Screenutil

This is abandonware formerly found at mowlem-enterprises.co.uk. Copyright unknown.

Use it to change screen resolution on a mac programatically:

scrutil s 2880 1800 16

Last argument is color depth.

Usage

The ScreenUtil (scrutil) help page can be invoked using the command "scrutil h". The resulting information is:

scrutil [<option>[<type>]]

Options:

h display this help text

v display version information

n show the number of displays

i show full information about the display(s)

c show the current display mode

d show all supported display modes

r show recommended display modes

s <mode> switch the main display to the given mode

t <mode> set the user's display preferences to the given mode

q exit the application

Mode:

In the set actions above the <mode> is specified as <w> <h> <d> [<r>] where:

<w> is the width in pixels

<h> is the height in pixels

<d> is the bit depth in bits per pixel

[r] is optional and is the refresh rate in Hertz

Types:

The type is relevant only for the i, c, d and r commands. It defines what displays the command applies to:

m report on the main (primary) display only

a report on active displays only

o report on all online displays (online means that a display is attached to the graphics port)

Server Mode:

If no arguments are given then scrutil runs as a server and accepts commands entered on the console.

It runs in a loop until either the q(uit) command or a blank line is entered.

Limitations

The utility scrutil only works on the built-in or main monitor (display). If you are looking to manipulate the configuration of an external display, you must look elsewhere.