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How do i turn the screen brightness all the way off???

Gravydog316

Gravydog316

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 17, 2016
564
200
Canada
Before in earlier macOS, i could turn the screen brightness all the way down to nothing...
the last few macOS software versions i can't...

just want to turn off because i am using an hdmi adapter to watch stuff on my TV, & i don't need my iMac screen on

i can turn the brightness down on the iMac,
but not all the way now due to macOS.

(using a screensaver doesn't work, since it shows on the tv,
or putting the display to sleep also kills the output to the TV)
 
Gravydog316 said:
Before in earlier macOS, i could turn the screen brightness all the way down to nothing...
the last few macOS software versions i can't...
Click to expand...
Are you sure? I'm running the latest version of macOS Monterey on a MacBook Pro and I can turn the backlight completely off using the display brightness controls.
 
MBPro, and other Mac laptops will turn down completely to black. An iMac, on the other hand, can turn down brightness, but not off completely. I don't remember if that has ever been possible through the brightness settings, even on older iMacs.
But, you can set a "Hot Corner" from either Desktop & Screen Saver, or Mission Control prefs to Put Display to Sleep.
That will make the internal display black. But, I don't know if the internal screen will come on every time you move the mouse, or press a key.
 
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DeltaMac said:
MBPro, and other Mac laptops will turn down completely to black. An iMac, on the other hand, can turn down brightness, but not off completely. I don't remember if that has ever been possible through the brightness settings, even on older iMacs.
But, you can set a "Hot Corner" from either Desktop & Screen Saver, or Mission Control prefs to Put Display to Sleep.
That will make the internal display black. But, I don't know if the internal screen will come on every time you move the mouse, or press a key.
Click to expand...
yes, it changed around last year (? i forget) with some new macOS version that came out.
You used to be able to turn the screen brightness off all the way with the keyboard controls, now you can't.

& using a Hot Corner puts the display to sleep, but also on the TV's output.
(i can turn down the brightness on the iMac, & the TV output is full brightness (as it should be)

& there's a key combo you can press to turn off the iMac screen, but that just kills the output too..


It is just weird that they think people want their iMac display on while also outputting to a monitor/TV ...?
 
MacBook/MacBook Pro, the screen can be adjusted to black.
Not an iMac. Just in case that I was mis-remembering -- booted my 2008 iMac to Snow Leopard (older Mac, older system), and turned brightness all the way down. Well, to a low setting. Not dark, just very un-bright... That's as dark as that adjustment gets, on an iMac.
I think I remember seeing a third-party utility or two that will allow adjustment to black, but the native system doesn't do that.
'Tis one of those uses that you get to discover work-arounds, such as making the screen a solid color, or adjusting the iMac display settings, changing from a mirrored screen to a shared desktop. When you have that set, you will find that you can change the background picture on the TV, without changing the background picture on the iMac. That may give you a way to change the background on the iMac, to make your iMac less bright when you are using the TV.
 
Yes, I did say that Mac laptops can (generally) be turned down to black. OP is asking about an iMac.
AFAIK, any Apple laptop. can turn down to black.
Not iMacs.
 
DeltaMac said:
Yes, I did say that Mac laptops can (generally) be turned down to black. OP is asking about an iMac.
AFAIK, any Apple laptop. can turn down to black.
Not iMacs.
Click to expand...
My iMac could be turned down until recently with a macOS update (i think last year sometime, i forget when it changed exactly)

oh: it changed with the intro of Night Shift
 
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