Feature: Dim non-primary monitors all at once?

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Hatefiend

3 discussion posts

Hello DisplayFusion, first time poster here.

I have one feature request (It may already be a feature and I just can't find it). Imagine you are playing a video game and have one primary monitor and two external monitors. In my case, I have a laptop in the middle with two larger externals, all being 1920x1080. The bright white of Google chrome on the left monitor and the bright colors of your desktop background on the right are disturbing your concentration. You could turn them off, but then you can't see something important incase your attention is needed.

Is there a feature where I could press a key and then both of my externals would dim?

Thanks

Mar 12, 2015 • #1

We should be able to do this with a scripted function. I'll let you know when we've got one to test out

Mar 12, 2015 • #2

Ok, we've written a script that will allow you to do this. Here are the steps to set it up:

On the Settings > Functions tab, click "Download Scripted."
Double-click the Function called "Dim All Monitors Except Primary."
Give it a key combination and click OK.
Click Apply.
Try it out

Hope that helps!

Mar 13, 2015 • #3

Hatefiend

3 discussion posts

WOW. Incredible service. Works perfectly. Speedy response. 10/10 you guys just earned me as a customer for life.

Mar 16, 2015 • #4

Fantastic, that's great to hear! I'll pass your feedback on to Thomas who wrote this script for you

Mar 16, 2015 • #5

Zarralax

1 discussion post

thanks for making this. How do i adjust how dark it gets? i would like it really dark!

Feb 3, 2016 • #6

Just change the second parameter in this line, like so:

Old: forms.Add(new TransparentForm(id, 30m));
New: forms.Add(new TransparentForm(id, 100m));

Feb 4, 2016 • #7

gmeek44

3 discussion posts

How do i get it dim all displays (including primary) but not my 3rd monitor (my TV I want to watch movies on)

I don't want to take the time to switch primary displays. I'm not very good at editing code but I see the line I have to change I just don't know how to get the device I.D. for the monitor.

• Attachment: 2017-02-25 07.27.49.jpg [643,950 bytes]

2017-02-25 07.27.49.jpg

Feb 25, 2017 (modified Feb 25, 2017) • #8

Just change line 32 from:

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if(BFS.Monitor.GetMonitorBoundsByID(id).Equals(Screen.PrimaryScreen.Bounds))

to:

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if(id == 3)

Hope that helps!

Feb 28, 2017 • #9

gmeek44

3 discussion posts

Quote:

Just change line 32 from:

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if(BFS.Monitor.GetMonitorBoundsByID(id).Equals(Screen.PrimaryScreen.Bounds))

to:

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if(id == 3)

Hope that helps!

Thank you so much that worked perfectly!

Mar 5, 2017 • #10

Ben_

161 discussion posts

Quote:

Ok, we've written a script that will allow you to do this. Here are the steps to set it up:

On the Settings > Functions tab, click "Download Scripted."
Double-click the Function called "Dim All Monitors Except Primary."
Give it a key combination and click OK.
Click Apply.
Try it out

Hope that helps!

Doesn't seem to work well with nvidia DSR scaling. My displays are both set at 2.5x native. When I activate the script all I see is a small (400px x 400px) square transparency located on the upper left of the primary display.

I'll take a wild guess that line 35:

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forms.Add(new TransparentForm(id, 70m));

That "30m" ... etc, is level of transparency.

Mar 7, 2017 (modified Mar 7, 2017) • #11

Could you attach a copy of your troubleshooting info, Ben?

Mar 8, 2017 • #12

Ben_

161 discussion posts

Log attached

Mar 10, 2017 (modified Mar 10, 2017) • #13

Sorry, I meant just the info from the Troubleshooting tab. Here are the steps:

Open the Settings > Troubleshooting tab
Click the "Copy to Clipboard" button
Paste the text into a text file (please don't paste the text directly into your reply, the formatting gets garbled and makes it difficult to parse)
Reply with the file attached

Mar 14, 2017 • #14

Ben_

161 discussion posts

Oops, should have known.

• Attachment [protected]: Clipboard-20170314.txt [97,082 bytes]

Mar 14, 2017 • #15

Thanks Ben! Everything looks pretty normal there. If you add this on Line 122 of the script, can you send me a screenshot of any dialog boxes that show up when you run the script?

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BFS.Dialog.ShowMessageInfo(BFS.Monitor.GetMonitorBoundsByID(this.MonitorId).ToString());

Mar 16, 2017 • #16

Ben_

161 discussion posts

screenshot of dialog box

• Attachment [protected]: 2017-03-16 21_14_40-Settings • DisplayFusion Pro 8.1.2.png [134,240 bytes]

Mar 17, 2017 • #17

Ok, that looks fine too. Could you send me a debug log? Here are the steps:

On the DisplayFusion Settings > Troubleshooting tab, change the Logging drop-down to "L1: Log Minimal" and click Apply
Run that scripted function and note the time so we'll know where to check in the log file
Send us the DisplayFusion.log and DebugInfo.html files (can be found by clicking the Open Log button on the Troubleshooting tab)
Disable debug logging after sending the log

Mar 17, 2017 • #18

Ben_

161 discussion posts

debug log

Ran the function @ 1727

• Attachment [protected]: DebugInfo.html [151,227 bytes]

• Attachment [protected]: DisplayFusion.log [272,169 bytes]

Mar 17, 2017 (modified Mar 17, 2017) • #19

Jeffen Nilsson

118 discussion posts

i also get some grey boxes on the top left of the primary monitor when i run this script

edit
Ok i used to have this problem a few months back and when i saw this topic it resurfaced.

I tried it again right away and i had the problem multiple times, i kept hitting the hotkey and then all of a sudden DP crashed.

I then started displayfusion again and the problem dissapeared.

Really strange...

Mar 18, 2017 (modified Mar 19, 2017) • #20

Ben_

161 discussion posts

Just wondering if there has been any update with this? Though not a priority.

Mar 26, 2017 (modified Mar 26, 2017) • #21

Ben_

161 discussion posts

Was looking at this further today, obviously I hadn't taken much look into my last post #17

The dialog displays:

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{X=2880,Y=323,Width=2400,Height=1350}

but it ought to read X=2880, Y=1800 ; not Y=323, everything else looks fine.

Mar 27, 2017 • #22

That's really strange that the transparent windows aren't getting set up properly. There are a few things that you can try though:

You can try setting the window bounds a different way. Try changing:

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this.Bounds = BFS.Monitor.GetMonitorBoundsByID(this.MonitorId);

to:

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Rectangle bounds = BFS.Monitor.GetMonitorBoundsByID(this.MonitorId);
BFS.Window.SetSizeAndLocation(this.Handle, bounds.X, bounds.Y, bounds.Width, bounds.Height);

You could also try change the "Load" event to a "Shown" event, which would get the windows to size a bit later, which might fix the issue:
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this.Load += Form_Load;
to:
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this.Shown += Form_Load;

I hope one of these options work for you! If none of those options worked, I can modify the script to let you set up the form bounds manually.

Mar 28, 2017 (modified Mar 28, 2017) • #23

Ben_

161 discussion posts

Searched and applied your suggestions, this is what I found.

Doesn't exist

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this.Bounds = BFS.Monitor.GetMonitorBoundsByID(this.MonitorId);

Already there (line 122)

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Rectangle bounds = BFS.Monitor.GetMonitorBoundsByID(this.MonitorId);
BFS.Window.SetSizeAndLocation(this.Handle, bounds.X, bounds.Y, bounds.Width, bounds.Height);

When replacing (line 103)

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this.Load += Form_Load;

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this.Shown += Form_Load;

The transparency just stacks ~400px sq. tiles on the primary display. I need to kill the running DF task in order to clear the tiles.

Also, there is no change in how the transparency script reacts when changing back to native resolution.

• Attachment: 2017-03-28 12_29_36-Start Page.png [6,867,464 bytes]

2017-03-28 12_29_36-Start Page.png

Mar 28, 2017 (modified Mar 28, 2017) • #24

Ah, that explains it! It looks like you're running an older version of the script, which used the "BFS.Window.SetSizeAndLocation" function. For whatever reason, that stopped working reliably, and we changed the script to use:

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this.Bounds = BFS.Monitor.GetMonitorBoundsByID(this.MonitorId);

If you change the code on line 122 with the code above, and get the script to use "this.Load" against instead of "this.Shown", it should start working correctly for you.

Thanks!

Mar 29, 2017 • #25

Ben_

161 discussion posts

I receive the same error as when trying your suggestions, apparently I forgot to mention that.

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Rectangle bounds = BFS.Monitor.GetMonitorBoundsByID(this.MonitorId);

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this.Bounds = BFS.Monitor.GetMonitorBoundsByID(this.MonitorId);

"This scripted function appears to be invalid."

The script I used is the one downloaded 22 days, 5 hours, 19 mins ago. I'm also showing Aug 15, 2016 12:43PM as the latest script.

Edit:
I just re-downloaded and replaced the script... it now seems to be working. Sorry for the false alert.

• Attachment: 2017-03-30 00_05_15-DisplayFusion Pro 8.1.2.png [19,766 bytes]

2017-03-30 00_05_15-DisplayFusion Pro 8.1.2.png

Mar 30, 2017 (modified Mar 30, 2017) • #26

No Problem! I'm glad it's working for you now.

Mar 30, 2017 • #27

Vizdata

2 discussion posts

Hello, just wanted to say I really appreciate this script.
Even though W10 has multi taskbar functionality I don't regret my purchase. This program is solid and full of features!

Jun 26, 2017 • #28

Excellent, glad to hear it!

Jun 27, 2017 • #29

Pat40

2 discussion posts

Hi Keith,

Thanks for providing the script and keeping this thread updated :laugh:

I stumbled upon this forum as I wanted to create a workspace with less distractions.

Part of it is to dim the screen which doesn't contain an active Window.

So, if i'm writing an email, I'd like the windows/screen on the other monitor to be dimmed.
However, if I switch to an app on the other monitor, let's say monitor 2, this monitor should be bright and monitor 1 should be dimmed.

I hope you get the idea.

This would need a script constantly checking the position of the active window.

Do you think this is doable?

Thanks, Pat

Jun 30, 2017 • #30

Thomas can probably do up a script that can dim all not-currently-active monitors, I'll assign this over to him so he can take a look

Jun 30, 2017 • #31

I was able to put together a script that should do what you need

. Here's how to get it into DisplayFusion:

Download the file attached to this post
Open the Settings window to the "Functions" tab and click the "Add Scripted" button
Copy the contents of the file you downloaded into the window that pops up
Give the script a name and key combination
Click OK to close that window, then OK again to save and apply your changes

I hope this works for you!

• Attachment: Actively Dim Unfocused Monitors.txt [8,483 bytes]

Jun 30, 2017 • #32

Pat40

2 discussion posts

Hi Thomas,

Thanks a lot for the quick response and the solution!

This works perfect. I'm not distracted by the second monitor anymore

Cheers, great work!

Jul 3, 2017 • #33

Mars4

6 discussion posts

Heyo,

Sorry to revive this discussion. Earlier you said if(id == 3) it's possible to dim the third monitor.

In my case, this works for monitor 1 and 3 but not 2 which is my ultrawide display. I would really like to keep that one bright while gaming, while dimming the rest.

Any ideas as to why this might be?

Jul 14, 2017 • #34

No problem! All you need to do to dim both of those monitors is to change the

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if(id == 3)

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if(id == 1 || id == 3)

That way the script will dim both of those monitors, but not the second one. I hope this works for you!

Jul 19, 2017 • #35

AlainCh2

90 discussion posts

@Thomas Malloch

Actively Dim Unfocused Monitors

Thanks for the script it work like a charm....

There is still too much light on it/them,
( and I don't want it dark and unreadable)

Is there a way to control how much "dim" to put in the other Monitors??

Regards
Alain

Nov 22, 2017 (modified Nov 22, 2017) • #36

On line 140, change the 40m to something lower, like 30m

Also, we actually added this as a proper feature in DisplayFusion 9.1. You can configure it on the Settings > Monitor Fading tab

Nov 23, 2017 • #37

AlainCh2

90 discussion posts

Thanks Keith,

I saw it and I use waiting an answer here ...but it doesn't work the same.

I explain ..
The feature " monitor fading - fade non current monitor" >>
If I minimize a windows on Primary... Immediately it jump and light the secondary monitor.
You can move the mouse wherever you want it doesn't light any monitor unless you (blindly) click on it.

The script "Actively Dim Unfocused Monitors " >>>
Always dims the other monitor where there is NO MOUSE.
And if I move the mouse it light the appropriate monitor when the mouse over on it.

(exactly what I need)

I'll try your suggestion

Regards

Alain

Nov 23, 2017 • #38

AlainCh2

90 discussion posts

Sorry to say even with 5m the dimming is the same:

______Copy Begin ____________
BFS.Window.SetTransparency(form.Handle, (form.MonitorId == monitorId) ? 0 : 5m);
______Copy End ____________

Regards Alain

Nov 23, 2017 • #39

That shouldn't be possible, as 100m would be completely black, and 0m would be not dimmed at all. I've tested here with various values and it works as expected. Are there multiple instances of the script running on your system? (you can check the system tray for extra DisplayFusion icons with little green arrows on them)

The "Fade Non-Current Monitors" function was meant to follow whichever window has focus, not the mouse cursor. If we added a new mode that followed the mouse cursor, would that make the feature usable for you?

Nov 23, 2017 • #40

AlainCh2

90 discussion posts

Thanks Keith..

1) oh well.... so I need to rise the number to get near 100, instead I've put 5 :-)

)
2) NO, only ONE instance when I run the script ( no little green things !! hahaha!)
3) Yes it can be a nice solution, great for me, pending that I'm not the only DF user (heheeh)
3)bis even sending not moused monitor to sleep would be acceptable for me. (timing it after a said time)

So Now I'll try to rise the line 140 number to 75m and post back the result

Regards Alain

A)
... put 75 then 175 no difference in dimming...

and while it was running only ONE green thing in notification

B)
with 175 I remembered to "apply" ... and when rerun the script.
I obtained the opposite....
the current screen become black :-(

Changed to 75, apply ... rerun ... DF crash ...
Restarted DF rerun script with 75 then 85... it's working, but sometime doing strange things...

C)

Disabled Script .... I go back to Button pushing :-)

or using the standard fading function.

Nov 23, 2017 (modified Nov 23, 2017) • #41

Ok, yeah, the scripts are a bit unreliable for sure. I will add your request for the standard fading feature to our feature request list

Nov 24, 2017 (modified Nov 24, 2017) • #42

AlainCh2

90 discussion posts

OOOH; many thanks !!

Alain

Nov 24, 2017 • #43

AlainCh2

90 discussion posts

this morning I've got a surprise. I'm using standard dimming function.

The wall paper got split in 3 !!
I hope the pics explain better then me!

• Attachment: wallpaer demounted.JPG [332,762 bytes]

wallpaer demounted.JPG

Nov 28, 2017 (modified Nov 28, 2017) • #44

AlainCh2

90 discussion posts

I did look around if it happened to stumble on the cause a so particukar habit.

Entered window's desktop "personalize" and LO !

..problem solved itself, even not having clicked anywhere....

(strange things, often, doesn't need an explanation to happen or to disappear)

• Attachment [protected]: walpaper2.JPG [190,801 bytes]

Nov 28, 2017 (modified Nov 28, 2017) • #45

That happens sometimes if Windows isn't refreshing the desktop properly. Usually re-applying the wallpaper fixes it, but good to know that opening up the Personalization settings fixes it as well

Nov 28, 2017 • #46

AlainCh2

90 discussion posts

Hello Keith,

I may show you some "indecision" on what monitor to light up by the default option.
After hiding/closing the active windows on the primary monitor, it most often happen hovering with the mouse on the hiding taskbar (windows managed not DF) but also elsewhere for any in-definited reasons.

I've no idea how to describe it :-)

)

This short video show one of the surprising event.

Regards

Alain

• Attachment: 2017-11-29 17.01.43.mp4 [30,432,996 bytes]

Nov 29, 2017 (modified Nov 29, 2017) • #47

Which mode do you have the fading feature set to?

Dec 1, 2017 • #48

AlainCh2

90 discussion posts

Hello Keith,

Right now, after the try with the script we spoke previously, I kept using the Settings > Monitor Fading tab.

Sometime it act strangely, swapping monitor back and forth on an action that next time will not do it.

Difficult to pinpoint, and even to do a video of each singular event, sorry.

Alain

Ps: got one I can film !! Really fun ....hahahahah

Please note the un-dimming of the secondary monitor. "flash in, flash out"

May be is not present in this video .... BUT ....
The funniest is when BOTH monitor get dimmed at once and stay dimmed....
My mind ask ... hmmm.. where I was ?

PPSS: I live in Italy (primary language) but I'm French (a little rusty)
I've already bought DF, but if you need a hand feel free to ask !

PPSS: I speak Italian (primary language) and I'm french (rusty language)
and ... I've already bought DF .. but if you need a hand let me jnow!

• Attachment: 2017-12-02 14.36.09.mp4 [31,127,980 bytes]

Dec 2, 2017 (modified Dec 3, 2017) • #49

AlainCh2

90 discussion posts

two monitor dimmed at once ...

After moving a small windows on the secondary monitor.
It's black so barely visible on the right corner of the small monitor.

• Attachment: 2017-12-03 23.01.02.jpg [584,549 bytes]

2017-12-03 23.01.02.jpg

Dec 3, 2017 • #50

Can you attach a screenshot of your Settings > Monitor Fading tab?

Dec 4, 2017 • #51

AlainCh2

90 discussion posts

Thanks Keith,
Here you are... Fresh from my scrreeennn...

• Attachment: MonitorFadingSettings.JPG [156,372 bytes]

MonitorFadingSettings.JPG

Dec 4, 2017 • #52

Thanks! I was able to reproduce this issue with IObit Uninstaller now. We'll get that fixed up and hopefully it's a generic fix that will resolve similar behaviour with other applications

Dec 12, 2017 • #53

AlainCh2

90 discussion posts

Wow, for sure I didn't get your meaning ...
??IoBit Uninstaller

I have it installed ... is that a problem ??
Thanks
Alain

Dec 12, 2017 (modified Dec 12, 2017) • #54

No, in your video it showed that if you hover the "Activate Now" button in IObit Uninstaller, then move the mouse away, all monitors fade. I was able to reproduce it with those steps, and when we fix that, it might fix other similar scenarios where all monitors fade

Dec 12, 2017 • #55

We've just released a new DisplayFusion beta version and this issue should be all fixed up. Please let us know if you run into any trouble after updating.

Thanks!

May 4, 2018 • #56

AlainCh2

90 discussion posts

Thanks for the Update.
I didn't check if it works yet for the previous issues.

I found this strange thing, and I don't know if it's DF or something else doing the trick...

My primary monitor is clearly defined... and it worked fine for someday after I installed the beta.
1) is a 55" Samsung TV [HDMI] (with 4k not yet enabled) 2) is a Samsung 27" Monitor [VGA]

To day I was checking display configuration to see what I should do to enable 4k, and suddenly all the desktop icons went on the secondary.
I'm not able to understand why.... and how to get them back on the primary :-(

The taskbar are still normally on 1) ... nothing changed unless the icons.

Alain

PS: Attached monitor configuration snippet

• Attachment: Capture.JPG [85,981 bytes]

Capture.JPG

May 9, 2018 • #57

AlainCh2

90 discussion posts

I also did a restart with both monitor powered up ... nothing changed.

As you can see here the Bar is still at his place .. vertical on the primary.

Alain

• Attachment: Capture.JPG [774,181 bytes]

Capture.JPG

May 9, 2018 • #58

AlainCh2

90 discussion posts

Another restart solved it ... no reason given!

:-(

Alain

• Attachment: Capture.JPG [133,389 bytes]

Capture.JPG

May 9, 2018 • #59

V3ctor

2 discussion posts

Hi all,

Sorry to resurrect this thread AGAIN..

I'm loving the dim unfocused function, but what I would love to achieve is the following:

Run VLC on my primary monitor, dim other windows
If I click into a dimmed window, never dim my primary.

Any ideas?

Dec 29, 2018 • #60

I'm not sure that's something we'd add as a built-in function, but we're planning to add some scripting functions for working with Monitor Fading, so it might be possible in the future with a scripted function.

Thanks!

Dec 31, 2018 • #61

V3ctor

2 discussion posts

Hey Keith,

Sorry, totally didn't see this was a feature request post. I was more quizzing if the posted scripts above could be modified in some way to never dim the primary monitor even if I clicked out to a secondary one. If that can be done that would be sweet as heck.

Jan 1, 2019 • #62

Ah sorry, I got confused. This is a really long thread and I kind of forgot about those scripts since we added Monitor Fading as a proper feature a while ago

Are you referring to this script?

https://www.displayfusion.com/ScriptedFunctions/View/?ID=63a286eb-7286-437e-981f-375452efb302

Jan 3, 2019 • #63

Michael72051

1 discussion post

I saw mention of a mouse feature in #40 on this thread, was that ever implemented? I've been googling for a solution for a long time. Essentially my oled is suffering from burn-in, I want it to dim the screen or black it out entirely unless my cursor is active on that screen.

Aug 1, 2024 • #64

It's not something we've added in but it is still on our feature request list so I've added your vote to it.

Thanks!

Aug 1, 2024 • #65

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