[ExTechOp]

In my kitchen, I have a Raspberry Pi 3 -based system, running LibreELEC, with an old 1920×1080 computer display with external speakers. I've switched audio output to HDMI and plugged the speakers into the display analog out, as the Raspberry Pi 3 analog output is not very good. I mostly use the device for live television streaming, either from the living room OpenPLi Linux-based digital receiver, or directly from the net. As this old display (like many computer displays, it seems) has HDMI without CEC, my only available choice to get the display to go to power save mode is to use the LibreELEC power saving feature, which I assume pokes the Raspberry Pi GPU directly.

This works just fine for video stuff, the display stays on if I have video playback going on from any source. If the RasPi is left for 5 minutes in the Kodi menu the display switches off and then goes to power save, and can be awoken by any key input. I "prettyfy" the screen saver by setting Shadertoy with a 1 minute delay, so it shows pretty pictures for 4 minutes before the power saving kicks in. Unfortunately, if there is audio playback going on (like, go to Music library and select "party mode") it also seems to consider the device idle, and the display is switched to power save after the same 5 minutes. At that point I of course also lose the HDMI audio.

Would it make sense for the "idle detection" not to trigger while music playback is happening, perhaps having this as a selectable "Settings" option? Would this change need to be made in LibreELEC code, or somewhere in Kodi code?

[popcornmix]

I'm not quite sure which mechanism is disabling the screen.
Note that recent kodi/libreelec builds (you haven't said what version you are running)
just use standard linux interfaces - there is no firmware poking to disable screen.

But I'll note there are settings in settings/system/power saving of "Put display to sleep when idle" which is "Off" by default - have you changed that to "5 min"?
Also in settings/interface/screensaver there is "Disable screensaver when playing audio" which is enabled by default - have you disabled it?

Also do you have a visualization enabled?

If you don't find the solution, then enable debug logging, reboot, play music, wait for display to blank, then post log.
Maybe it will say exactly what mechanism is powering off display.

[ExTechOp]

I'm not quite sure which mechanism is disabling the screen. Note that recent kodi/libreelec builds (you haven't said what version you are running) just use standard linux interfaces - there is no firmware poking to disable screen.

Sorry. Running a Raspberry Pi 3B+ Kodi 19.5 (19.5.0, using Estuary) under LibreELEC 10.0.4 (architecture RPi2.arm) with a 1920×1080@50 BenQ E2200HD HDMI-connected display, and external USB-powered speakers on the display output.

But I'll note there are settings in settings/system/power saving of "Put display to sleep when idle" which is "Off" by default - have you changed that to "5 min"?

Indeed I have, since without this, the screen will never go to power save. I'd actually prefer having also 1 and 2 minutes there, for shorter delays.

Also in settings/interface/screensaver there is "Disable screensaver when playing audio" which is enabled by default - have you disabled it?

Now this is a bit strange — I have no such setting there (and yes, I do have the menu in "Expert" mode)?!

Also do you have a visualization enabled?

As I said in my original text, I normally keep Shadertoy Screensavers (currently version 19.0.1.1 by afedchin) on a 1 minute delay, so that on idle I get 4 minutes of pretty pictures before the screen is switched off. I have tested that when I disable this screen saver, I just get 5 minutes of the idle UI and then the display switches off.

[popcornmix]

This seems relevant: https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=149902

I think you need to enable a visualization (not a screensaver) to avoid the issue.