Wanted: Method to Quickly Turn OFF Screen (Without Inducing Sleep)

[ChrisPanzer]

Hi All,

Sometimes, whilst downloading various (copyrighted only) material I wish to simply turn ONLY the screen completely OFF (no color-bleed test hack) without putting the PC to sleep/hibernate/etc. I have searched for a solution of this, and although there are some dirty hacks out there, nothing is really clean & 'nice like', as I like it.

So then, come one, come all, and tell us your method! I know there is someone with the answer out there, somewhere.

 

[jnjroach]

Assuming you're Downloading a Torrent switch to a MUI Torrent Client and allow CS to work....

 

[sharpuser]

This is an easy one: The two-step:

1) Tell Windows you want ScreenSaver "Blank" (black) to turn on after 1000 minutes, or somesuch.
2) Create a shortcut:

%windir%\System32\scrnsave.scr

Give it a hotkey like Ctrl-Alt-z and name it Blackout.

 

[ChrisPanzer]

Thanks, but

Assuming you're Downloading a Torrent switch to a MUI Torrent Client and allow CS to work....

thanks but i download via Usenet, and other sources. And downloading isn't the only reason why I'd like to <quickly> be able to turn the screen off. Ie: case me mum walks in whilst viewing some not-so-heavenly images etc

 

[ChrisPanzer]

This is an easy one: The two-step:

1) Tell Windows you want ScreenSaver "Blank" (black) to turn on after 1000 minutes, or somesuch.
2) Create a shortcut:

%windir%\System32\scrnsave.scr

Give it a hotkey like Ctrl-Alt-z and name it Blackout.

View attachment 5040

View attachment 5041

Now see, this is what I'm talkin bout. Gonna go try it!

 

[ChrisPanzer]

Tried the screen saver hack, and although its responsive & easy to execute, it doesn't really turn the screen 'off'. It blanks the display, but it is still on, almost like a color bleed test.

Any way to actually turn the screen completely OFF?

 

[GreyFox7]

There's a thread here somewhere on that... I believe the answer is Glock.

 

[ChrisPanzer]

There's a thread here somewhere on that... I believe the answer is Glock.

Thanks, will look it up.

Yes, there's probably a thread on every question Ill ever have, but most of the time it's very time consuming (waiting for response: "it only took me 2seconds to do a search!"), as the search query has to match the post, obviously. And anyway, when browsing through the 'new posts' section, I often find solutions to common-gripes, many times something I would have never bothered to search for in the first place (or even knew a solution existed!!). Many times these are redundant question/solutions but to those who've never seen them before they're as spankin' new as a newborn.

 

[ptrkhh]

From reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/2qaluy/i_will_give_reddit_gold_to_anyone_that_can_tell/ :

How do you usually use Spotify? If you use the web interface and Google Chrome you can listen to Spotify with the screen off. To do so you need to launch Chrome with the -enable-exclusive-audio flag. Then you can start playing music and simply press the lock button.

To try it out, open a command prompt or powershell window and navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application (or wherever you installed Chrome) then type:

.\chrome.exe -enable-exclusive-audio

This will open Chrome and give it exclusive access to the audio device (meaning only Chrome can use the audio device). Then just go to Spotify's website and start playing music! This will also work with any audio played through Chrome, not just Spotify. You can also create an application shortcut for Chrome that launches it with the -enable-exclusive-audio flag so you don't need to run a command prompt each time.

There are some downsides though. Mainly, to stop playing Spotify and listen to something else you need to exit Chrome completely. This also doesn't work with the Spotify desktop app.

Generally, to get audio working on the SP3 with the screen off you need a way for the application to get exclusive access to the audio device. Either via WASAPI or ASIO. This varies application to application, so you'll need to search around if you want to use something other than Chrome.

It might work... it lets the program run in CS

 

[zhenya]

Why not just use the screen or touchpad edge gestures to quickly change to a MUI interface? Win-tab also does the same thing.

 

[sharpuser]

If Bill Gates would weigh in, he probably could give a suggestion how to immediately turn the screen BLUE.

 

[young blade]

The program in the following tread will work if you have the 15-01-2015 firmware update installed and dissabled connected standby..

http://www.surfaceforums.net/threads/program-to-automatically-turn-off-display-while-inactive.13046/