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By: Paul S Cilwa |
Posted: 3/14/2026 |
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Page Views: 52 |
| Hashtags: #DisplaySleep #MonitorOff #VBNET #NamtiraLib #Win32API |
| A tiny one-click desktop utility that instantly puts your display to sleep. |
| Estimated reading time: 3 minute(s) (629 words) |
Why?
Windows used to let you trigger screen-off by dragging the
mouse to a hot corner. That's gone now. You can still set
a screen-saver timeout, but that means waiting around for
it to kick in. And the keyboard shortcut for locking the
screen (Win+L) takes you to the lock screen, which
isn't the same as just turning off the display.
Sometimes you just want the screen to go dark—right
now—without locking, without logging out, without
waiting. Maybe you're stepping away for a moment, or the
bright screen is bothering you while you listen to music,
or you just don't want to burn electricity lighting up an
empty room. One click and you're done. Move the mouse or
tap a key and the display wakes right back up.
How to Use It
Run the installer (see Download
below). It places a shortcut on your desktop. Double-click
the icon and your display immediately goes to sleep. That's
it. Move the mouse or press any key to wake it back up.
Download
If you'd like to use Manifesto Obscura yourself, you can
download the installer below. Fair warning: because I
refuse to pay hundreds of dollars a year for a
code-signing certificate, Windows will throw up one of
those scary "unknown publisher" warnings when you run the
installer. While I agree we need ways to prevent bad
actors from distributing malware, I'd personally rather
see that handled by law than by private corporations
deciding who's trustworthy enough to write software.
In any case, you're welcome to browse the 2,100+ pages on
this site to satisfy yourself that I'm not, and never
have been, one to intentionally cause harm to any
being.
Architecture
Manifesto Obscura is a .NET 10 application written in
VB.NET with a WinExe output type (so no console window
flashes). It references
NamtiraLib
for its TurnOffDisplay method.
The entire app is a single module with a single line of
real code. It calls TurnOffDisplay(), which
lives in NamtiraLib's SystemTools module and uses
the Win32 SendMessage API to broadcast a
SC_MONITORPOWER system command to all
top-level windows:
Key Code: The Display-Off Call
The app itself:
Imports NamtiraLib
Module Program
Sub Main(args As String())
TurnOffDisplay()
End Sub
End Module
And the NamtiraLib method it calls:
Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices
Public Module SystemTools
<DllImport("user32.dll")>
Private Function SendMessage(hWnd As IntPtr,
msg As Integer, wParam As Integer,
lParam As Integer) As IntPtr
End Function
Private Const WM_SYSCOMMAND As Integer = &H112
Private Const SC_MONITORPOWER As Integer = &HF170
Public Sub TurnOffDisplay()
SendMessage(CType(&HFFFF, IntPtr),
WM_SYSCOMMAND, SC_MONITORPOWER, 2)
End Sub
End Module
The magic number 2 in the last parameter
means "turn off." A value of 1 would put the
monitor in low-power standby, and -1 would
turn it back on. The handle &HFFFF is
HWND_BROADCAST, which sends the message to
every top-level window—ensuring the OS treats it as
a system-wide display-off request.