Blanking screen does not shut off backlight

[YTN]

I blanked the screen of my Almond+, but it looks like the backlight is still enabled / on. I can see the bright square on the Almond+ even though there is nothing on the screen.

Along those lines, it would be nice to have backlight brightness control to select how bright it should be.

Even better, would be an option to enable a clock or some other kind of "screen saver" mode so the screen is actually displaying useful information when not in use (clock, weather etc).

Thanks.

[LGNilsson]

Yes, this is something that hasn't been implemented fully yet. As with the Almond, we're going to add an option to turn off the LCD back light based on a timer setting, much like a screensaver on a computer.
I'm not sure if brightness control can be done or not.

We have a fair bit of work left to do with regards to the software, but we intend to issue regular firmware updates that will improve the functionality of the Almond+.

[cranecj]

I would really appreciate this too.  Having a back lit black screen staring at me all the time drives me a little bonkers.

[galak]

Would be also nice to be able to flip/rotate the screen 180 degrees, so if you have it oriented a different physical direction its still straight forward to use.

[LGNilsson]

That's actually not recommended due to the heat pipe cooler, its been design for the top of the Almond+ to face the way it we've made it or the cooling performance could suffer.

[galak]

I have the router flat, such that the ethernet cables are facing towards a wall, in this configuration the display appears upside down.  Let me know if you'd like a picture to help.

I assume its reasonable to have the router flat like this.

- k

[LGNilsson]

Afraid not, the ports are supposed to be facing downwards and the cooling solution is designed accordingly.
It's unlikely that the Almond+ would stop working if you place it up-side-down, but it would run hotter as the fins for the heat pipe are located in the top left side of the router.
As such, placing it the way you've done, they end up bottom right and the heat wouldn't escape the enclosure as easily and there's a good chance that the performance of the heat pipe is reduced due to the fact that it has a liquid inside it that evaporates and is then returned into its liquid form when the vapour cools.
This is the same way most modern PC processor heatsinks work as well and they should generally only be installed one way or you'll see a dramatic drop in cooling performance.

This is a bit off topic now though...

[hilo90mhz]

The Sleep mode in the new firmware does turn off the backlight! good job guys.