As the title says. On my PC I am used to being able to just push a button and the screen goes off but nothing else. How do I do this in a simple way on my new iMac?
I don't think he wants it to SLEEP ... just for the backlight to turn off.
You can set a Hot Corner to start the screen saver, but I can't see that Screen Saver gives you the option of just turning the backlight off.
Under "Energy Saver" you can program the display (only) to sleep after a given period of inactivity... but I don't see that you can asign a button to do that on command.
Try hitting the internet to see if someone has built a utility that does it. Obviously, the energy saver feature can turn off the display only, so there's clearly a way to do it. If you're interested, you could try your hand at developing a script to do it yourself. Since all it would do is invoke the energy saver feature, it would probably be a one-line Applescript. Once you're done, bind it to an F-key.
That's kinda messed up. That kind of stuff discourages me about Apple products. The simplest, dumbest, most obvious thing is glossed over in favor of aesthetics. The simple addition of a damn off button would have made so much more sense.
You also could go to display preferences and turn the brightness all the way down. But why do you want to do that? Why not just either put it to sleep, or have a screen saver kick on?
You also could go to display preferences and turn the brightness all the way down. But why do you want to do that? Why not just either put it to sleep, or have a screen saver kick on?
If you have some process running and you want the screen off? Does it get any simpler?
i have my computers energy saver set to dim the screen after 3 minutes. i just walk away. let the computer do the work, who needs to push a button? It just works.
That doesnt work on the iMac - I have said that a few times...
sorry mate I'm in shock with this news - have never used an IMac myself. I'm amazed!
Quote:
First mac - I dont know how to use scripts
How about a blank screen saver, which you could configure to be triggered by a hot corner on your screen..? Then your Energy settings switch things off properly in a minute.
OK - first, you'll need to install something that lets you run an application from the keyboard - because once you dim the screen to zero, you won't be able to find and click the second script to turn the brightness back on.
OR - you could change the "0" in the script to something like 0.25 so it would dim it by 75% and you could probably still see it to change it back.
Next, click the link below to put the script into Script Editor on your Mac
Next, switch to Script Editor by clicking its icon in the Dock. Change the "0" in the script to something safe like 0.40 and save the script onto your Desktop. Choose "Save As..." from the Script Editor File menu, give it a name like "Dim Screen", choose "Application" from the pulldown menu in the Save As box, and click OK.
Now go back to Script Editor and change the 0.40 to whatever you want the normal screen brightness to be - say 0.78. Save with a different name like "Brighten Screen."
Look on Versiontracker.com for some utilities that let you launch apps from a keystroke. Then choose a couple of keystrokes, one for dimming and one for un-dimming, and assign them to these 2 scripts.
If you have some process running and you want the screen off? Does it get any simpler?
Sure, I understand why you'd want to do it. I have my iMac set to do exactly that, because it serves up my music to two other Macs in the house. But I just set mine so it doesn't sleep, but the screen saver turns on and then the screen shuts down after 15 minutes.
That's kinda messed up. That kind of stuff discourages me about Apple products. The simplest, dumbest, most obvious thing is glossed over in favor of aesthetics. The simple addition of a damn off button would have made so much more sense.
None of the PC laptops I've ever had have had monitor-off buttons. I've never had a PC all-in-one so I can't speak for those. The displays on my PowerBook G4's could be turned off by using the contrast control on the keyboard. All the way down = all the way off. Maybe the works on the iMac.
Comments
great choice on a new computer, you'll love it. Bootcamp and install windows and couple of games, you'll love it even more.
You can set a Hot Corner to start the screen saver, but I can't see that Screen Saver gives you the option of just turning the backlight off.
Under "Energy Saver" you can program the display (only) to sleep after a given period of inactivity... but I don't see that you can asign a button to do that on command.
You also could go to display preferences and turn the brightness all the way down. But why do you want to do that? Why not just either put it to sleep, or have a screen saver kick on?
If you have some process running and you want the screen off? Does it get any simpler?
If you turn the brightness all the way down it does not black out the screen - I use the computer on the darkest setting - this thing is BRIGHT!
Just turn it down to zero brightness i.e. off.!
tell application "System Events"
tell application "System Preferences" to reveal anchor "displaysDisplayTab" of pane "com.apple.preference.displays"
tell process "System Preferences"
set value of slider 1 of group 2 of tab group 1 of window 1 to 0
end tell
end tell
Another script to set it back to 1 or whatever value you want would be just change the "0" value to the value you want.
Put both scripts in the script menu.
That doesnt work on the iMac - I have said that a few times...
sorry mate I'm in shock with this news - have never used an IMac myself. I'm amazed!
First mac - I dont know how to use scripts
How about a blank screen saver, which you could configure to be triggered by a hot corner on your screen..? Then your Energy settings switch things off properly in a minute.
Blank Screen Saver -> http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/14051
First mac - I dont know how to use scripts
OK - first, you'll need to install something that lets you run an application from the keyboard - because once you dim the screen to zero, you won't be able to find and click the second script to turn the brightness back on.
OR - you could change the "0" in the script to something like 0.25 so it would dim it by 75% and you could probably still see it to change it back.
Next, click the link below to put the script into Script Editor on your Mac
CLICK HERE to automatically place this script into Script Editor.
Next, switch to Script Editor by clicking its icon in the Dock. Change the "0" in the script to something safe like 0.40 and save the script onto your Desktop. Choose "Save As..." from the Script Editor File menu, give it a name like "Dim Screen", choose "Application" from the pulldown menu in the Save As box, and click OK.
Now go back to Script Editor and change the 0.40 to whatever you want the normal screen brightness to be - say 0.78. Save with a different name like "Brighten Screen."
Look on Versiontracker.com for some utilities that let you launch apps from a keystroke. Then choose a couple of keystrokes, one for dimming and one for un-dimming, and assign them to these 2 scripts.
If you have some process running and you want the screen off? Does it get any simpler?
Sure, I understand why you'd want to do it. I have my iMac set to do exactly that, because it serves up my music to two other Macs in the house. But I just set mine so it doesn't sleep, but the screen saver turns on and then the screen shuts down after 15 minutes.
That's kinda messed up. That kind of stuff discourages me about Apple products. The simplest, dumbest, most obvious thing is glossed over in favor of aesthetics. The simple addition of a damn off button would have made so much more sense.
None of the PC laptops I've ever had have had monitor-off buttons. I've never had a PC all-in-one so I can't speak for those. The displays on my PowerBook G4's could be turned off by using the contrast control on the keyboard. All the way down = all the way off. Maybe the works on the iMac.