08 February 2012

Option-Command-Control-8

If you have a Mac and have never tried that key combination, do it once just for fun.  It inverts the colors on your screen.

Interestingly, when I try to take a screencap of the result, the result is a non-inverted positive image, so screencaps for some reason don't capture the effect.

Does this work on a PC?  Or is there a different key combination in those systems?

Repeat the key combination to reverse the effect, btw.

11 comments:

  1. I use this configuration 100% of the time at work, to avoid staring at a nearly white screen all day, as the website I work on has a white background. Screencap is unaffected because this option affects only what's sent to the monitor. I don't believe there's anything quite the same in Windows, but the magnifier tool has an invert option, so if you really want it you could leave the magnifier open in the background and get the same effect.

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  2. I found this out myself by accident. Spent a really confused five minutes figuring out what the dickens is wrong with my computer.

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    1. One of the kids at school discovered the hot-key to rotate the desktop some time before the teachers found out how to put it back. That was a lopsided day until I managed to get round to all the machines and turn off the hotkeys in the video driver.

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  3. ctrl+alt+right arrow

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    1. No. It doesn't do anything. Nor does shift+ctrl+alt+8.

      I feel so inferior now.

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    2. very funny. but i did find myself tilting my head for a few seconds until i reasoned out that that combo with the up arrow would fix it. can't wait to do the coworkers computers tomorrow!

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    3. It depends on whether you have the hot-keys enabled. On quite a few PC video drivers it turns the display sideways.

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    4. depends on the video card (only works with nvidia)

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  4. This effect is also known as Kitten On The Keys...as in that's what can happen when. I learned that when I called a friend who's a tech to help me figure out how to reverse it.

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  5. This is good to know--it makes your "votes so far" re the Pew poll MUCH easier to read! I can also see using it when I wake up and can't get back to sleep and so go to the computer, only to be blinded by how bright the screen is. Thanks!

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