[PLUG] power management question

[wes]

I have an odd problem I'm trying to solve. I have an older flat panel TV
that I'm using as a computer monitor for a Linux system. The TV does not
(appear to) support any sort of auto-standby mode when it gets no signal,
so it just displays the "no signal" notice 90% of the time.

Currently I have set it up on a power strip with a motion sensor, so at
least it's not spending nights & weekends on for no reason. I would like to
cut this down further.

I've looked into a number of options. The TV supports HDMI-CEC control
codes, but I haven't found any consumer-grade video cards that implement
that feature other than in a Raspberry Pi type of device. If I could find
such a card, that would be ideal.

I also have a power strip controlled by a USB cable - if there's power to
the USB plug, it turns on the outlets. However, it seems that in kernel
2.6.38 or so, the option to arbitrarily set the state of a USB port (or
whole controller) was removed. So I need to find something in the system
that I can power on/off at will. Preferably something that turns off when
the display turns off. I had thought about cutting into the video cable and
splicing a relay onto the power circuit... but by the time I got that
going, I would have spent more than the cost of a ready-made device that
already exists to do what I'm trying to do. (
https://www.pulse-eight.com/p/104/usb-hdmi-cec-adapter if you're curious)

Ideas?

thanks,
-wes