Ability to disable display in software

[jhogendorn]

Feature Request

It would be good to be able to disable a display, as in act if it was unplugged.

Other Art

There is an app that does this here: https://github.com/epalzeolithe/DisableMonitor-3.0
I believe https://lunar.fyi/ also can do this but not sure.

Context

I have an LG32UL950 thats a TB monitor on a 2014 MBP via the 2-3 TB adapter. This has a bug (probably in monitor firmware) where the monitor is recognised by the system but it cant display a picture. I suspect this is because it requires DP alt mode which the adapter doesnt support. (It works find if i go via the adapter to a dock like the TS3+). To get around this i plug it in via the DP input as well. However, the TB input display still is recognised by MacOS.

Being able to disable the monitor outright in software lets me use the monitor TB ports without having to deal with the oddity of a phantom display.

[waydabber]

Hi @jhogendorn

I think you should simply make your phantom display a mirror of your real display so it won't really bother you in the display layout.

Lunar can't disable a display - it can hide it behind a mirror and turn the brightness down as much as possible. I'll add this feature in a future update, but since it is quite easy to do this already via the app menu, I don't feel it's that urgent: #474

The method used by the various forks of DisableMonitor does not work on Apple Silicon. Still works on some Intel macs afaik, but can cause problems that are difficult to fix, especially if one disables the internal display.

[jhogendorn]

Cheers @waydabber after a bit of fiddling this worked well enough. It solves the primary issue of losing windows to a phantom monitor at least.

[waydabber]

Great! Thanks for the feedback! :)