Hi, I use the windows power management from the taskbar to turn off my monitor after 1 min when I am away from the computer. However, I would like to know if this is the best usage pattern. Does it reduce the monitor life if it is turned on an off often, or does it reduce the monitor life more if the montor is allowed to stay on (with screensaver) for hours. Thanks, Sarosh

You don't say if your monitor is CRT or TFT. If it is CRT, i.e. one with a tube, like a television, there is still a risk of screen burn. Although it is not a great as it was years ago you should take certain precautions to stop it. You don't need to turn your monitor off to do this, the application of a screensaver will prevent this. You can up your settings, 10 to 15 mins this will be suitable, 1 min is a little short. If you have a TFT you won't get screen burn because of the way in which the picture is produced on the screen, I have never bothered with a screensaver on a TFT monitor. As regards lengthening it's life, both styles have a life expectancy.You don't have to turn it off every min, in fact, this could well do more harm than good. How long they will last is a bit like asking how long is a piece of string, some CRT monitors I have come across are several years old, many have been on 12 - 16 hours per day, some 24/7. Others pop after 2 or three years, TFT's are much the same. So, as always in these matters it is up to you, no-one can give a difinitive answer to your question because of the many factors involved. But remember,you don't have to turn it off every min. AMD Athlon 64 FX-55 WinXP Pro. WinXP Pro x64 Nvidia:6800GT Dane Electronic Pro. Dual 1024MB 400MHz RAM Tagan 480Watt PSU: 28Amps on +12volt rail. Asus A8V Deluxe "WiFi" M/Board

"Does it reduce the monitor life if it is turned on an off often, or does it reduce the monitor life more if the montor is allowed to stay on (with screensaver) for hours." If you mean by the setting in Power Management, the latter if it is displaying something in screensaver mode, about the same if the screen saver just banks the screen, if they are set to the same times to trigger them. It all depends on what your habits are with your computer, but 1 minute is far too short a time, and may stress the monitor cicuits too frequently - on a crt, I believe it turns the high voltage to the tube on/off to do that. It is more important with crt monitors. If you use it on and off all through the day, leave its switch on the monitor itself or the power connected to it on during that time. If there are long periods you aren't using it, such as overnight, or while you're at work, turn off its switch on the monitor itself, or the power to it. Running any monitor or computer 24/7 when you don't need to is boneheaded as far as I am concerned. With crt monitors, even when they are in standby mode or they have a black screen, the tube filaments are on, though possibly at a lower voltage, and the life remaining in those filaments are what determines how long the crt is bright enough to be usable. Keeping your screen brightness as low as is comfortable to you can stretch the life of a crt to it's maximum, far beyond what it would be if it is set brighter all the time. That probably also applies to a lesser degree with LCD monitors.

Quicksilver You say "If you have a TFT you won't get screen burn". I'm sitting in front of an LCD monitor right now. It's a few years old and belonged to my daughter originally. When I go to the desktop (plain background) I can see an outline of the line beneath the title bar and the boxes at top right, and this has got worse. It's possible it was set a little bright at some time. It may not be a burn, but certainly the pixels have dimmed or something to produce this ghostly outline. Perhaps screensavers are even more important on LCD than they were in the later years of CRT monitors. DerekW

Derek I can only speak as I find. I have personally never seen burn on a TFT. I have had a potter on google and I think you point about the monitor being set " a little bright" is valid. It it never referred to as " screen burn " but the effects are the same. I think it is a question of what description is used. There seem to be many reasons given for this but it seems that everyone has a different reason for it. I did find that " screen burn" is referenced only to CRT montiors because of the burn due to the phrospherous coating. Anyway, good points made and we all learn by them. AMD Athlon 64 FX-55 WinXP Pro. WinXP Pro x64 Nvidia:6800GT Dane Electronic Pro. Dual 1024MB 400MHz RAM Tagan 480Watt PSU: 28Amps on +12volt rail. Asus A8V Deluxe "WiFi" M/Board

Quicksilver Yes, I agree, "burn" is not necessarily the right terminology. When I first got the monitor I found it too bright (at its default settings) but unfortunately I kinda got used to it. Fairly recently I turned it down to a more acceptable level. Fortunately the damage is only slight and I got the monitor free anyway, as they were changing their computer arrangements. I now try not to leave the monitor on for extended periods with a title bar (ie Window) on the screen. DerekW

Hi Thanks to all, I have a 17 inch CRT monitor. I use it to play games, surf the net or any other normal use you can think off. I also like to listen to music on my computer, and when I start the music I set my power management to turn off the monitor after 1 min so the music keeps playing and my monitor can stay off. It was interesting to learn that switching the monitor on and off stresses the circuitry. I have the habit of switching between the games and my desktop very often. I press the windows key or alt+tab to swithc between a full-screen game and windows. This is because I dont need to exit the game and can return to it and resume it after checking my email or stuff. However, I find that if I do this too often too the monitor flickers a bit. What exactly happens when we switch between a full screen game (any latest game such as age of empire of need for speed most wanted) and the desktop. I have an 6600GT agp. Are their different components on the gpu that are used for 3d games and normal windows? Does it stress the vedio card a bit to switch between games and desktop often. Thanks to everyone, its good to get your opinions. Sarosh