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@skempken
Last active May 11, 2023 00:48
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use AppleScript version "2.4" -- Yosemite (10.10) or later
use framework "Foundation"
use framework "AppKit"
use scripting additions
tell application "System Settings"
activate
current application's NSWorkspace's sharedWorkspace()'s openURL:(current application's NSURL's URLWithString:"x-apple.systempreferences:com.apple.Displays-Settings.extension")
delay 0.5
tell application "System Events"
tell process "System Settings"
key code 48
key code 48
key code 48
key code 123
delay 0.5
-- activate hdr on left monitor
set hdr to checkbox 1 of group 3 of scroll area 2 of group 1 of group 2 of splitter group 1 of group 1 of window "Displays" of application process "System Settings" of application "System Events"
tell hdr
if value is 0 then click it
end tell
-- switch to right monitor by key navigation. Actions like "click" are not invocable on the buttons.
-- hit "tab" (key code 48) three times, it's the only way to be sure ;-)
-- hit "right" to select the right monitor
key code 124
delay 0.5
-- do it again
set hdr to checkbox 1 of group 3 of scroll area 2 of group 1 of group 2 of splitter group 1 of group 1 of window "Displays" of application process "System Settings" of application "System Events"
tell hdr
if value is 0 then click it
end tell
end tell
end tell
quit
end tell
@alin23
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alin23 commented Mar 18, 2023

I have this done in Swift here, using the private MonitorPanel.framework: https://github.com/alin23/mac-utils#togglehdr

No need for scripting the UI anymore ^_^

I also provide it as an Apple Shortcut in 🌕 Lunar in case you already have that installed:

toggle hdr shortcut

@skempken
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skempken commented Mar 18, 2023

@alin23 awesome, thank you! I dumbed down your Swift script even a bit, so that it just activates HDR where applicable in a "fire & forget" fashion. This way, I can directly call it from the Shortcuts app. Works great.

EnableHDR.swift

You could also give a heads up to the displayplacer guys at jakehilborn/displayplacer#27, given that the one thing stopping them from adding HDR support to this tool is lack of a "known" API to control HDR settings.

@anarchy89
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I have this done in Swift here, using the private MonitorPanel.framework: https://github.com/alin23/mac-utils#togglehdr

No need for scripting the UI anymore ^_^

I also provide it as an Apple Shortcut in 🌕 Lunar in case you already have that installed:

toggle hdr shortcut

How do I use your program? Do I have to compile it into a program?

@alin23
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alin23 commented Mar 18, 2023

If you know how to use the command-line, you can download the compiled binary and just run it:

bin="$HOME/.bin/ToggleHDR"

if [[ ! -d "$HOME/.bin" ]]; then
    mkdir -p -m 0755 "$HOME/.bin"
fi

if [[ ! -f $bin ]]; then
    curl -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/alin23/mac-utils/main/bin/$(basename $bin) -o $bin;
    chmod +x $bin;
fi

$HOME/.bin/ToggleHDR

Which will output something similar to:

ID	UUID                             		HDR Control		Name
1	37D8832A-2D66-02CA-B9F7-8F30A301B230	false     	 	Built-in Liquid Retina XDR Display
2	3B300CA4-8F5F-4E77-A757-CFD72454C30A	true     	 	LG Ultrafine

Usage: $HOME/.bin/ToggleHDR <id-uuid-or-name>

If you're not comfortable with the command-line, I advise downloading Lunar from https://lunar.fyi/ and using the Toggle HDR action through Apple Shortcuts.

Here's an already made shortcut to get started:

add to shortcuts button

@skempken
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skempken commented Mar 18, 2023

Well, the adapted "fire & forget" version would still need to be compiled.

  • install Xcode
  • clone the repo (git clone git@github.com:skempken/mac-utils.git)
  • run make
  • find the binary in ./bin/EnableHDR
  • create a Shortcut with a single Shell script action, running the binary from the previous step
  • profit 😉

@anarchy89
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@alin23 your program does a toggle, i was wondering if it was possible to a force on, so if it was on, it would be left alone, but if it was off, it would be turned on.. is that possible?

@alin23
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alin23 commented Mar 20, 2023

@alin23 your program does a toggle, i was wondering if it was possible to a force on, so if it was on, it would be left alone, but if it was off, it would be turned on.. is that possible?

Yes, I just added that a few minutes ago. You can download the updated binary.

@anarchy89
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Well, the adapted "fire & forget" version would still need to be compiled.

  • install Xcode
  • clone the repo (git clone git@github.com:skempken/mac-utils.git)
  • run make
  • find the binary in ./bin/EnableHDR
  • create a Shortcut with a single Shell script action, running the binary from the previous step
  • profit 😉

how do i do this, his script requires the uuid of the monitor, so it needs an argument.

@anarchy89
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@alin23 your program does a toggle, i was wondering if it was possible to a force on, so if it was on, it would be left alone, but if it was off, it would be turned on.. is that possible?

Yes, I just added that a few minutes ago. You can download the updated binary.

Hi, sorry, the ToggleHDR binary still does a toggle action. Not force on.

@skempken
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skempken commented Mar 20, 2023

@alin23 See here for the "fire & forget" mode binary, which just turns on HDR on all applicable monitors, no questions asked: https://github.com/skempken/mac-utils/blob/enableHDR/bin/EnableHDR

@anarchy89
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@skempken it works perfectly, do you mind sharing the code so that I can just save my UUID into the program and compile it?

@alin23
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alin23 commented Mar 20, 2023

@alin23 your program does a toggle, i was wondering if it was possible to a force on, so if it was on, it would be left alone, but if it was off, it would be turned on.. is that possible?

Yes, I just added that a few minutes ago. You can download the updated binary.

Hi, sorry, the ToggleHDR binary still does a toggle action. Not force on.

Most likely you haven't updated the binary. See below how it works:

Running without arguments (shows help)

> ToggleHDR

ID  UUID                                    Supports HDR    HDR Enabled     Name
1   37D8832A-2D66-02CA-B9F7-8F30A301B230    false           false           Built-in Liquid Retina XDR Display
2   3B300CA4-8F5F-4E77-A757-CFD72454C30A    true            false           LG Ultrafine

Usage: ToggleHDR [id/uuid/name/all] [on/off]

Running with the on argument (enables HDR for all displays)

> ToggleHDR on

ID  UUID                                    Supports HDR    HDR Enabled     Name
1   37D8832A-2D66-02CA-B9F7-8F30A301B230    false           false           Built-in Liquid Retina XDR Display
2   3B300CA4-8F5F-4E77-A757-CFD72454C30A    true            true            LG Ultrafine

Enabling HDR for LG Ultrafine [ID: 2]

@skempken
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@skempken it works perfectly, do you mind sharing the code so that I can just save my UUID into the program and compile it?

See this PR alin23/mac-utils#5

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