Switching Between Work/Office and Gaming Setups on the Same Monitor?

[Northwind877]

Hi everyone,

I’ve been using BetterDisplay to manage my monitor settings, and I’m looking for advice on how to quickly switch between two different setups for the same monitor.

I have a setup for work/office with a high resolution and no HDR, and a separate one for gaming with a higher resolution, different color mode and HDR enabled.

What’s the best way to switch between these two setups quickly and seamlessly?
Can BetterDisplay allow me to save multiple profiles (for gaming and work) and toggle between them with a shortcut or automatically? (for example with the Focus, i have one for work and one for gaming)

I’d really appreciate any tips or suggestions from those who’ve set up similar workflows.

Thanks in advance!

[waydabber]

Hi there,

I recommend creating a Shortcut action and use betterdisplaycli to configure everything according to your liking. Almost all app features are scriptable. :)

https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay/wiki/Integration-features,-CLI

I plan to make more native Shortcuts actions for less experienced users as well. I think using scripting or Shortcuts is much better than replicating the entire functionality and flexibility of scripting and CLI in-app with some custom UI that will end up just as complicated as a scripting tool or Shortcuts.

Regarding running a Shortcut or script when changing Focus, I think there is no built-in solution on macOS due to some strange omission (there is/was on iOS). There are however third party apps that can bridge this gap imho (never tried though).

[Northwind877]

Hi, ah wow. Thank you for your detailed response! I really appreciate the suggestion to use betterdisplaycli along with Shortcuts—this seems like a great way to automate switching between my gaming and work setups. I will definitely get the pro version - thank you very much for the brilliant tool!

Changing automatically with Focus would of course be great, but I'm already very happy as it is. I'm sure Apple will come up with even better support for Focus changes :)

[twau]

I have a script that toggles my monitor between Work and Home mode, and you might be able to customize it to fit your needs too!

I use it because switching from DisplayPort to USB-C while DSC is active causes my monitor to black out. To avoid this, I run the script before my workday starts, allowing me to switch seamlessly between my work and home laptop.

#!/bin/bash

# Variables for connectionMode values
WORKMODE="2562266514927128320"
HOMEMODE="10885762607782563584"

# Variables for refresh rate values
WORKMODE_REFRESH="120Hz"
HOMEMODE_REFRESH="48-144Hz"

# Colors for output
GREEN="\033[0;32m"
RED="\033[0;31m"
YELLOW="\033[0;33m"
RESET="\033[0m"

# Get the current connectionMode
CURRENT_MODE=$(/Applications/BetterDisplay.app/Contents/MacOS/BetterDisplay get -namelike=phl -connectionMode | awk '{print $1}')

# Get the current refresh rate
CURRENT_REFRESHRATE=$(/Applications/BetterDisplay.app/Contents/MacOS/BetterDisplay get -namelike=phl -refreshRate)

# Function to set refresh rate
set_refresh_rate() {
    local TARGET_REFRESH=$1

    if [ "$CURRENT_REFRESHRATE" != "$TARGET_REFRESH" ]; then
        echo -e "${YELLOW}Setting refresh rate to $TARGET_REFRESH...${RESET}"
        /Applications/BetterDisplay.app/Contents/MacOS/BetterDisplay set -namelike=phl -refreshRate=$TARGET_REFRESH

        # Wait 5 seconds to allow the setting to take effect
        echo -e "${YELLOW}Waiting 5 seconds to verify refresh rate...${RESET}"
        sleep 5

        # Verify the refresh rate was applied
        CURRENT_REFRESHRATE=$(/Applications/BetterDisplay.app/Contents/MacOS/BetterDisplay get -namelike=phl -refreshRate)
        if [ "$CURRENT_REFRESHRATE" == "$TARGET_REFRESH" ]; then
            echo -e "${GREEN}Refresh rate successfully set to $TARGET_REFRESH.${RESET}"
        else
            echo -e "${RED}Failed to set refresh rate to $TARGET_REFRESH. Retrying...${RESET}"

            # Retry setting the refresh rate
            /Applications/BetterDisplay.app/Contents/MacOS/BetterDisplay set -namelike=phl -refreshRate=$TARGET_REFRESH
            sleep 5

            # Verify again
            CURRENT_REFRESHRATE=$(/Applications/BetterDisplay.app/Contents/MacOS/BetterDisplay get -namelike=phl -refreshRate)
            if [ "$CURRENT_REFRESHRATE" == "$TARGET_REFRESH" ]; then
                echo -e "${GREEN}Refresh rate successfully set to $TARGET_REFRESH on retry.${RESET}"
            else
                echo -e "${RED}Failed to set refresh rate to $TARGET_REFRESH after retry. Current refresh rate is $CURRENT_REFRESHRATE.${RESET}"
                exit 1
            fi
        fi
    else
        echo -e "${GREEN}Refresh rate already set to $TARGET_REFRESH. No changes made.${RESET}"
    fi
}

# Function to set connection mode
set_connection_mode() {
    local TARGET_MODE=$1

    if [ "$CURRENT_MODE" != "$TARGET_MODE" ]; then
        echo -e "${YELLOW}Setting connectionMode to $TARGET_MODE...${RESET}"
        /Applications/BetterDisplay.app/Contents/MacOS/BetterDisplay set -namelike=phl -connectionMode=$TARGET_MODE

        # Wait 5 seconds to allow the setting to take effect
        echo -e "${YELLOW}Waiting 5 seconds to verify connectionMode...${RESET}"
        sleep 5

        # Verify the connectionMode was applied
        CURRENT_MODE=$(/Applications/BetterDisplay.app/Contents/MacOS/BetterDisplay get -namelike=phl -connectionMode | awk '{print $1}')
        if [ "$CURRENT_MODE" == "$TARGET_MODE" ]; then
            echo -e "${GREEN}ConnectionMode successfully set to $TARGET_MODE.${RESET}"
        else
            echo -e "${RED}Failed to set connectionMode to $TARGET_MODE. Retrying...${RESET}"

            # Retry setting the connectionMode
            /Applications/BetterDisplay.app/Contents/MacOS/BetterDisplay set -namelike=phl -connectionMode=$TARGET_MODE
            sleep 5

            # Verify again
            CURRENT_MODE=$(/Applications/BetterDisplay.app/Contents/MacOS/BetterDisplay get -namelike=phl -connectionMode | awk '{print $1}')
            if [ "$CURRENT_MODE" == "$TARGET_MODE" ]; then
                echo -e "${GREEN}ConnectionMode successfully set to $TARGET_MODE on retry.${RESET}"
            else
                echo -e "${RED}Failed to set connectionMode to $TARGET_MODE after retry. Current mode is $CURRENT_MODE.${RESET}"
                exit 1
            fi
        fi
    else
        echo -e "${GREEN}ConnectionMode already set to $TARGET_MODE. No changes made.${RESET}"
    fi
}

# Function to switch monitor mode
switch_mode() {
    case $1 in
        1)
            echo -e "${YELLOW}Switching to Workmode...${RESET}"
            /Applications/BetterDisplay.app/Contents/MacOS/BetterDisplay set -namelike=phl -protectAll=off
            set_refresh_rate $WORKMODE_REFRESH
            set_connection_mode $WORKMODE
            /Applications/BetterDisplay.app/Contents/MacOS/BetterDisplay set -namelike=phl -protectAll=on
            ;;
        2)
            echo -e "${YELLOW}Switching to Homemode...${RESET}"
            /Applications/BetterDisplay.app/Contents/MacOS/BetterDisplay set -namelike=phl -protectAll=off
            set_refresh_rate $HOMEMODE_REFRESH
            set_connection_mode $HOMEMODE
            /Applications/BetterDisplay.app/Contents/MacOS/BetterDisplay set -namelike=phl -protectAll=on
            ;;
        *)
            echo -e "${RED}Invalid mode: $1. Please use 1 for Workmode or 2 for Homemode.${RESET}"
            exit 1
            ;;
    esac
}

# If a command-line argument is provided, use it
if [ $# -eq 1 ]; then
    switch_mode $1
else
    # If no argument, prompt the user for input
    echo -e "${YELLOW}Current connectionMode: $CURRENT_MODE${RESET}"
    echo -e "${YELLOW}Current refresh rate: $CURRENT_REFRESHRATE${RESET}"
    echo "Select monitor mode:"
    echo "1) Workmode"
    echo "2) Homemode"
    echo -n "Enter your choice (1 or 2): "
    read choice
    switch_mode $choice
fi

[Northwind877]

Thanks, I've managed to do it in the meantime. my code is much simpler - but I only need a few settings :)