What's the point of a screen saver?

[Pngwyn]

Does it actually do anything more beneficial than the screen just blacking out/sleeping?

 

[Tallest Skil]

Screen savers are left over from the days of the CRT display. CRTs burn in, just like plasma, if an image is left on them for too long. Screen savers were designed to "save" the screen from burn-in by having an image constantly moving on the screen.

Now, since LCDs are in everything, the only thing that screen savers do is run down the backlight and shorten the life of the display.

 

[ftaok]

Does it actually do anything more beneficial than the screen just blacking out/sleeping?

Back in the day, screen savers were necessary because computers usually didn't have sleep modes or Energy Star settings. So the screen saver of "flying toasters" would prevent the CRT screens from burning-in.

Now a days with the energy consciousness of society, not to mention the proliferation of laptops, most times I have my screen set to sleep before the screen saver even kicks in. So for me, the screen saver is essentially useless. I suspect that most people are like me.

ft

 

[jonbravo77]

Well, it used to be very needed back when CRT monitors were being used. They had a real bad issue with burn in. But now it's not that big of an issue with the LCD monitors. You can still get burn in on an LCD but it's not as likely as with CRT. The other thing screen savers will do is allow the monitor to relax a bit, if you don't have a complicated screen saver the monitor won't have to keep all the pixels fired up with all the color and could possibly extend monitor life.

EDIT*** I Type slow

 

[steamed.hams]

Screen savers are left over from the days of the CRT display. CRTs burn in, just like plasma, if an image is left on them for too long. Screen savers were designed to "save" the screen from burn-in by having an image constantly moving on the screen.

That's pretty interesting, I didn't know that tidbit.

 

[EricNau]

A screen saver will still protect a modern LCD from image persistence, however, you're better off just sleeping the screen through Energy Saver Preferences.

 

[JG271]

I guess these days you can have it running a clock screensaver or something slightly functional - it don't see much point in running pretty moving patterns anymore.
Still seems wasteful to me.

 

[broncopde]

Rss feeds

I like running a rss feed as my screen saver. It's cool how you can type a certain number to read the whole story.

 

[Mindflux]

Now, since LCDs are in everything, the only thing that screen savers do is run down the backlight and shorten the life of the display.

I see plenty of burn in on LCD's at work here. They most certainly do have a use for them.