A lot of the PC users are familiar with the term ‘Screensaver’. Nowadays, you won’t find people using them anymore. Even a fresh install of Windows does not have Screensaver enabled by default. As a result, the question arises “Do you not require a Screensaver anymore?”.
The short answer would be NO, Screensavers are not required anymore. In fact, they are unnecessary if you have any modern monitors. This would answer your question however if you want to know the reasoning behind that statement, keep reading.
What is a Screensaver?
A screensaver is a computer program. It works by displaying moving objects or animations on your screen when it has been idle for some time. The purpose of the Screensaver was to protect the CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) monitors.
CRT monitors had an issue where if the screen was left idle for some time, the current image was burned permanently onto the monitor. To solve this limitation of CRT monitors, Screensaver was created.
It was perfect for fulfilling the purpose of protecting CRT monitors which it was made for. Nowadays, you won’t find PC users having an active Screensaver for their monitors.
Then the question arises, “Why are they not being used anymore?”. That is because modern monitors are generally LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) monitors.
The modern day monitors do not have the same issue of screen burn as CRT monitors. Due to this reason, PC users are not using Screensavers anymore. Even after a fresh install of Windows, Screensaver is disabled by default.
Is Screensaver Obsolete?
Yes, it’s true that Screensavers are obsolete and they have been for a while. There are many reasons for this. A Screensaver is not only unnecessary for modern PC’s but it also consumes more energy when your PC is in an idle state.
Let me briefly explain this. When you have been away from the Computer screen for a while, Windows automatically goes into sleep mode to conserve power. However, this is not the case when you have Screensaver enabled.
To shed more light on the topic at hand, let’s talk about several different factors. CRT monitors have been obsolete for over a decade. These monitors were the primary reason for the creation of Screensavers.
Meanwhile LCD monitors do not require the use of Screensavers. We will briefly discuss the reasons for their obsolescence in the upcoming segments of this article.
Difference between CRT and LCD Monitors
In the previous segment of this article, I mentioned about the fact that Screensavers are redundant for LCD monitors. To know the reason behind this, let’s deal with the key differences between CRT and LCD monitors:
CRT Monitors
CRT stands for Cathode Ray Tube. This monitor gets its name due to it being made of a glass tube. The first CRT display made for commercial purposes arrived in 1922.
A stream of electrons was fired from the back portion of the tube towards the phosphors located at the front portion to project media on the CRT monitor.
There were many caveats of using a CRT display such as being bulky to carry and poor image quality. One such caveat was the still image burning on to the screen when the monitor was left idly for some time.
Due to which, Screensavers were created to protect the display. With continuous advancements in technology, CRT monitors became obsolete and LCD monitors replaced them.
LCD Monitors
It stands for Liquid Crystal Display. LCD monitors were available in the market from the mid 1990s. They became more popular as their prices dropped. LCD monitors use liquid crystal to create images.
The images were crisp, sharp and were flicker free. In addition to this, they were lightweight as well. These monitors did not face the image burned to screen issues like the CRT monitors.
As a result, they did not require the use of Screensaver at all. Nowadays, the majority of the PC users have shifted to LCD monitors thus rendering Screensavers an unnecessary add-on.
Should you still use Screensaver?
If you have a regular modern day LCD or an LED monitor, you do not need to use a Screensaver at all as it won’t be required.
It might do more harm than good i.e. because when you leave your screen idle for some time, the PC would automatically go to sleep mode.
Sleep mode is a great functionality which saves power when you are not using your PC. Let’s assume you have the Screensaver enabled, it would force your screen to stay awake and your PC would consume the same power.
At the end of the day, it is up to you to decide how you want to use your computer. Personally, I don’t use Screensavers anymore nor would it be useful for anyone to do so.
Conclusion
There you have it folks. We have discussed everything you need to know about Screensavers. We have also answered some of the most asked questions on this topic.
If you want a brief recap of the entire article, Screensavers are not needed anymore if you have a modern monitor. The only time you will ever require them is if you are using a CRT monitor.
As CRT monitors used to have a problem related to image burning onto the screen when they were left idle. To tackle this, Screensavers were created but nowadays you would be fine not needing them at all.
This is because LCD and LED monitors are the ones which are most commonly used by a lot of people. In fact, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to say that CRT monitors are obsolete.
We have also dealt with the common differences between the CRT and LCD monitors.
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