Controlling displays

Turn display on/off

This is useful for servers or unattended computers. Install vbetool, then just run the following command to turn off the display:

vbetool dpms off

(same command with on to turn it on again)

Change display brightness

It is possible to control brightness of different types of displays, depending on how they are integrated into the system.

In laptops

Use the xbacklight package.

xbacklight -inc 5  # Increase brightness 5%
xbacklight -dec 10 # Reduce brightness by 10%

There’s also -set to define a specific percentage.

External displays (via DDC)

You’ll need to install ddcutil, and add yourself to the i2c group so you can either fetch the brightness level:

ddcutil getvcp 10

Or set a brightness level:

ddcutil setvcp 10 X
                  └─ replace with a brightness value