How can I blank my screen when Vaio Zone is playing music?

[markanstead]

Please can anyone help? I have a VGC-V2M.

Believe it or not I want to blank my screen when Vaio Zone is playing music. This is because I have more than one Vaio around the house and in the lounge, which is out TV-free zone, I am using one as a hi-fi replacement.

When we play music we don't want a picture on the screen - otherwise everyone looks at it and it distracts from conversation. During the day the kids can use it for homework but in the evenings we just want it playing by itself with a black screen.

I have tried putting a plain black picture in the pictures folder and pausing the screensaver but there's a lot of light given out when Vaio is displaying a picture and it's not pure black (you can see a lot of luminescence when the lights are low - it looks silly).

I have also tried using third party software to turn the monitor off with a keystroke. This works fine when it's functioning as a PC but when Vaio Zone software is running it just won't work - it always turns on again after a minute (this isn't mouse wander - I switch both mouse and keyboard off and it still happens). Must be something to do with the software.

If only Sony had put a simple monitor switch on the case!

Any help appreciated.

Mark

[kee-lo_]

I think you just need to turn off the visualisations.

As I don't have VZ I don't know how this can be done

[Igloocharlie]

If you go onto control panel then power options. Tell it to turn off monitor after 1 min.

[markanstead]

Thanks but that doesn't work. Of course it works if the PC is left not doing anything. But the point is that Vaio Zone is playing music, so the power options treat that as an active computer and nothing will power down.

Mark

[drinkfeckarse]

try minamizing VZ and set the monitor to turn off after 1 min

[hldomster]

Turn the monitor around when playing music:smileygrin:

[seb21__]

:smileycool:, öhh.....you could close your laptop.

[hldomster]

This is a desktop I think Seb. Mind you, my volume from the speakers is about halfed when i close the lid, well if I could close it at the moment:smileytongue:

[seb21__]

True:smileygrin:

But he could turn the chair around. Then he could see that the monitor is on.:smileygrin:

BTW, in the "energy administration characteristics" (ROFL, here in german word : Energieverwaltungseigenschaften. Is that a long word?:smileylaugh: ) You can configure that the display switch off, if you don't use the mouse or any button.

[kee-lo_]

I wouldn't close it, you'll have excess heat