How to set up a shortcut to toggle on/off the display panel?

AltairAC · 17 Jul 2020

My old laptop Asus K53SD has a very interesting shortcut. When I press Fn + F7, it turns off the display but the computer keeps running i.e. it won't log out, lock, shut down or go to sleep mode. I can press any keyboard/mouse key or move the mouse around but the screen remains off. Only when I press Fn + F7 again will the display turn back on. Description from the manual:

LCD Icon (F7): Toggles the display panel ON and OFF. (On certain models; stretches the screen area to fill the entire display when using low resolution modes.)

Is it possible to simulate this behavior in other computers? I want to set up a keyboard shortcut that will turn off the display but everything will keep running in the background and I want it so that only the shortcut can turn the display back on. Some software I found enables me to use shortcuts to turn off the display but moving the mouse or pressing any mouse/keyboard key will turn the screen back on.

Brink · 17 Jul 2020

Hello Altair,

The context menu added by the tutorial below may be what you're looking for.

It will only turn off the display and/or lock the computer and turn off the display, but any movement from the mouse will automatically turn on the display again as usual.

Turn Off Display cascading context menu - Add in Windows

AltairAC · 17 Jul 2020

Brink said:

Hello Altair,

...

I already stumbled upon your excellent tutorial but this part:

...but any movement from the mouse will automatically turn on the display again as usual

is what I'm trying to avoid. Mouse movements don't affect the Fn + F7 shortcut on my Asus.

EDIT:
The desired behavior seems possible (HP ProBook 455R G6). If I do the following:
1. Control Panel -> Hardware and Sound -> Power Options -> Choose what closing the lid does
2. When I close the lid: Do nothing
When I close the lid, the laptop runs everything in the background but turns off the display. If I open the lid slightly, the screen remains turned off and moving the mouse, pressing mouse/keyboard keys doesn't trigger the screen to turn on. Only when I open up the lid significantly does the screen turn back on.

Basically, I want to simulate closing/opening laptop lids with a keyboard shortcut if it's possible.

Brink · 17 Jul 2020

I'm not sure how to avoid that for a desktop computer.

If security is of concern, the Lock computer and turn off display could be used. Everything will still run in the background, but would require to unlock the computer when the display turns on to resume.

The time to require sign in after display turns off can be adjusted using this below if needed.

Change Time to Require Sign-in after Display Turns Off in Windows 10

AltairAC · 17 Jul 2020

Brink said:

I'm not sure how to avoid that for a desktop computer.

I apologize. I forgot to specify that I want this for laptops. For regular computers, turning off/on the screen manually is good enough. I edited the post above yours with some info.

Brink · 17 Jul 2020

I'm not sure how to avoid that with the laptop open. Hopefully, someone may know of a way and will post soon.

Berton · 17 Jul 2020

It's a feature of Notebooks/Laptops using 2 keys to toggle between the attached display panel, a monitor plugged into a VGA or HDMI port or both at the same time. As I recall the original purpose was to use a projector to a large screen for groups in a seminar, the user/s could have the big screen behind them and watch the crowd while a presentation was running. Our church still has such a projector and screen but out of use in favor of large digital displays. I've used the HDMI port with a monitor to repair/save data on a couple on Notebooks that had damaged display panels [one was dropped and the other's house hit by lightning].