New Steam Deck Update Adds Display-Off Downloads To Turn Off Screen While Downloading Games

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As someone who downloads games on the Steam Deck constantly, I am always leaving it around and using plugins to turn the screen off. It doesn't literally do this, but instead puts up a black wallpaper. I tend to do this because I don't like leaving the OLED screen in one spot for too long, and it saves battery. Well, now I won't have to do that, because there's a brand new update for the Steam Deck for this exact issue!

Today, Valve added Display-Off Downloads. Now, the Deck will default to this new low-power Display-Off mode when plugged in where it will continue downloading whatever game you are actively downloading and turn the screen off. This will not only save some battery life, but will also help to reduce any risk of OLED burn in, however low it already was.

There are two ways to take advantage of this. First, you can press the power button and it will bring up a new dialogue option to ask if you want to continue downloading with the screen off or the Deck will just automatically go into this mode after being idle for awhile. If you press a button during this mode, a new status screen will show up that shows what you are downloading and how much time is remaining withinout going all the way back into your library.

As I mentioned, the mode is automatically on when plugged in, but you can turn it on for battery power as well. When this is done, if the battery level falls below 20%, it will just fully sleep.

Currently, you can only access the feature in the Steam Deck Beta Client branch right now, but it's an awesome feature to have. I am constantly deleting and downloading games, so having this is going to make my life so much easier, especially since I worry about OLED burn in more than I should. This is an awesome feature, and I am so glad it is here.

You can download the update yourself in the System Settings on the Steam Deck. Make sure your update channel is set to Beta or Preview.

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