putting monitors into sleep mode
 

I have no idea if this exsits, or how hard it would be to make...


I have MAME (arcade emulator) machine I built into an old arcade cabinet. The monitor is covered by a piece of glass, so I do not have access to the power switch on the front of the monitor.

I need a way to be able activate the monitors sleep mode, through software, so that I can shut off the monitor when I want to. I have the sleep time set to 2 hours because sometimes I watch movies on the system, but othertimes when I am just listening to music on the system, I would love to be able to have the monitor turn off, so I don't waste electricity. But I also don't want to change my sleep timing settings each time I want to shut off my monitor.

Does anyone know of a way to instantly activate the sleep mode on a monitor? Would it be hard to write an app to do this? I'm using win2k.

-happymaan

drill a hole in the glass that covers the monitor, and "extend" the power button with a stick or pole of something. That way you have a way of pressing the button without opening the glass ;)

Alternatively, use Steve Gibsons "Wizmo" utility. http://grc.com/wizmo/wizmo.htm
You can use it to turnoff all monitors to standby mode, which will help with the power consumption problem you were talking about.
Wizmo can also do a ton of other things quickly and easily. The documentation is pretty good and gives a few examples. You should be able to figure it out after a few minutes.

Thanks, that did it. That's a great little app.

-happymaan