Applescript apps to change screen resolution

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Level 1

4 points

Applescript apps to change screen resolution

Hi everybody,

I'm a new Mac user and I just LOVE my new Mac Mini ! I hook it up to my 40'' LCD TV with an HDMI cable. The resolution is set by default to 1080p, which is perfect when I watch DVD or videos in iTunes or on YouTube for example. But it's a little bit too small when I want to surf the Web, use Mail or Office for example (everything that is not multimedia).

I thought it would be cool to create 2 little apps using AppleScript that I could call with 2 keyboards shortcuts that would change the resolution of the screen (1080p for all the multimedia and 1600x900 for work). I read a little bit and I'm able to call the System preferences, go to Monitors and Monitor. But I can't find how I can tell the script to choose a specific resolution. I know it's something related to GUI scripting.

Can someone help me and give the line I have to enter to choose a specific resolution ?

Thanks to you and be well.
It feel so good to be part of this community now !
Apple rocks ! 🙂

Fred
Mac Mini (mid-2010) - 2Gb RAM
Apple Wireless Keyboard
Apple Magic Trackpad
Apple TV (2nd generation)
iPhone 4

Mac Mini, Mac OS X (10.6.7)

Posted on Mar 26, 2011 9:36 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

baltwo

Level 9

62,362 points

Mar 26, 2011 11:12 AM in response to FRCH

Start with http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20040908141042786 and http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=610862

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Answer 2

Jul 31, 2011 11:00 PM in response to baltwo

cscreen is effectively dead with Lion, no? Is there really no way to change display resolution with AppleScript?

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Answer 3

X423424X

Level 6

14,265 points

Jul 31, 2011 11:17 PM in response to FRCH

Instead of doing this with applescripts I recommend SwitchResX. With SwitxhResX you can do almost anything you can think of with your monitors (orientation, resolution, main monitor, etc.) and set up a menu and command keys to switch among your various configurations.

I use it to enable my TV as a third monitor when I want to watch movies, etc. and to disable it when I am not. I set up command keys to switch among my configurations (in addition to the menu) and even have an associated applescript to let me switch the speakers between my computer to tv. SwitchResX lets you do that as well.

It's a unique utility precisely designed to handle multiple monitor configurations.

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Answer 4

Sep 4, 2012 6:17 PM in response to FRCH

Hi there, I'm the original developer of cscreen. I've just updated it with Intel support. You can grab a copy here: http://www.pyehouse.com/cscreen/

Unfortunately, I don't have a Retina display so I haven't tested it with such, but it works fine on my machine.

As always, any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Lynn Pye

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