LCD screens brightness dimming?

[cb911]

i remember reading somewhere that if you leave a LCD screen on for too long it will affect the brightness of the screen. also, under the screen saver control panel in OS X it says to use energy saver to prolong the length of your display. of course, LCD screens will fade/wear over time, but is there any real benefit to using energy saver? under normal use, (and what do Apple consider normal use for the TiBooks?) how long will a LCD display last before it needs replaceing?
should i be worried about prolonging the life of my display?

[Ensign Paris]

I think the main benfit of dimming / screen sleep is that you are saving atleast some power and not adding to human / world problems.

Screen sleep will help save your screen, I am not sure why but I was told that by a guy from Samsug quite awhile ago.

Ensign

[AlphaTech]

Screen savers and dimming the screen do more for CRT's then LCD's. Using a simple screen modulating module/screen saver will effectively do the same on a LCD as the energy saver function does on a CRT.

I only use a screen saver module if I must leave my TiBook on for an extended period of time and the image is not refreshing at all. With display technology advancing as fast as it is, I would wager to say that fairly soon, any/all screen savers will be for the viewers benefits, not for extending the life of the display.

[cb911]

so i don't have to worry about conserving my screen? thats great!!:D

[bunge]

There is a bulb that powers an LCD screen and it can burn out.

[FelixDerKater]

Originally posted by bunge
There is a bulb that powers an LCD screen and it can burn out.

There is a light (flourecent, it appears...) that illuminates the screen (backlight), but it isn't likely that it will burn out for a LONG time, even with daily use. I know of people who use PowerBook 100's for word processing every day and they have yet to have a backlight go out.

Even though they have a realtively long life, they will, over time become dimmer. This would be a reason to have the display sleep during periods of inactivity, but I don't believe dimming the backlight would do anything more than increase battery time on a PowerBook or decrease you electric bill on a desktop (very very slightly)... :cool:

[mac15]

does the backlit goes often, because I don't want my imac to fizzle out

[AlphaTech]

Originally posted by mac15
does the backlit goes often, because I don't want my imac to fizzle out

I have yet to hear of the bulb in a LCD blowing out. One way to have peace of mind, get the Applecare protection plan. That way it is covered for a total of three years. By the time the Applecare runs out, the chances are even a major repair will only be a few hundred dollars (right now to replace the LCD in a laptop is in the $1000 range).

[bunge]

I didn't mean to cause any alarm, because I agree that it is rare. I just wanted to make sure you knew of the possibility.

Personally, I hate that I can't turn off my iMac LCD screen for this very reason, I have to wait 5 minutes for the Energy Saver to kick in. The problem is, sometimes walking past the machine wakes it up and then it's another 5 minutes....

I run FTP, Web, Seti, SSH & Further on my machine at various times, but I'm not always here so I don't need the screen on all the time....