Resize display resolution using python with cross platform support

Question

Resize display resolution using a python function. It should be cross platform, ie support for windows, linux and mac (it is okay to have multiple cases depending on the operating system)

I have code which I think works on linux (Ubuntu) I am looking for a solution for windows and mac (should support both 32 and 64 bit machines)

def SetResolution(width, height):
    os.popen("xrandr -s "+str(width)+'x'+str(height))

I would also appreciate it if somebody could tell me how I could get the possible display resolutions for windows and mac

my function on linux is this:

def GetResolutions():
    screen = os.popen("xrandr").readlines()
    possibleResolutions = []
    for a in screen:
        data = a.split()
        if len(data)<4:
            width, height = data[0].split('x')
            fps = re.sub("[^0-9.]", "", data[1])
            possibleResolutions.append({'width':int(width),'height':int(height),'fps':float(fps)})
            if '*' in data[1]:
                currentResolution = {'width':int(width),'height':int(height),'fps':float(fps)}
    return possibleResolutions, currentResolution

Answer 1

Below is a solution that works on Windows (depends on pywin32). There are placeholders where you can put in your existing linux code, I'm not sure what to do about OS X though.

from __future__ import print_function
import sys

class ScreenRes(object):
    @classmethod
    def set(cls, width=None, height=None, depth=32):
        '''
        Set the primary display to the specified mode
        '''
        if width and height:
            print('Setting resolution to {}x{}'.format(width, height, depth))
        else:
            print('Setting resolution to defaults')

        if sys.platform == 'win32':
            cls._win32_set(width, height, depth)
        elif sys.platform.startswith('linux'):
            cls._linux_set(width, height, depth)
        elif sys.platform.startswith('darwin'):
            cls._osx_set(width, height, depth)

    @classmethod
    def get(cls):
        if sys.platform == 'win32':
            return cls._win32_get()
        elif sys.platform.startswith('linux'):
            return cls._linux_get()
        elif sys.platform.startswith('darwin'):
            return cls._osx_get()

    @classmethod
    def get_modes(cls):
        if sys.platform == 'win32':
            return cls._win32_get_modes()
        elif sys.platform.startswith('linux'):
            return cls._linux_get_modes()
        elif sys.platform.startswith('darwin'):
            return cls._osx_get_modes()

    @staticmethod
    def _win32_get_modes():
        '''
        Get the primary windows display width and height
        '''
        import win32api
        from pywintypes import DEVMODEType, error
        modes = []
        i = 0
        try:
            while True:
                mode = win32api.EnumDisplaySettings(None, i)
                modes.append((
                    int(mode.PelsWidth),
                    int(mode.PelsHeight),
                    int(mode.BitsPerPel),
                    ))
                i += 1
        except error:
            pass

        return modes

    @staticmethod
    def _win32_get():
        '''
        Get the primary windows display width and height
        '''
        import ctypes
        user32 = ctypes.windll.user32
        screensize = (
            user32.GetSystemMetrics(0), 
            user32.GetSystemMetrics(1),
            )
        return screensize

    @staticmethod
    def _win32_set(width=None, height=None, depth=32):
        '''
        Set the primary windows display to the specified mode
        '''
        # Gave up on ctypes, the struct is really complicated
        #user32.ChangeDisplaySettingsW(None, 0)
        import win32api
        from pywintypes import DEVMODEType
        if width and height:

            if not depth:
                depth = 32

            mode = win32api.EnumDisplaySettings()
            mode.PelsWidth = width
            mode.PelsHeight = height
            mode.BitsPerPel = depth

            win32api.ChangeDisplaySettings(mode, 0)
        else:
            win32api.ChangeDisplaySettings(None, 0)


    @staticmethod
    def _win32_set_default():
        '''
        Reset the primary windows display to the default mode
        '''
        # Interesting since it doesn't depend on pywin32
        import ctypes
        user32 = ctypes.windll.user32
        # set screen size
        user32.ChangeDisplaySettingsW(None, 0)

    @staticmethod
    def _linux_set(width=None, height=None, depth=32):
        raise NotImplementedError()

    @staticmethod
    def _linux_get():
        raise NotImplementedError()

    @staticmethod
    def _linux_get_modes():
        raise NotImplementedError()

    @staticmethod
    def _osx_set(width=None, height=None, depth=32):
        raise NotImplementedError()

    @staticmethod
    def _osx_get():
        raise NotImplementedError()

    @staticmethod
    def _osx_get_modes():
        raise NotImplementedError()


if __name__ == '__main__':
    print('Primary screen resolution: {}x{}'.format(
        *ScreenRes.get()
        ))
    print(ScreenRes.get_modes())
    #ScreenRes.set(1920, 1080)
    #ScreenRes.set() # Set defaults