Sometimes I like to watch VLC media on my TV connected to the HDMI port on my laptop and I now have to:
because I like to sit in the dark while watching TV!
Has anyone solved the above already for themselves through a script?
The TV is always connected to HDMI and the monitor always to the VGA port if that makes things easier.
I've created a script that slowly dims two monitors after 5 minutes of keyboard or mouse inactivity while you watch a movie on a third monitor. When you move your mouse or use your keyboard the two dimmed monitors quickly brighten (but not suddenly to shock you).
Before you think I watch too much TV note this is a laptop and the program has been running for many days and the laptop is suspended / resumed twice a day at least.
Save the script below to a filename in your path such as /usr/local/bin/movie.sh or /home/your_user_name/bin/movie.sh and then use:
chmod a+x /path/to/script/movie.sh
Xorg's package xprintidle is required to track how long your computer has been idle since a mouse movement or keyboard activity:
sudo apt install xprintidle
Then to launch the script use:
movie.sh
Note: When testing, change TIME_TO_FADE from 200000 to 10000 so you only have to wait 10 seconds instead of 200 seconds for fading to start.
#!/bin/bash
NAME: movie.sh
PATH: ~/eyesome
DESC: Dim monitors 1 and 3 after 5 minutes of activity
DATE: June 27, 2019. Modified November 5, 2019.
PARM: Pass any parameter 1 to generate trace output
UPDT: 2019-07-05 Add dependancy message. Improve sleep calcualation.
2019-09-01 Display how long dimming lasted in hours, minutes, seconds
2019-09-07 Do not brighten if toggling play / pause of movie with
mouse click or Enter key. Log first wake and if a second wake appears
within 1 to 3 seconds then wake up. Otherwise forget first wake signal.
2019-11-05 Replace scrolling messages with Statistics display.
: <<'END'
/* -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CUSTOM NOTES
Put C-style free form notes here about disabling third party auto-brightness
sunrise / sunset applications like nightlight, redshift, flux, eyesome, etc.
CONFIGURATION FILE LOCATION
$ ll /usr/local/bin/.eyesome-cfg
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 610 Jun 27 18:31 /usr/local/bin/.eyesome-cfg
CONFIGURATION FILE RECORD LAYOUT
$ cat /usr/local/bin/.eyesome-cfg
https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/canada/edmonton|70.000000|120.000000|90.000000|
1.000000|TRUE| | | | |1|Disabled|Hardware|Alien 17" Builtin DIsplay|
intel_backlight|eDP-1-1|3500.000000|1.000000|1.000000|1.000000|850.000000|
1.000000|0.780000|0.650000|3500|1.000000:1.000000:1.000000| | | | |2|Enabled|
Software|Sony 50" TV|xrandr|HDMI-0|1.000000|1.000000|1.000000|1.000000|0.750000|
1.000000|0.950000|0.850000|1.00|1.000000:1.000000:1.000000| | | | |3|Disabled|
Software|Toshibal 43" 4K TV|xrandr|DP-1-1|1.000000|1.000000|1.000000|1.000000|
0.650000|1.000000|0.880000|0.780000|1.00|1.000000:1.000000:1.000000| | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
END
If sudo powers not needed, eg no 3rd party auto-brightening to disable,
then comment out the next four lines:
if [[ $(id -u) != 0 ]]; then # root powers needed to call this script
echo >&2 "$0 must be called with sudo powers"
exit 1
fi
command -v xprintidle >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo >&2
"xprintidle package required but it is not installed. Aborting.";
exit 1; }
To echo debug/trace statements to screen, pass any parameter to script
Debug=0
[[ $# -gt 0 ]] && Debug=1
To get list of your monitors use: xrandr --verbose | grep " connected"
MON1="eDP-1-1" # eDP-1-1 = Laptop display
MON2="" # HDMI-0 = Sony TV
MON3="DP-1-1" # DP-1-1 = Toshiba TV
If you elect to turn backlight complete off and on you must use sudo
BACK="intel_backlight" # Setting to blank means no backlight to turn off/on
All seconds in millisconds, eg 1000 milliseconds = 1 second
TIME_TO_FADE=200000 # Keyboard/Mouse idle time before dim 300000 = 5 minutes
TIME_TO_WAKE=2000 # 2 second time or less to trigger brightening
FADE_SLEEP=.15 # When fading sleep seconds between monitor changes
WAKE_SLEEP=.025 # When waking sleep seconds between monitor changes
Optional configurationfile for 3rd party auto brightnes / color temperature
CFG_FILE=""
if nothing else is automatically controlling monitors comment out next line
CFG_FILE=/usr/local/bin/.eyesome-cfg
DisableAutoBright () {
# Disable specific monitors from nightlight, redshift, flux, eyesome, ect.
[[ $CFG_FILE == "" ]] && return # No third party apps
[[ $MON1 != "" ]] && sed -i 's/1|Enabled/1|Disabled/g' "$CFG_FILE"
[[ $MON2 != "" ]] && sed -i 's/2|Enabled/2|Disabled/g' "$CFG_FILE"
[[ $MON3 != "" ]] && sed -i 's/3|Enabled/3|Disabled/g' "$CFG_FILE"
} # DisableAutoBright
EnableAutoBright () {
# Renable specific monitors for nightlight, redshift, flux, eyesome, ect.
[[ $CFG_FILE == "" ]] && return # No third party apps
[[ $MON1 != "" ]] && sed -i 's/1|Disabled/1|Enabled/g' "$CFG_FILE"
[[ $MON2 != "" ]] && sed -i 's/2|Disabled/2|Enabled/g' "$CFG_FILE"
[[ $MON3 != "" ]] && sed -i 's/3|Disabled/3|Enabled/g' "$CFG_FILE"
# Trigger 3rd party app to gradually set brightness based on sunrise/sunset
/usr/local/bin/wake-eyesome.sh post eyesome-cfg.sh nosleep
} # EnableAutoBright
MonArr=() # Index 0= Monitor # 1 to 3, 1=Xrandr Name, 2=Connected/Disconnected,
# 3=Save Bright "100"=1.0, 4=Current Bright "75"=0.75, 5=xprintidle cnt
PaintStats () {
local i Image
Image=( \
"╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗"
"║ movie.sh - Dim specific monitors when keyboard and mouse idle ║"
"╠═════════════════════════════════╤═════════════════════════════════╣"
"║ Active Stats │ Dimmed Stats ║"
"╟─────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────╢"
"║ Total time: 1:30:22 (H:M:S) │ Total Time: 0:30:25 (H:M:S) ║"
"║ Cycle Count: 999 cycles │ Cycle Count: 999 cycles ║"
"║ Total checks: 9,999,999 checks │ Total checks: 9,999,999 checks ║"
"╟─────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────╢"
"║ This cycle: 99 Hours 99 Secs │ Last cycle: 99 Hours 99 Secs ║"
"║ Last check: Sat 1:52:39 pm │ Dim started: Sat 12:42:15 pm ║"
"║ Sleeping: 200 Seconds │ Short wakes: 999 pause/plays ║"
"║ Next check: Sat 1:53:49 pm │ Dim ended: Sat 1:31:08 pm ║"
"╚═════════════════════════════════╧═════════════════════════════════╝"
)
echo -e "\033[32m" # Start green text
for i in "${Image[@]}" ; do echo "$i" ; done
echo -e "\033[0m" # End green text
} # PaintStats
PrintStr () {
tput cup "$1" "$2" ; echo -e " "
tput cup "$1" "$2" ; echo -e "$3"
} # PrintStr
PrintDig () {
tput cup "$1" "$2" ; echo -e " "
tput cup "$1" "$2" ; printf "%'d %s" "$3" "$4"
} # PrintDig
PrintDur () {
local h m s FormattedElapsed
(( h = ${3} / 3600 ))
(( m = (${3}%3600) / 60 ))
(( s = ${3}%60 ))
FormattedElapsed="$h:$m:$s (H:M:S)"
FormattedElapsed="$h""hr $m""mn $s""sc"
tput cup "$1" "$2" ; echo -e " "
PrintStr "$1" "$2" "$FormattedElapsed"
} # PrintDur
TotalActive=0
TotalDimmed=0
ActiveCount=1 # We are already active starting up
DimmedCount=0
ActiveChecks=0
DimmedChecks=0
ThisActiveTime=0
LastDimmedTime=0
LastActiveCheck=""
LastDimStarted=""
ActiveSleepTime=0
ShortCount=0
NextActiveCheck=""
LastDimEnded=""
UpdateStats () {
tput sc # Save Cursor
echo -e "\033[36m" # Start cyan text
PrintDur 6 16 "$TotalActive"
PrintDur 6 50 "$TotalDimmed"
PrintDig 7 16 "$ActiveCount" "cycles"
PrintDig 7 50 "$DimmedCount" "cycles"
PrintDig 8 16 "$ActiveChecks" "checks"
PrintDig 8 50 "$DimmedChecks" "checks"
PrintDur 10 16 "$ThisActiveTime"
PrintDur 10 50 "$LastDimmedTime"
PrintStr 11 16 "$LastActiveCheck"
PrintStr 11 50 "$LastDimStarted"
PrintStr 12 16 "$ActiveSleepTime Seconds"
PrintDig 12 50 "$ShortCount" "pause/plays"
PrintStr 13 16 "$NextActiveCheck"
PrintStr 13 50 "$LastDimEnded"
echo -e "\033[0m" # End cyan text
tput rc # Restore cursor
}
UpdateStats
SetBrightness () {
# Parm 1: XrandrMonitor Name
# Parm 2: Math Brigthness Value
local MON CurrBright
MON="$1"
MathBright="$2"
[[ "${MathBright:0:1}" == "-" ]] && MathBright=0 # Negative not allowed
[[ "$MathBright" -gt 999 ]] && MathBright=999 # Can't go over 9.99
if [[ "${#MathBright}" -eq 3 ]] ; then
MathBright="$MathBright"000 # Pad with lots of zeros
CurrBright="${MathBright:0:1}.${MathBright:1:2}"
elif [[ "${#MathBright}" -eq 1 ]] ; then
CurrBright=".0$MathBright"
else
MathBright="$MathBright"000 # Pad with lots of zeros
CurrBright=".${MathBright:0:2}"
fi
# Even if brigthness hasn't changed we want to set it each time so
# that `xrandr` will lag sleep cycle by 25 milliseconds
if [[ $CurrBright == ".0" ]] ; then
xrandr --output "$MON" --off
else
xrandr --output "$MON" --brightness "$CurrBright" # Set new brightness
fi
} # SetBrightness
GetCurrBright () {
# Call this before starting to fade monitor. Parm1: Monitor Xrandr name
# Setup for global variables failure
MonMathBright="0"
MonCurrBright="0.0"
MonStatus="Disconnected"
[[ $1 == "" ]] && return
local CurrBright Left Right
CurrBright=$( xrandr --verbose --current | \
grep ^"$1 connected" -A5 | tail -n1 )
[[ $CurrBright == "" ]] && { echo "$1 Monitor not found in xorg"; return; }
MonStatus="Connected"
MonCurrBright="${CurrBright##* }" # Get brightness level with decimal place
Left=${MonCurrBright%%"."*} # Extract left of decimal point
Right=${MonCurrBright#*"."} # Extract right of decimal point
[[ "$Left" != 0 ]] && MonMathBright="$Left"00 # 1.0 becomes "100"
[[ "${#Right}" -eq 1 ]] && Right="$Right"0 # 0.5 becomes "50"
MonMathBright=$(( MonMathBright + Right ))
# ((Debug)) && echo "$MonName Starting brightness: $MonMathBright"
} # GetCurrBright
ConvertSeconds () {
# Credit: https://stackoverflow.com/a/12199798/6929343
local h m s
((h=${1}/3600))
((m=(${1}%3600)/60))
((s=${1}%60))
printf "Monitor(s) dimmed for: "
[[ $h -gt 0 ]] && printf "%d Hour(s) " $h
[[ $m -gt 0 ]] && printf "%d Minute(s) " $m
printf "%2d Second(s)\n" $s
} # ConvertSeconds
IgnoreShortWake () {
# If this was just an accidental mouse movement or a singe Enter key to
# pause / play movie then return false (1).
local LastElapsed ShortTime
LastElapsed=$(xprintidle)
while true ; do
sleep .1
ShortTime=$(xprintidle)
[[ $ShortTime -lt "$LastElapsed" ]] && return 0 # Real wakeup
# User clicked play/pausse, incrment count and go back to sleep
[[ $ShortTime -ge 3000 ]] && { (( ShortCount++ )); return 1; }
LastElapsed="$ShortTime"
done
} # IgnoreShortWake
BrightenMonitors () {
# If short mouse movement or single key press go back to sleep
IgnoreShortWake
[[ "$?" == "1" ]] && return 1 # Monitors not brightened
# How long were we dimmed for?
DimmingEnded="$SECONDS"
DimmingDuration=$(( DimmingEnded - DimmingStarted ))
TotalDimmed=$(( TotalDimmed + DimmingDuration ))
(( ActiveCount++ ))
ThisActiveTime=0
# Turn monitor on and slowly raise brightness to saved setting
[[ "$BACK" != "" && "$BackOff" == true ]] && \
echo 0 > "/sys/class/backlight/$BACK/bl_power"
BackOff=false
local i m LastPercent NewMathBright
LastPercent=0
for (( m = 0 ; m < MonArrCnt ; m=m+MON_COL_CNT )); do #loop for each monitor
GetByNdx "$m"
[[ $MonStatus == Disconnected ]] && continue
# If dimming interrupted, start from last percentage and not 0%
[[ $MonPercent -gt "$LastPercent" ]] && LastPercent="$MonPercent"
done
if ((Debug)) ; then
echo Starting percentage: "$LastPercent"
ConvertSeconds "$DimmingDuration"
fi
# Brighten by increments of 4% for quicker waking
for (( i = LastPercent ; i <= 100 ; i=i+4 )); do # loop from 0% to 100%
[[ $i -ge 96 ]] && i=100 # If 96, next loop will be 100
for (( m = 0 ; m < MonArrCnt ; m=m+MON_COL_CNT )); do #loop for each monitor
GetByNdx "$m"
[[ $MonStatus == Disconnected ]] && continue
[[ $MonMathBright -eq 0 ]] && MonMathBright=1
NewMathBright=$(( MonMathBright * i / 100 ))
SetBrightness "$MonName" "$NewMathBright"
SetByNdx "$m"
sleep "$WAKE_SLEEP" # Very quick increase, so smaller sleep
done
done
LastDimEnded=$(date +'%a %I:%M:%S %P')
return 0 # Monitors were brigthened
} # BrightenMonitors
DimMonitors () {
DimmingStarted="$SECONDS"
LastDimmedTime=0
(( DimmedCount++ ))
local i m NewMathBright Elapsed
for (( m = 0 ; m < MonArrCnt ; m=m+MON_COL_CNT )); do #loop for each monitor
GetByNdx "$m"
# Get starting full brightness level, blank monitor name returns zeros
GetCurrBright "$MonName"
SetByNdx "$m"
done
# Dim by increments of 1% for slow fading
for (( i = 100 ; i >= 0 ; i-- )); do # loop from 100% to 0% brightness
for (( m = 0 ; m < MonArrCnt ; m=m+MON_COL_CNT )); do #loop for each monitor
GetByNdx "$m"
[[ $MonStatus == Disconnected ]] && continue
NewMathBright=$(( MonMathBright * i / 100 ))
SetBrightness "$MonName" "$NewMathBright"
MonPercent="$i"
SetByNdx "$m"
done
sleep "$FADE_SLEEP" # slowly dim so longer sleep
Elapsed=$(xprintidle)
[[ $Elapsed -lt 2000 ]] && return
done
# Completely turn off laptop's backlight for "full black"
[[ "$BACK" != "" ]] && echo 4 > "/sys/class/backlight/$BACK/bl_power"
BackOff=true
LastDimStarted=$(date +'%a %I:%M:%S %P')
} # DimMonitors
GetByNdx () {
# Parm1 = index number, 0 = first monitor array entry
MonNumber="${MonArr[$1]}" # 3rd party monitor number, eg "3"
MonName="${MonArr[$1+1]}" # Xrandr Monitor name, eg "DP-1-1"
MonStatus="${MonArr[$1+2]}" # Xrandr Connected/Disconnected
MonCurrBright="${MonArr[$1+3]}" # Value when dimming first starts eg 1.00
MonMathBright="${MonArr[$1+4]}" # Math implied decimal 100 = 1.00, 50 = .5
MonPercent="${MonArr[$1+5]}" # Last percentage brightness set
} # GetByNdx
SetByNdx () {
# Parm1 = index number, 0 = first monitor array entry
MonArr[$1]="$MonNumber" # 3rd party monitor number, eg "3"
MonArr[$1+1]="$MonName" # Xrandr Monitor name, eg "DP-1-1"
MonArr[$1+2]="$MonStatus" # Xrandr Connected/Disconnected
MonArr[$1+3]="$MonCurrBright" # Value when dimming first starts eg 1.00
MonArr[$1+4]="$MonMathBright" # Implied decimal 100 = 1.00, 50 = .5
MonArr[$1+5]="$MonPercent" # Last percentage brightness set
} # SetByNdx
InitializeMonArr () {
# Initialize arrays with Xrandr name, status, curret bright, math bright, %
MonArr=()
MonArr+=( "1" "$MON1" "Cconnected" "1.0" "100" "0" )
MonArr+=( "2" "$MON2" "Disconnected" ".0" "0" "0" )
MonArr+=( "3" "$MON3" "Connected" "1.0" "100" "0" )
MON_COL_CNT=6
MonArrCnt="${#MonArr[@]}"
# Dummy calls, but may not be necessary, test with delete later
GetByNdx 0
SetByNdx 0
} # InitializeMonArr
clear
PaintStats
Dimmed=false
InitializeMonArr
if ((Debug)) ; then
echo ""
echo "$(date +'%A %I:%M:%S %P') Starting movie.sh"
echo ""
echo "Monitor Array Dump: #, Name, Curr Bright, Math Bright, Last Percent"
echo "${MonArr[*]}"
echo ""
fi
Loop until CTRL + C
while true ; do
UpdateStats
Elapsed=$(xprintidle)
if [[ $Elapsed -lt "$TIME_TO_WAKE" ]] ; then
if [[ $Dimmed == true ]] ; then
# ((Debug)) && echo -e $'\n'"$(date) Wake after: $Elapsed milliseconds"
TotalDimmed=$(( Elapsed / 1000 + TotalDimmed ))
(( DimmedCount++ ))
BrightenMonitors
if [[ "$?" == "0" ]] ; then
EnableAutoBright
Dimmed=false
else
Elapsed=0 # Calculate new full sleep cycle below
fi
fi
elif [[ $Elapsed -gt "$TIME_TO_FADE" ]] ; then
if [[ $Dimmed == false ]] ; then
# ((Debug)) && echo -e $'\n'"$(date) Fade after: $Elapsed milliseconds"
TotalActive=$(( Elapsed / 1000 + TotalActive ))
Dimmed=true
DisableAutoBright
DimMonitors
continue # Double check in case mouse moved during fade.
fi
fi
if [[ "$Dimmed" == true ]] ; then
# Be prepared to respond relatively instantly to mouse movement
sleep 1
(( DimmedChecks++ ))
DimmedTime=$(( DimmedTime + 1 ))
LastDimmedTime=$(( LastDimmedTime + 1 ))
else
# sleep until time to test for monitor fade
SleepTime=$(( (TIME_TO_FADE - Elapsed + 1000) / 1000 ))
[[ "$SleepTime" -lt 1 ]] && SleepTime=1
# ((Debug)) && echo "$(date) Sleeping until next fade check: $SleepTime seconds"
LastActiveCheck=$(date +'%a %I:%M:%S %P')
ActiveSleepTime=$SleepTime
NextActiveCheck=$(date +'%a %I:%M:%S %P' --date "$SleepTime seconds")
ActiveTime=$(( ActiveTime + SleepTime ))
TotalActive=$(( TotalActive + SleepTime ))
(( ActiveChecks++ ))
ThisActiveTime=$(( ThisActiveTime + SleepTime ))
UpdateStats
sleep "$SleepTime"
fi
done
