Ubuntu/Linux force monitor to turn on/off

DPMS (Display Power Management Signalling) for vesa compliant devices can be controlled by two tools on linux:

1. xset
2. vbetool

man xset/vbetool for more details.

To force the monitor to stay turned on or off can be achieved by doing the following:

root@kubuntu:/home/babil# xset dpms force on/off
OR,
root@kubuntu:/home/babil# vbetool dpms on/off