How to know the status of monitor is on or off in python?

Question

I would like to receive a beep notification every 50 minutes of every hour like this:

import datetime
import time
import winsound

frequency = 2500 # Set Frequency To 2500 Hertz
duration = 200 # Set Duration To 1000 ms == 1 second
while True:
     # If the monitor is Black by sleep mode
     if ???:
         time.sleep(60)
         continue
     now = datetime.datetime.now()
     if now.minute == 50:
         print(now)
         winsound.Beep(frequency, duration)
         time.sleep(60)

However, I don’t want to receive a beep notification when the monitor is off because the monitor is on when I’m working, and the monitor is off because it’s in power saving mode when I’m not.

But I don’t know how to tell if the monitor is on or off.

How can I know the status of my monitor?

best regards!

I Solved like this

import time
from datetime import datetime

import win32api
import winsound

frequency = 1500
duration = 100


def getIdleTime():
    return (win32api.GetTickCount() - win32api.GetLastInputInfo()) / 1000.0


while True:
    now = datetime.now()
    if getIdleTime() > 3600:
        continue
    elif now.minute == 50:
        winsound.Beep(frequency, duration)

    time.sleep(60)
``

Asked By: user20598738

||

Source

Answer 1

This question captivated me, in the same vein as the timeless classic "is the fridge light really on if the door is closed"?

In trying to solve this problem, I wondered what a screenshot would appear as if the display was off. So, I tested it out. The idea is that if the screen is black, you can sum the pixels and detect if the value is 0 to determine whether the monitor is on or off.

Unfortunately, it seems like through testing that the screenshot while the monitor is off is not a black screen, at least on my device. You are welcome to test on yours, and I’ll post the "solution" anyways if curious.

The solution will probably need to understand the devices connected and the status of them as known by windows, which I would guess could be tricky in python.

import datetime
import time
import winsound
from mss import mss
from PIL import Image
import numpy

def screen_accumulator():
    #take screenshot
    mss().shot()
    #retrieve png
    im = Image.open("monitor-1.png")
    pix = numpy.array(im)
    return(numpy.sum(pix))

frequency = 2500 # Set Frequency To 2500 Hertz
duration = 200 # Set Duration To 1000 ms == 1 second

while True:
     # If the monitor is Black by sleep mode
     if screen_accumulator()==0:
         time.sleep(60)
         continue
     now = datetime.datetime.now()
     if now.minute == 50:
         print(now)
         winsound.Beep(frequency, duration)
         time.sleep(60)

Answered By: Dan Woodrich

Answer 2

As stated in this old answer there is no reliable way to check the status of a monitor. But i think you don’t have to rely on monitor state. Check inactivity time is a better approach.

Answered By: viilpe

How to know the status of monitor is on or off in python?

Question:

Answers: