Add "blank screen now" option

[Nicolò Chieffo]

Binary package hint: gnome-power-manager

It would be great to have a "blank screen now" option to save power, wither in gnome-power-manager applet or indicator applet session

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.10
Package: gnome-power-manager 2.30.0-0ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.34-5.14-generic 2.6.34
Uname: Linux 2.6.34-5-generic x86_64
Architecture: amd64
Date: Sun Jun 6 00:18:16 2010
GnomeSessionIdleInhibited: No
GnomeSessionInhibitors: None
GnomeSessionSuspendInhibited: No
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS "Lucid Lynx" - Release amd64 (20100429)
MachineType: Dell Inc. Latitude E6400
PccardctlIdent:
 Socket 0:
   no product info available
PccardctlStatus:
 Socket 0:
   no card
ProcCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.34-5-generic root=UUID=c65f05e4-8a87-4923-89ff-929c3811ba3c ro quiet splash
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en_US:en
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=it_IT.utf8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: gnome-power-manager
dmi.bios.date: 12/21/2009
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: A20
dmi.board.name: 0RX493
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.chassis.type: 8
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvrA20:bd12/21/2009:svnDellInc.:pnLatitudeE6400:pvr:rvnDellInc.:rn0RX493:rvr:cvnDellInc.:ct8:cvr:
dmi.product.name: Latitude E6400
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.

[Omer Akram (om26er)]

isn't 'lock screen' kinda the same?

[Nicolò Chieffo (yelo3)]

Lock does not switch off the screen

[Kalle Valo (kvalo)]

IIRC you can configure lock to switch off the screen.

[nick rundy (nrundy)]

Being able to turn off the display is a great way to save power when just playing music, while stepping away from the computer for several minutes while Update Manager downloads and installs a bunch of updates, etc.

I'd love to see this feature added to Ubuntu!

I'd be nice to be able to turn off the display on a Laptop without having to lock the screen. Being able to Lock the Screen and have the display turn off is a great feature. But there are times (e.g., when you are at home) when you just don't need the screen to lock every time you turn off the Laptop Display. It would be best if you could just press a key or swipe the touchpad to cause the display to turn back on without having to enter a password.

[Charles Kerr (charlesk)]

Adding a 'blank screen' menuitem is a question for the designers -- adding also-affects Ayatana and marking indicator-session's component as Incomplete.

[Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt)]

The problem with this suggestion is, what if you wanted to lock the session *and* blank the screen? Would you have to choose "Lock" first, and then "Blank Screen Now" from the lock screen? That would be too much bother. Or would just choosing "Blank Screen Now" lock the session as well? Being next to a "Lock" item would make it seem like it didn't, even if it did. All that, plus the cognitive burden of an extra item in the menu.

The solution is much simpler: "Lock" should always blank the screen *and* lock the session. This is no burden: when the time comes to unlock, any keypress or touch of a pointing device will wake the screen. And this is why, when locking is disabled, the menu item is still there but says "Start Screensaver" instead. <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SessionMenu#Contents>