LCD monitors and screen savers?

thewolfe · Post by **thewolfe** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 9:38 pm

LCD monitors and screen savers?

I know that w/ the newer CRT monitors, screen savers are not needed but how about the LCD flat screens?

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 9:48 pm

LCDs don't need a screen saver either. However, LCDs are subject to the same aging as CRTs, they become dimmer over time and use. So rather then setting a screen saver, set the monitor to turn off after the computer is idle for 5 minutes. In short: they don't burn in like old CRTs, but they do burn out like old CRTs.

thewolfe · Post by **thewolfe** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 10:45 pm

Great, thanks for the info.

Vindicator · Post by **Vindicator** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 1:54 am

They dont really burn in, but they can suffer from image persistence. Its not permanent in most cases, but the causes and symptoms are the same (static images on the screen for a long period of time). http://compreviews.about.com/od/monitor ... BurnIn.htm

I've seen this at school, some of the PCs in the labs there have faint images of the login screen that dont go away (these are on cheap Dell LCDs).

thewolfe · Post by **thewolfe** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 9:58 am

Thanks for the info.

Mobius · Post by **Mobius** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 1:47 pm

Krom, I'm not so sure you are correct there buddy. The backlights on LCDs are specifically designed to NOT drop their output until they are very close to the end of their lives. They are more likely to stray from their colour, than brightness. This from a professional friend of mine who has down nothing except sell bulbs of all kinds, for the last 15 years.

It's Plasma screens which definitely drop in brightness over time: roughly 10-20% per year in normal usage, depending on make and model: YMMV.

pATCheS · Post by **pATCheS** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 4:29 pm

It's not the backlight so much as the panel itself. LCD panels degrade over time. When I got my dual LCDs, I gave my dad my old ones, which are now well over a year and a half old, and they look like crap. Their black level is very bad compared to what they used to be. My current ones are almost a year old and I'm fairly sure they don't look as good as they used to, but I don't have a reference for that.

Xamindar · Post by **Xamindar** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 4:01 am

Mobius wrote:Krom, I'm not so sure you are correct there buddy. The backlights on LCDs are specifically designed to NOT drop their output until they are very close to the end of their lives. They are more likely to stray from their colour, than brightness. This from a professional friend of mine who has down nothing except sell bulbs of all kinds, for the last 15 years.

I guess hand held computer's LCD backlights are different then. Because I just bought a new Sharp Zaurus and the screen on the thing is at least twice as bright as my 3 year old zaurus. I remimber the old one being a lot brighter three years ago than it is now.

Speaking of LCD monitors. I have a semi-broken one that I use with my mythtv computer. By semi-broken I mean that sometimes when I turn it on I will get a bright white screen with some colored lines. I have to squeeze the controller chip in the back until I get lucky and it turns on properly. Anyway, one day I got up in the morning and turned it on to watch the news. I then went off to work without turning it off. When I got home that evening I found that the PC had gone into sleep mode or got rebooted and so the LCD had been on all day with the broken white screen. I turned off the monitor and then turned it on until it worked normally. For a few hours after that the picture had a white fuzzyness to it (kind of like a dream sequence in a movie) and the refresh of the screen was terrible. Action sequences on on it were just a big blurr! I turned it off and the next day it was fine again.

So I think an LCD monitor can get a burn in but I'm not sure if it lasts. In my case it didn't last.

Grendel · Post by **Grendel** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 6:27 pm

Last time I checked LCD backlights age by power cycles -- do not set your screensaver to turn the monitor off after 5min, that will actually shorten your LCDs backlight life.. No need for a screensaver at all.

MD-2389 · Post by **MD-2389** » Thu Feb 16, 2006 1:11 pm

Actually, Plasmas do burn in. One of the 42\" TVs that TSS used had the TSS logo burned in because it was on for so long on the same display w/o anything changing. As long as you turn it off when you're not using it, and not leave it on the same frame for hours on end, you should be fine.

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Thu Feb 16, 2006 1:45 pm

Plasma != LCD

Duper · Post by **Duper** » Thu Feb 16, 2006 2:02 pm

then what is a tft?

LCD monitors and screen savers?

LCD monitors and screen savers?

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