Sleep or Wake a Display in BrightAuthor

With BrightAuthor, you can enable or disable PowerSaveMode using an Interactive playlist by attaching a wake or sleep command to a state or an event (e.g., a button press). PowerSaveMode commands work over HDMI-to-HDMI connections or HDMI-to-DVI connections.

If you want to schedule your screen to wake at a certain time, create a playlist with a single image state that contains the desired image, and attach the wake command to that state. In this example, there’s a logo image that displays at startup; the project then times out to an attract loop (i.e. a looping video that links to other states).

When the scheduled presentation begins playing, playback will enter the image state and power on the display.

Turning on the Display

Note that the BrightControl command uses HDMI’s CEC commands and thus only works with HDMI-to-HDMI connections. It does not work for HDMI-to-DVI connections because DVI does not support CEC commands.

Turning off the Display

Note that the BrightControl command uses HDMI’s CEC commands and thus only works with HDMI-to-HDMI connections. It does not work for HDMI-to-DVI connections because DVI does not support CEC commands.

In this example, a button press is used to turn the monitor off.

Using a Time/Clock Event

You can instead use a Time/Clock Event to turn the display on/off at scheduled intervals. The below event, paired with a Display On/Off command, would trigger Monday through Friday at 8:00AM.

Monitor Power Save Mode

For HDMI-to-DVI connections where BrightControl commands don’t work, you may be able to use the “monitor power save mode” command to sleep or wake a display. These commands work with both HDMI-to-HDMI and HDMI-to-DVI connections.

Enable the monitor power save mode

This setting turns the player video output off.

Disable the monitor power save mode

This setting turns the player video output back on.

Note: With some displays, the “monitor power save mode” command may cause the display to switch to another input or produce an “idle” or “no signal” screen rather than making the display go to sleep. Be sure to test this functionality with the intended display to ensure it functions as desired.