Separate Screen Savers/Sleep with Multiple Displays

[mwalter]

I'm not sure if this is the best place to post this, but here goes:

Is there any way to have separate screen saver or sleep settings for individual monitors in a multi-display setup? I am using a 2016 MBP with the lid open with a Thunderbolt Display. I go for long stretches during which I only interact with content on the Thunderbolt Display, and am afraid of the consequences of keeping a static image on the MBP's display. I'd love it if the MBP's display would go to sleep (or a screen saver would activate) after not using the display for a certain period. Is this possible?

 

[deany]

I'm not sure if this is the best place to post this, but here goes:

Is there any way to have separate screen saver or sleep settings for individual monitors in a multi-display setup? I am using a 2016 MBP with the lid open with a Thunderbolt Display. I go for long stretches during which I only interact with content on the Thunderbolt Display, and am afraid of the consequences of keeping a static image on the MBP's display. I'd love it if the MBP's display would go to sleep (or a screen saver would activate) after not using the display for a certain period. Is this possible?

I've always been curious about MBP etc with lid up attached to a display.
Clearly there is a reason but doesn't the Monitor just mirror the MBP?
I have lid down 100% what benefits are there on having lid up?
Is there a setting where you can have say one program on the MBP display and a different program on the monitor.
thanks in advance and sorry I can't answer your query.
Hopefully someone will chip in.
ps
does the 2016 need mains power like the 2015 when attached to the monitor?
thanks

 

[mwalter]

I've always used my previous MBPs with the lid closed, but I got the 2016 MPB and would like to have access to the Touch Bar (sort of seems like a waste otherwise).

I currently have the MBP configured as a separate (non-mirrored) display.

 

[deany]

I've always used my previous MBPs with the lid closed, but I got the 2016 MPB and would like to have access to the Touch Bar (sort of seems like a waste otherwise).

I currently have the MBP configured as a separate (non-mirrored) display.

Thanks for the reply, totally forgot about the touch bar.
I'll read up on how to configure as a separate display.
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT202351
thanks again.
[doublepost=1483130542][/doublepost]

I've always used my previous MBPs with the lid closed, but I got the 2016 MPB and would like to have access to the Touch Bar (sort of seems like a waste otherwise).

I currently have the MBP configured as a separate (non-mirrored) display.

Thanks for the reply.
Can I ask does the 2016 MBP need mains power when attached to the display.
I have a feeling you'll say no, I'm sure I read a MR front page review about battery life and the MBP 2016 was on battery only in Chrome.
thanks

 

[mwalter]

Thanks for the reply, totally forgot about the touch bar.
I'll read up on how to configure as a separate display.
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT202351
thanks again.
[doublepost=1483130542][/doublepost]
Thanks for the reply.
Can I ask does the 2016 MBP need mains power when attached to the display.
I have a feeling you'll say no, I'm sure I read a MR front page review about battery life and the MBP 2016 was on battery only in Chrome.
thanks

Yes, it needs separate power with the Thunderbolt Display. With the LG 5K UltraFine, only a single Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) cable is needed for power and video for both the 13" and 15". The same is true of the LG 4K UltraFine, though only for the 13" MPB (65W).*

*I've seen some posts claiming that the 15" will charge from the 4K when not under heavy load.

 

[deany]

Yes, it needs separate power with the Thunderbolt Display. With the LG 5K UltraFine, only a single Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) cable is needed for power and video for both the 13" and 15". The same is true of the LG 4K UltraFine, though only for the 13" MPB (65W).*

*I've seen some posts claiming that the 15" will charge from the 4K when not under heavy load.

thanks for the reply, appreciate it.

 

[xraydoc]

I've always been curious about MBP etc with lid up attached to a display.
Clearly there is a reason but doesn't the Monitor just mirror the MBP?
I have lid down 100% what benefits are there on having lid up?
Is there a setting where you can have say one program on the MBP display and a different program on the monitor.
thanks in advance and sorry I can't answer your query.
Hopefully someone will chip in.
ps
does the 2016 need mains power like the 2015 when attached to the monitor?
thanks

The external monitor does not have to just mirror the internal display. It can be a completely separate display with a different app or different windows of the same app. Just like having two external displays.

 

[deany]

The external monitor does not have to just mirror the internal display. It can be a completely separate display with a different app or different windows of the same app. Just like having two external displays.

thanks, got the support link
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT202351

Any idea about OPs question?

 

[sidewinder]

If you go to the "Desktop & Screen Saver" preference pane, you will note that with two displays, the "Desktop" pane shows up on both displays. The "Screen Saver" pane shows up on the main display only. This means that the "Desktop" settings are unique for each display but the "Screen Saver" settings apply to both. So you cannot have the individual displays go dark or have the screen saver activate at different times. Screen Savers can do different things on each display, however.

But, there is an System Preferences pane called "SwitchResX" that will do what you want to do...sort of...you have to do it manually.

http://www.madrau.com/index.html

You can use SwitchResX to disable the MacBook's display. To get it to go black, it seems you need to tell SwitchResX to "Set the brightness to minimum" as well. The keyboard, track pad, and touch bar still work normally. I got the trial version to work just fine on my system.

This one is free and seems to work too:

https://github.com/Eun/DisableMonitor

To quit the app once it is running you have to go to about and right click on it in the dock.

 

[mwalter]

If you go to the "Desktop & Screen Saver" preference pane, you will note that with two displays, the "Desktop" pane shows up on both displays. The "Screen Saver" pane shows up on the main display only. This means that the "Desktop" settings are unique for each display but the "Screen Saver" settings apply to both. So you cannot have the individual displays go dark or have the screen saver activate at different times. Screen Savers can do different things on each display, however.

But, there is an System Preferences pane called "SwitchResX" that will do what you want to do...sort of...you have to do it manually.

http://www.madrau.com/index.html

You can use SwitchResX to disable the MacBook's display. To get it to go black, it seems you need to tell SwitchResX to "Set the brightness to minimum" as well. The keyboard, track pad, and touch bar still work normally. I got the trial version to work just fine on my system.

This one is free and seems to work too:

https://github.com/Eun/DisableMonitor

To quit the app once it is running you have to go to about and right click on it in the dock.

Thanks for these suggestions. Ideally, the unused display would automatically switch off after not being used for certain period, but it seems that that isn't possible. My best bet might be to manually disable the display.

It seems that SwitchResX can actually disable the display without relying on the brightness setting.

http://www.madrau.com/support/suppo...itchResX_disable_a_displa.html?TB_iframe=true

 

[sidewinder]

Thanks for these suggestions. Ideally, the unused display would automatically switch off after not being used for certain period, but it seems that that isn't possible. My best bet might be to manually disable the display.

It seems that SwitchResX can actually disable the display without relying on the brightness setting.

http://www.madrau.com/support/suppo...itchResX_disable_a_displa.html?TB_iframe=true

You're welcome.

Look at the link at the bottom of the page you link:

http://www.madrau.com/support/support/faq_files/I_use_Mavericks_and_my_display_.html

It seems that newer system releases have an issue that require the extra step of changing the brightness setting. DisableMonitor does not have that issue or it does things differently.

 

[mwalter]

You're welcome.

Look at the link at the bottom of the page you link:

http://www.madrau.com/support/support/faq_files/I_use_Mavericks_and_my_display_.html

It seems that newer system releases have an issue that require the extra step of changing the brightness setting. DisableMonitor does not have that issue or it does things differently.

Oh, ok. I'll give it a try when I get back to the office on Monday.

I'd still be afraid that I'd forget to disable the display for a couple hours and in the end, may just use my MPB in clamshell mode and give up on the Touch Bar :-(

 

[mwalter]

Oh, ok. I'll give it a try when I get back to the office on Monday.

I'd still be afraid that I'd forget to disable the display for a couple hours and in the end, may just use my MPB in clamshell mode and give up on the Touch Bar :-(

I tried this out. As @sidewinder noted, the display stays illuminated after disabling it via SwitchResX (though I can not move the cursor to the display). It seems that I have to configure SwitchResX to set the brightness to the minimum value, which you can easily configure, though it requires disabling System Integrity Protection.

 

[sidewinder]

I tried this out. As @sidewinder noted, the display stays illuminated after disabling it via SwitchResX (though I can not move the cursor to the display). It seems that I have to configure SwitchResX to set the brightness to the minimum value, which you can easily configure, though it requires disabling System Integrity Protection.

I didn't have to do anything with System Integrity Protection to get the display to dim using SwitchResX.

I would use "DisableMonitor" since it does dim the display and is free.

 

[mwalter]

Strange. The screen didn't dim, which I chalked up to SIP.

I will try DisableMonitor