Screen Saver

When playback is paused, the device uses a two-stage screen saver to reduce power consumption and prevent burn-in. All settings are configurable from the device page in Home Assistant (Settings → Devices & Services → ESPHome → your device).

How it works

1. Dimming — After Screen Saver: Paused Dimming elapses (default: 60 s), the screen dims to the Day/Night: Dim Brightness level.
2. Screen saver — After Screen Saver: Timer elapses (default: 300 s), the screen saver activates:
   • If Screen Saver: Clock is enabled, a large HH:MM clock is shown at Screen Saver: Clock Brightness.
   • If Screen Saver: Clock is disabled and the Day/Night: Screen Saver switch is on, the screen turns off completely.
   • If both are disabled, the screen stays at dim brightness indefinitely.

Any touch or new media playback instantly returns the display to full active brightness.

Clock screen saver

An optional clock screen saver displays the current time in large, thin digits on a black background. When enabled, it replaces the screen-off stage — the display is never fully dark.

The clock position drifts subtly each minute across a small region to prevent burn-in. Brightness is controlled independently via Screen Saver: Clock Brightness (default: 35%).

Day/Night awareness

Brightness levels and screen saver behavior adapt automatically based on whether it is currently "day" or "night":

• Daytime — uses Day: Active Brightness, Day: Dim Brightness, and the Day: Screen Saver switch.
• Nighttime — uses Night: Active Brightness, Night: Dim Brightness, and the Night: Screen Saver switch.

This lets you configure different behavior for day and night — for example, keeping the screen on during the day but turning it off at night. On the ESP32-P4, Screen Tone warmth also follows the same day/night detection, so album art can shift warmer at night.

By default, the device reads the sun.sun entity in Home Assistant (sun above horizon = day, below horizon = night). You can override this with any binary_sensor or input_boolean entity by setting the Day-Night Sensor field on the device page.

Custom day/night sensor

To use your own logic for day vs night:

1. Create a binary_sensor or input_boolean helper in Home Assistant that reflects your preferred day/night state (on = day, off = night).
2. On the ESPHome device page (Settings → Devices & Services → ESPHome → your device), enter the entity ID in the Day-Night Sensor field — for example, binary_sensor.daytime or input_boolean.is_daytime.
3. The device will immediately start using the custom sensor instead of sun.sun.

To revert to the default sun-based behavior, clear the Day-Night Sensor field.

This is useful when you want day/night to depend on more than just the sun — for example, room lighting levels, party mode, or a time-based schedule.

Settings

Timers

Setting	Description	Default
Screen Saver: Paused Dimming	Time after playback pauses before the screen dims.	60 s
Screen Saver: Timer	Time after dimming before the screen saver activates.	300 s

Clock

Setting	Description	Default
Screen Saver: Clock	Enable the clock screen saver. When on, a 24-hour clock (HH:MM) is shown instead of turning the screen off.	On
Screen Saver: Clock Brightness	Backlight level for the clock screen saver.	35%
Clock: Timezone	City-based timezone for the clock display. Select the nearest city to your location — DST is handled automatically for cities that observe it.	UTC

Brightness

Setting	Description	Default
Day: Active Brightness	Screen brightness during active use (daytime).	100%
Night: Active Brightness	Screen brightness during active use (nighttime).	80%
Day: Dim Brightness	Screen brightness when dimmed (daytime).	35%
Night: Dim Brightness	Screen brightness when dimmed (nighttime).	25%

Screen saver switches

Setting	Description	Default
Day: Screen Saver	When enabled, the screen turns off after the timer elapses (daytime). When disabled, the screen stays dimmed.	On
Night: Screen Saver	When enabled, the screen turns off after the timer elapses (nighttime). When disabled, the screen stays dimmed.	On