The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Screen dimming software that actually helps battery life?

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by cloud_nine, Jan 14, 2009.

  1. cloud_nine

    cloud_nine Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    127
    Messages:
    333
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Is there a screen dimming software for xp/vista that imitates how macs dim their screen on idle?
     
    cloud_nine, Jan 14, 2009
    #1
  2. PhoenixFx

    PhoenixFx Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    744
    Messages:
    3,083
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    You can configure Vista/XP power management settings to turn off the display after a certain number of minutes of idling.
     
    PhoenixFx, Jan 14, 2009
    #2
  3. MidnightSun

    MidnightSun Emodicon

    Reputations:
    6,668
    Messages:
    8,224
    Likes Received:
    231
    Trophy Points:
    231
    I think the OP means without actually turning off the display (you can still see the display contents), and only auto-dimming the backlight.

    In this thread, a poster asked the same question, and it seems Thinkpads also have this feature, but not most other laptops.
     
    MidnightSun, Jan 14, 2009
    #3
  4. pixelot

    pixelot Notebook Acolyte

    Reputations:
    3,732
    Messages:
    6,833
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    205
    I use Monitoroff.exe to turn my screen off instantly when not in use. It has a noticeable impact on battery life. :)
     
    pixelot, Jan 14, 2009
    #4
  5. PhoenixFx

    PhoenixFx Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    744
    Messages:
    3,083
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    PhoenixFx, Jan 14, 2009
    #5
  6. Anomaly10

    Anomaly10 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    83
    Messages:
    311
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Just out of curiosity -- does turning the screen of a laptop actually save that much battery? Because I know that beyond a certain point, it's actually more efficient to just leave a light bulb on due to the amount of power consumed during the initial turning-on (or something like that, I remember reading a study on it like 6 years ago). Do laptops suffer a similar phenomenon? As an M860TU owner who tries to use his laptop for class notes, I'm interested in any extra battery I can get =P
     
    Anomaly10, Jan 14, 2009
    #6
  7. Harper2.0

    Harper2.0 Back from the dead?

    Reputations:
    2,078
    Messages:
    3,108
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    The main power consumption of an LCD is from the backlight/brightness. The lower the brightness, the less power consumed.

    If you're only going to turn off the screen for under a minute or so, it wouldn't have much impact on battery life.
     
    Harper2.0, Jan 14, 2009
    #7
  8. MidnightSun

    MidnightSun Emodicon

    Reputations:
    6,668
    Messages:
    8,224
    Likes Received:
    231
    Trophy Points:
    231
    I think Anomaly10 was referring instead to the belief that leaving a laptop screen on would use less power than turning it off and turning it on again, due to increased power usage during monitor startup. I do not think that is the case, but someone correct me if I am wrong.

    I saw solid data a while ago that reported around 40% of the laptop's power consumption is due to the LCD screen, so dimming the backlight could have a very pronounced effect on battery life.
     
    MidnightSun, Jan 14, 2009
    #8
  9. cloud_nine

    cloud_nine Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    127
    Messages:
    333
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Thanks guys. I remember trying power dimmer in the past, but all it is us a screen saver saver with a dark overlay. It doesn't help with battery life since the back light is still at it's original setting (which kind of defeats of the purpose of a dimmer).

    Any other suggestions? The thinkpad software is driver dependent so chances of it working on a system outside of thinkpads are slim...
     
    cloud_nine, Jan 14, 2009
    #9