed. I know there is a time out option but It would be nice if I could instantly shut off the monitor with some kind of quick key and keep it off till I woke the machine. This way I could use the Front Row remote to change songs without the monitor coming back on.

[Gossamer]

One thing I did was make a small completely black jpeg image, put that in its own folder, then set Screen Saver to rotate pictures from that folder. Then set a hot corner to activate the screen saver. When you go to whatever corner you select, the screensaver will activate and the screen goes black. There's probably an easier way to do it.

[Hi I'm Ben]

Yeah, id hope. Especially because theres a big difference between off, and a black jpg.

[P]

Easiest is probably to use the screensaver "Basic Black", start it like Gossamer suggests (with a corner) and then let the screen shutoff timer turn it off after five minutes or whatever. For a more complicated solution, see this link:

macosxhints.com - Toggle display sleep time with one keypress

[Gossamer]

Originally Posted by Hi I'm Ben 

Yeah, id hope. Especially because theres a big difference between off, and a black jpg.

Originally Posted by P 

Easiest is probably to use the screensaver "Basic Black", start it like Gossamer suggests (with a corner) and then let the screen shutoff timer turn it off after five minutes or whatever. For a more complicated solution, see this link:

macosxhints.com - Toggle display sleep time with one keypress

That's what I was talking about. The black JPEG will play until the display naturally sleeps.

[Macola]

Why not just put it to sleep? You can map an F key to the Sleep function if that helps.

[Gossamer]

Originally Posted by Macola 

Why not just put it to sleep? You can map an F key to the Sleep function if that helps.

He wants to be able to play songs in iTunes with the display off.

[Hi I'm Ben]

Yeah so far none of the solutions are that great. There's the one minute solution but that is irritating, everytime I change a song in iTunes with the remote the screen lights back up. Dang built in monitors are a pain right now.

[Gossamer]

Originally Posted by Hi I'm Ben 

Yeah so far none of the solutions are that great. There's the one minute solution but that is irritating, everytime I change a song in iTunes with the remote the screen lights back up. Dang built in monitors are a pain right now.

If you go into security settings and require a password upon screensaver shut off, it will bring up the password dialog for like 30 seconds then go back to the screensaver.

[Oneota]

You can turn the brightness of the screen down until the backlight turns off - that's probably as good as you'll get.

I forget which key it is - it's either F13, F14, or F15.

[Parky]

Originally Posted by Oneota 

You can turn the brightness of the screen down until the backlight turns off - that's probably as good as you'll get.

I forget which key it is - it's either F13, F14, or F15.

That does not work on iMacs, you can reduce the brightness, but even on the lowest setting the screen does not go off.

On Laptops the screen can be turned off in that way, but not iMacs.

Ian

[Oneota]

Huh. Bummer.

[Hi I'm Ben]

Originally Posted by Gossamer 

If you go into security settings and require a password upon screensaver shut off, it will bring up the password dialog for like 30 seconds then go back to the screensaver.

The black screen saver is still sorta bright if all the lights are off. Thanks for the suggestion though. Suppose it's time to write some kind of app that will do it.

[Oneota]

Originally Posted by Hi I'm Ben 

The black screen saver is still sorta bright if all the lights are off. Thanks for the suggestion though. Suppose it's time to write some kind of app that will do it.

If you go that route, be sure to let us know about it once it's completed and working. I'm contemplating a 24" iMac purchase and would love to see that application (especially since I'd be going from my G5 tower which spends most of its life with the monitor turned off).

[cargoplex]

FINALLY!

Brightness Control by Splasm Software to the rescue!

[ice_cold_irony]

Hey
I tried out this Brightness Control by Splasm on my Macbook CD - 2 ghz and it washed out all the colours on the screen and tinted it a bit blue. Anyone else had similar problems? Will this hurt my display or is a sign of anything bad/permanent? The colours came back to normal and the blue tint went away after I quit the program but the display still seems a bit off.
Thanks

[Guntis]

From Splasm web site: "And don't panic! The effects of Brightness Control are completely reversible by quitting the application, hitting the escape key, or using its handy 'Restore' button!"

[Sych0]

Brightness control works pretty good on my 24" iMac. I think I'll use it more often. It'd be great if I could get it to show up in the (ugh windows terms) "system tray."

edit: uhh, except for one little caveat. You turn it all the way down, and accidently click out of the application area. How do you switch back to "quit, press escape or hit the restore button" if you cant see what youre doing? I noticed even on the absolute lowest, with my main brightness turned all the way up, that I could faintly see the apps. I was able to alt-tab to brightness control and press escape.

edit 2: Unfortunately though, its still not off off. Its just like the black jpg. I probably wont use it now.

The previous way I was doing this was with a little script called "Nighty Night" from MildMannered Industries Products Unfortunately, all it does is set the monitor timeout slider from never to one minute and vice versa. The one click is handy