How to turn off the display via the command line?

Question

Is there a way to turn off the display (enter power saving mode) using a command?

For example, when the computer is inactive for a specific interval, the screen turns off to conserve energy. Is there a way to manually turn off the screen, yet keep the computer running normally?

This is a notebook, so there's no 'power-off' button on the monitor itself.

Answer 1

I think you are looking for

xset dpms force off

However, you need to make sure that your acpi is enabled. You can check this with

cat /proc/acpi/info

Another option could be

setterm -powersave powerdown

Answer 2

I have made a unity launcher to turn off the LCD

sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends gnome-panel

gnome-desktop-item-edit ~/Desktop/ --create-new

It will open a small windows. Enter the following:

Name: turnofflcd

Command: gnome-screensaver-command --lock && sleep 2s && xset dpms force off

You can also choose an icon by clicking the icon on the left .

For more on making launcher see http://www.ubuntugeek.com/how-to-create-desktop-launchers-in-ubuntu-11-10oneiric.html.