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Author Topic: IDEA W/ SOURCE CODE: Auto-Dim LCD Notebook screen to save electric  (Read 13299 times)

silekonn

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i want a program to use lcd panel's Fn+arrow to dim the screen.  someone made a program in a short time, though my model of computer is old and unsupported.
This has been coded: http://cid-fea8a8445...x/Public/AutoDim.zip .  requires .net 2 .  i have an dell inspiron 8200 with the sharp 16x12 lcd.  if someone can make it work for me i will spend.
thanks
« Last Edit: December 19, 2008, 12:04 AM by silekonn »

app103

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Re: IDEA W/ SOURCE CODE: Auto-Dim LCD Notebook screen to save electric
« Reply #1 on: December 19, 2008, 01:37 AM »
I haven't taken a look at what you linked to (primarily because I am not a .NET developer), but I found this information while doing some research on another similar coding snack request.

The method for turning the backlight off and just dimming it are the same. The problem is it can only be done if your hardware supports it.

The exact model of your laptop and the details of the display are not needed. It either supports it or it doesn't. And if it doesn't, there is no way to make it support it.

This application would be best done by someone experienced in writing Windows hardware drivers.

If you read through the thread I linked to, you might get some idea why nobody filled that request.

If you don't know what you are doing, it will be quite easy to ruin your own display while creating the application.

Imagine turning the display off and having no way to turn it back on...or the application/Windows crashing while it is turned off. Both leave you with the possibility of having a display that will not work.

I don't think anyone inexperienced with this type of stuff wants to take that risk with their own equipment, and I am not sure if they did, that I'd feel confident in using it on my own equipment without asking a lot of questions about how it was done and what safeguards were included to ensure it wouldn't permanently kill my display.

silekonn

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Re: IDEA W/ SOURCE CODE: Auto-Dim LCD Notebook screen to save electric
« Reply #2 on: December 20, 2008, 09:21 PM »
app103,

i do not intend to be rude: look at what i posted before you give me 3 paragraphs, please.

thank you.

if anyone has the ability to create this program without the use of the provided s/w, i would favor that.  the current software was written in 5m, and is apparent by the resulting functionality on my system.  I did not consider the lcd panel turning off, because that is not a part of the hardware-coded options on my system or any systems i know of.

if it helps, my system requires the Fn button to be pressed while you use the down arrow to lower the brightness, or up to increase.

thanks.

p.s.  thank you for the msdn information.  that is what i am searching for.  i want to save electric by using the lcd laptop monitor's built-in (hardware level) brightness adjustment.  [<- notes how unimpressive this will be]
« Last Edit: December 20, 2008, 09:47 PM by silekonn »

SleepingWolf

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Re: IDEA W/ SOURCE CODE: Auto-Dim LCD Notebook screen to save electric
« Reply #3 on: December 22, 2008, 03:25 PM »
look at what i posted before you give me 3 paragraphs, please.
I'm sorry silekonn, but I too was puzzled by your first post (your flavour of English may not match ours) and I don't think app103 was out-of-line. He was after all trying to help you and went to the trouble of posting links which (as he hinted) was more than anyone else did, so you should go out of your way not to irritate him (or indeed anyone else!)

However, having checked the MSDN link out, it doesn't really seem to have any direct relevance, so I can see where you're coming from. app103 was that really the link you intended to post?
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« Last Edit: December 22, 2008, 03:31 PM by SleepingWolf »

app103

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Re: IDEA W/ SOURCE CODE: Auto-Dim LCD Notebook screen to save electric
« Reply #4 on: December 23, 2008, 09:48 AM »
Dimming the screen is controlling the backlight brightness. So, that was exactly the link I intended to post.

The level of brightness of the backlight can be adjusted from a range of "off" to very bright, depending on what the hardware supports (just because the fn+arrow doesn't let you turn it off doesn't mean the hardware doesn't support it).

An application created using the information at the MSDN page would work regardless of the brand of your display, and coded properly would be universally supported by all brands of displays, provided it actually supports the dimming levels desired. (which is more likely with a laptop display than a desktop display)

I am still hoping someone experienced in writing drivers and qualified to do this, will be able to use the information provided at the MSDN link and fill your request, as well as the previous request the blind guy made for a hotkey to turn his completely off, with a quality application that anyone could use to save battery power, and not specific to one brand of laptop or display.

I have discussed this request (and the other one) with various coders, and the possible things that could go wrong. They have all told me they would not feel comfortable enough playing around with this kind of stuff on their own laptop display to attempt to create an application like this. If they mess up in the process (and yes, coders do mess up all the time and see the worst of the bugs before you ever see an application), it would take far more than a simple reboot to fix it, as it would be controlling the hardware directly and not dependent on whether Windows was running or not. Whatever settings they change would survive a reboot. It would even survive formatting the hard drive. A worst case scenario mistake could mean a costly repair to the developer that is testing his work on his own hardware.

silekonn

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Re: IDEA W/ SOURCE CODE: Auto-Dim LCD Notebook screen to save electric
« Reply #5 on: December 23, 2008, 12:36 PM »
when i asked you to look at what i posted i meant the app. :)

Here is another possibly useful link I have:
http://www.mp3car.co...acklight-vb-net.html
« Last Edit: December 23, 2008, 02:53 PM by silekonn »

Codebyte

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Re: IDEA W/ SOURCE CODE: Auto-Dim LCD Notebook screen to save electric
« Reply #6 on: December 27, 2008, 11:49 AM »
@ silekonn
i want a program to use lcd panel's Fn+arrow to dim the screen.
if you want a program to use the 'Fn' + Up/Down arrow to dim the screen, why not just use an AHK script that hits the button for you, then u can have preset dim levels and what not and do what u want with it...

I'm not sure if this is what you are looking for or not, but after reading all this it seems to me that rewriting another program for it would involve a series of things that would be difficult, but not impossible...

@ app
hrm, sry I cant help you there yet app :) good luck on finding someone though :)
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SleepingWolf

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Re: IDEA W/ SOURCE CODE: Auto-Dim LCD Notebook screen to save electric
« Reply #7 on: December 28, 2008, 02:57 PM »
I can't promise this will work for you, but I use Wizmo by Steve Gibson software at  http://grc.com. It is command-line but I wrote up a Qsel (Horst Schaefer program) menu for the most useful Wizmo commands and have a hotkey (Ctrl + Alt + W) on a windows shortcut for it.

The menu shortcut uses the wizmo parameters "quiet monoff"...


Ie you could use "path\wizmo.exe quiet monoff"
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« Last Edit: December 28, 2008, 03:00 PM by SleepingWolf »

silekonn

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Re: IDEA W/ SOURCE CODE: Auto-Dim LCD Notebook screen to save electric
« Reply #8 on: December 30, 2008, 06:06 PM »
Wizmo is a good idea.  However I have been speaking with Robert on GRC's Newsgroups and it seems he is unwilling.  Here is his initial response:

Maybe Autoit?

http://lists.thedata...rogramming_Tools.php

http://www.autoitscript.com/autoit3/

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Re: IDEA W/ SOURCE CODE: Auto-Dim LCD Notebook screen to save electric
« Reply #9 on: December 31, 2008, 02:41 AM »
silekonn,

I have no idea if Skrommel's DimSaver works through the Fn Up/Down, but it does the job, and can be used in conjunction with RunScreenSaver.

Also, you wrote:
I did not consider the lcd panel turning off, because that is not a part of the hardware-coded options on my system or any systems i know of.
Using seat of the pants reasoning WinFlog is tapping into a hardware code, just out of the feel of the LCD going out in conjunction with Shutter.  The screen goes out instantly, but comes back over a second or two, so I'm hoping it's easy on the backlights.  I'm replacing the third on my favorite computer, and typing on a spare.

I started looking for this stuff when my laptop mysteriously lost screensaver capacity, so I started jury rigging.  My comp is on all day, and I walk away a lot.

I'd link to the author of WinFlog's webpage, but the link I gave points out in simple terms how to avoid adding stuff to the context menus (by using an executable in the WinFlog zip).

I hope these gems are helpful to you or someone.
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