# Do we still need screen savers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 1, 2002, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-still-need-screen-savers/121781 "2002-08-01T00:14:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-still-need-screen-savers/121781/21 "2002-08-01T12:37:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Muldoon III \* > \*\*If we don’t need them, why do today’s operation systems come with a dozen or so to choose from? Just for mentality’s sake? \*\* I think this is a case where the solution to a problem was so well liked that the solution lasts long beyond the problem. I _like_ having funky stuff on my screen, I _like_ donating computing time to find a cure for cancer. It’s just neat. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-still-need-screen-savers/121781/22 "2002-08-01T13:33:04Z")
I have heard this too, but never with any authority or technical explanation as to why. I don’t believe it. I have a Dell monitor on my desk at the moment that has the Windows wallpaper image burned in. It’s very subtle, I only notice it when I have something white on the screen like a new Word document, but it’s definitely there. I used that wallpaper for a few months before I noticed. So I started using a screen saver. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-still-need-screen-savers/121781/23 "2002-08-01T13:43:09Z")
Some monitors **do** need screensavers or auto-powerdown. My computer at work is an 18-month-old Sun with 21" Trinitron monitor (not some cheap brand). For the first year, it was misconfigured to have neither screensaver nor auto-powerdown while at the login prompt. There is now a faint, but distinct, shadow of that login box. The admin has now fixed with environment so it powers off even if at the login prompt. But the screen is permanently damaged. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-still-need-screen-savers/121781/24 "2002-08-01T14:50:20Z")
:eek: What? My computer _will_ work without flying toasters? But if I don’t have flying toasters on my computer, can I still eat breakfast at my desk? The retractable coffee-cup holder on my computer still works fine… :eek: ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-still-need-screen-savers/121781/25 "2002-08-01T14:57:37Z")
Years ago I had a monitor screen burned by the supposed screen saver - I had a Sun 360 workstation with a monochrome monitor. The Sun-provided screensaver that you got by default consisted of a “life” game being played with Sun logos. My workstation, and those of several coworkers, wound up with a pattern of Sun logos burned into them because the “screensaver” didn’t shift the cells it displayed the logos in. Those early Sun monitors were notoriously bad anyway, so most of the burned monitors got swapped out when their flybacks went out. Similarly, Tektronix storage tubes, if anybody remembers those, used to have a terrible problem if they were used in text mode too much. The screen would wind up with a visible waffle pattern where all the text cells were. Later Tektronix terminals shifted the base position of the character cells by a few pixels every time it erased to remedy this. IIRC, this had the effect of making the position of text labels associated with graphics impossible to determine with absolute precision - the labels would be shifted by a tiny amount if you refreshed the same drawing. Modern monitors are nowhere near as sensitive. I won’t say they CAN’T burn, but it’s going to take a lot to do it. And, as observed, we have auto-off features. Even if you disable that feature, or don’t have it, you should be shutting off the monitor if you are going to let it sit for many hours, just from the standpoint of power conservation. But what the heck - run the screensaver if you like it. ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-still-need-screen-savers/121781/26 "2002-08-01T15:06:03Z")
Yes, folks, just about any CRT-based device can be “burned” if the same image is displayed long enough. That applies, of course, not only to computer monitors, but to TVs as well, both projection and direct view. Projection sets are particularly prone to this problem because they are typically run at a higher percentage of the tube’s output potential than a direct view set (this is why the manufacturers don’t recommend using them for playing video games - bright colors combined with parts of the screen that stay the same is a recipe for screen burn). Many video enthusiasts are less than thrilled of the use of “bugs” in the lower corners of the screen on network television, displaying the network’s logo, as these could potentially be burned in. To reduce the risk of burn-in on projection sets, other than turning off the set when not in use, turn your brightness and contrast controls down, and darken your room lights. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-still-need-screen-savers/121781/27 "2002-08-01T17:01:42Z")
Screen savers are only really usefull nowadays for password protection or novelty displays. You should be worrying more about the energy it costs to leave the monitor on unused. Just about all computer monitors now have the ability to go into a standby mode. So if you aren’t using that you deserve all the screen burn-in and electricity bills coming to you. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-still-need-screen-savers/121781/28 "2002-08-01T20:01:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Muldoon III \* > \*\*Another question, while we’re on the subject. . . What about old arcade games? Those are color and those have burn-in. \*\* Remember that those things are always on, and they are always displaying the _same_ information! It no wonder that Pac-Man maze is burned into the screen. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-still-need-screen-savers/121781.md?page=1)