What does a screensaver do?

Question

We all use Screensavers for their attractiveness. But what is the actual use of it?
I have heard that if the monitor is displaying the same screen for a long time without changing, it can lead to pixel burnouts. Is it true?

Please be descriptive as much as possible.

Answer 1

What you say is true. Having the same image on your screen for too long (ie a web page w/toolbar/task bar) can cause a permanent image on your screen. You don't want that!

And I do have a plasma screen

Answer 2

Yes, if you leave you monitor on all the time with the same screen showing, it can burn the image into your screen. A screensaver prevents this from happening. If you don't want to have a screensaver running, just switch your power settings to shut down your monitor after a set amount of time.

Answer 3

The pixel burnouts usually only affects CRT monitors. CRTs will fire electrons and burn phosphor through an layer of aluminium producing the pixels on the display. However after a long time, the phosphor will cause discolouration on glass part of the monitor. The only technology that reduces the damage is the energy saving protection. Screensavers on plasma and LCDs can be used for screensaver password security.

Answer 4

Screensavers are named just that because that is their purpose - to maintain a continual change of image.

If an image is left on the screen too long, it can burn images that appear as shadows.

I have read that the newer monitors do not burn as easily, but I prefer to play it safe.

Complex, fun screensavers with graphics, are always running in the background. If you do not have an abundance of memory, they will slow down your movement.

After having fun with the WindowsXP "My Pictures as Slideshow" screensaver, I removed it and set mine to "blank."

Answer 5

I have heard that if the monitor is displaying the same screen for a long time without changing, it can lead to pixel burnouts. Is it true?

this was true earlier. not anymore. new monitors are safe without screensavers. But have fun with screensavers. Click http://www.screene.com and get free stuff in more than one thousand designs. try clock and calendars.

Answer 6

A screensaver is a computer program originally designed to conserve the image quality of computer displays by blanking the screen or filling them with moving images or patterns when the computers are not in use. Today, screensavers are primarily used for entertainment or security purposes.


3D Pipes by MicrosoftContents [hide]
1 Purpose
2 Considerations
3 Entertainment
4 Security
4.1 Security risks for Microsoft Windows screensavers
5 History
6 Underlying architecture
7 References
8 External links



[edit]
Purpose
Before the proliferation of LCD screens, most computer screens depended on cathode ray tubes (CRTs). Images on a CRT monitor are generated using electron beams which are emitted from electron guns at the back of the tube, and manipulated by electromagnetic fields to form images line-by-line on the phosphorescent screen many times per second. In some situations the images displayed on the screen constantly change, but in other cases some areas of the screen, or the screen as a whole, change very little (the taskbar in Microsoft Windows, for example). When the same image is displayed on a CRT screen for long periods of time, the properties of the exposed areas of phosphor coating on the inside of the screen gradually and permanently change, eventually leading to a darkened shadow or "ghost" image on the screen. Televisions, oscilloscopes and other devices that use CRTs are all susceptible to phosphor burn-in, as are plasma displays to some extent.

Screensaver programs were originally designed to help avoid these effects by automatically changing the images on the screen when the computer was not in use (thus "saving" the screen). They can be usually set up to launch automatically, waiting a specified amount of time after the last keystroke or the last mouse movement made by a user. The screensaver then blanks the screen, or more commonly produces animation effects, thus avoiding any "fixed" images. The screensaver remains active until a user presses a key or makes a mouse movement. At that moment, the screensaver closes and the former screen contents are restored, allowing the user to work again.

For CRTs used in public embedded applications such as ATMs and railway ticketing machines, the risk of burn-in is especially high because a stand-by display is shown whenever the machine is not in use. Older machines designed without burn-in problems taken into consideration often display evidence of screen damage, with images or text such as "Please insert your card" (in the case of ATMs) visible even when the display changes while the machine is in use. Blanking the screen is out of the question as it would make the machine look out of service. Thus, in these applications, burn-in is prevented by moving the contents of the display around every few seconds, or by having a number of different images that are changed regularly.

Modern CRTs are much less susceptible to burn-in than older models due to improvements in phosphor coatings, and because modern computer images are generally lower contrast than the stark green- or white-on-black text and graphics of earlier machines. LCD computer monitors, including the display panels used in laptop computers, are not susceptible to burn-in because the image is not directly produced by phosphors (although they can suffer from a less extreme and usually non-permanent form of image persistence). For these reasons, screensavers today are primarily decorative or for entertainment, and usually feature moving images or patterns and sometimes sound effects.

[edit]
Considerations
Monitors running screensavers consume the same amount of power as when running normally, which can be anywhere from a few watts for small LCD monitors to several hundred for large plasma displays. Most modern computers can be set to switch the monitor into a lower power mode, blanking the screen altogether. A power saving mode for monitors is usually part of the power management options supported in most modern operating systems, though it must also be supported by the computer hardware and monitor itself.

Additionally, using a screensaver with a flat panel or LCD screen instead of powering down the screen can actually reduce the lifetime of the display, since the fluorescent backlight remains lit and ages faster than it would if the screen was turned off completely. As fluorescent tubes age they grow progressively dimmer, and they can be expensive or difficult to replace. A typical LCD screen loses about 50% of its brightness during a normal product lifetime, if left on continuously. (In most cases, the tube is an integral part of the LCD and the entire assembly needs to be replaced.)

Thus the term "screen saver" is, in most cases, a misnomer--the best way to save the screen (and also save electricity) would simply be to have the computer turn off the monitor.

Answer 7

it keeps an image (often your desktop image) from permanently burning into the monitor. we have a bell permanently burned into all the monitors here at work because there is a large bell as part of the background for our main program that runs all the time and we don't have screen savers.

Answer 8

I don't know if it is, but to avoid it, go to "Power Management" in the Control Panel. You will see a "Turn off Monitor" function. Set a time for that so your monitor would turn off automatically after the time you've set. The screen saver will appear, but your monitor will turn off after the time you've set in the Power Management menu.

Answer 9

Screen savers are meant to prevent the image on the screen being burned into the screen.

Answer 10

If you had a plasma screen you would need a screen saver.LCD and VGA monitors do not need them.