Ttdfjt

Sometimes I like to watch VLC media on my TV connected to the HDMI port on my laptop and I now have to:

• Start VLC on the TV:
  
  
  • Positioned on the TV by CCSM.
  
  
  • The screen saver is being turned off by VLC.
  
  


• Close the laptop


• Turn off the monitor (If it's on)

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).

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 it's been since a mouse movement or keyboard activity:

sudo apt install xprintidle

Then to launch the script use:

movie.sh

To learn more about the script and how it works use:

movie.sh anyparameter

and debug / trace statements are displayed in your terminal.

Note: When testing, change TIME_TO_FADE from 310000 to 10000 so you only have to wait 10 seconds instead of 5 minutes for fading to start.

The script

#!/bin/bash

# NAME: movie.sh
# PATH: ~/eyesome
# DESC: Dim monitors 1 and 3 after 5 minutes of activity
# DATE: June 27, 2019. Modified June 30, 2019.
# PARM: Pass any parameter 1 to generate trace output
# NOTE: No notes.

# TODO: Increase limit of 3 with array with up to 9 monitor names, eg use:
# XrandrNames=( "eDP-1-1" "" "DP-1-1" "HDMI-1-1" ) # Gives 4 monitors


: <<'END'
/* -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

CUSTOM NOTES
============
Put your own free form notes here for 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

# 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
BACK="" # After xrandr dims backlight will stay on

# All seconds in millisconds, eg 1000 milliseconds = 1 second
TIME_TO_FADE=310000 # 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 configuration file 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 () Disabled/g' "$CFG_FILE"
 [[ $MON2 != "" ]] && sed -i 's/2 # DisableAutoBright

EnableAutoBright () Enabled/g' "$CFG_FILE"
 [[ $MON3 != "" ]] && sed -i 's/3 # 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

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


GetCurrBright () 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 ))

 # GetCurrBright

BrightenMonitors () 
 # Turn monitor on and slowly raise brightness to saved setting
 [[ "$BACK" != "" ]] && echo 0 > "/sys/class/backlight/$BACK/bl_power"

 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="$MonPercent"
 done
 ((Debug)) && echo Starting percentage: "$LastPercent"

 # 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

 # BrightenMonitors

DimMonitors () 

 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"
 ((Debug)) && echo "$MonName Starting brightness: $MonMathBright"
 SetByNdx "$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
 Elapsed=$(xprintidle)
 [[ $Elapsed -lt 2000 ]] && break
 sleep "$FADE_SLEEP" # slowly dim so longer sleep
 Elapsed=$(xprintidle)
 [[ $Elapsed -lt 2000 ]] && break
 done

 [[ "$BACK" != "" ]] && echo 4 > "/sys/class/backlight/$BACK/bl_power"

 # 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


InitializeMonArr () 

 # Initialize arrays with Xrandr name, status, curret bright, math bright, %
 MonArr=()
 MonArr+=( "1" "$MON1" "Cconnected" "1.0" "100" "0" )
 GetByNdx 0
 SetByNdx 0
 MonArr+=( "2" "$MON2" "Disconnected" ".0" "0" "0" )
 GetByNdx 1
 SetByNdx 1
 MonArr+=( "3" "$MON3" "Connected" "1.0" "100" "0" )
 GetByNdx 2
 SetByNdx 2

 MON_COL_CNT=6
 MonArrCnt="$#MonArr[@]"

 # InitializeMonArr

Dimmed=false
InitializeMonArr
if ((Debug)) ; then
 echo "Starting movie.sh"
 echo "Monitor Array Dump: #, Name, Curr Bright, Math Bright, Last Percent"
 echo "$MonArr[*]"
fi

# Loop until CTRL + C
while true ; do

 Elapsed=$(xprintidle)

 if [[ $Elapsed -lt "$TIME_TO_WAKE" ]] ; then
 if [[ $Dimmed == true ]] ; then
 ((Debug)) && echo -e $'n'"Wake after: $Elapsed milliseconds"
 Dimmed=false
 BrightenMonitors
 EnableAutoBright
 fi
 elif [[ $Elapsed -gt "$TIME_TO_FADE" ]] ; then
 if [[ $Dimmed == false ]] ; then
 ((Debug)) && echo -e $'n'"Fade after: $Elapsed milliseconds"
 Dimmed=true
 DisableAutoBright
 # TODO: THey jiggle mouse whilst dimming to stop
 DimMonitors
 continue # Avoid first sleep incase mouse moved.
 fi
 fi

 sleep 1 # Wait a sec until next keyboard / mouse idle test

done