iPod video 30Gb screen won't turn off on playback

[prikolchik]

Hi!

I've only been using Rockbox for about 1 hour and most of my questions were resolved by reading manual and FAQ. The only thing I can't figure out is why my screen does NOT turn off when playing music? I start a song, turn on hold via switch, backlight goes dimm, but screen itself just never turns off. Is there any way via hotkey or some settings i can make sure that screen completely turns off when idle? I just dont like seeing so much battery life going down the drain...

Thank you.

[soap]

The screen itself consumes very little power, and is quite readable without the backlight.
A conscious decision has been made to not power off the screen when the backlight is off, as it is felt that the usability loss is greater than the potential battery gain.

Not every device is similar in this aspect.  Many of the color screens Rockbox runs on are dang-near worthless without the backlight.  This flyspray entry may interest you - if not for use at least for background:
http://www.rockbox.org/tracker/task/8523
(note the ideal of stopping WPS updates is different than turning off the device itself.)

[prikolchik]

OK. So it is a feature, not a bug  . Thank you for explaining.

[dreamlayers]

Has anyone measured how much power could be saved?  On the Video iPod, it might also be possible to turn off the BCM when the LCD is off.

[soap]

@ prikolchik - The Apple original firmware does not turn off the display when the backlight is off, FWIW.
@ dreamlayers - I do not know of existing documentation for such tests.  I think you've already been talking with one of the more knowledgeable (and interested) contacts on that front (while working on PP DMA), Buschel.  IIRC amiconn also has some knowledge on that issue.