Preventing screen burn-in without a screen saver

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penguin

2[H]4U
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Okay, so I need an application to do this for work. We just got a nice LCD that will be displaying a monitoring tool all the time, and we don't want anything to get burned in (Can this even happen with LCDs?) Anyway, the obvious solution is to do what alot of plasma displays already do: orbit the image around the screen ever so slightly, so that it's not always in the same spot. The problem is, I've only found one program to do this, and it costs $30 (Powerstrip). Anybody know of any free utilities to do this?
 
I'm not sure of anything else, but in the least... powerstrip is a great program to have in general. Not just for that feature, but for a moltitude of other features for tv out, resolution, image adjustment etc. it's well worth $30 imo.
 
Yeah, I think it's a great deal for $30, but this display is just gonna sit in the equipment hall and show an equipment monitor. I don't have to worry about anything other than orbiting the display, so powerstrip seemed a little overkill, and my boss didn't seem too keen on spending $30 for it.
 
If it's displaying the same screen all the time, it won't matter if it burns in (assuming LCDs can burn in the first place). Burn-in is only noticeable when you change programs, so just buy something cheap and let it burn.

I have some cheap CRTs at work that still show the PerfMon screen even when they're turned off. It's no big deal if you don't plan on using it for anything else.
 
Zamboni said:
If it's displaying the same screen all the time, it won't matter if it burns in (assuming LCDs can burn in the first place). Burn-in is only noticeable when you change programs, so just buy something cheap and let it burn.

I have some cheap CRTs at work that still show the PerfMon screen even when they're turned off. It's no big deal if you don't plan on using it for anything else.
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It seems to me that if he already has the monitor, it makes no sense to get something cheap to needlessly destroy. Why even let it burn in? $30 seems like a small price to pay to potentially save an lcd.
 
rgratto2 said:
It seems to me that if he already has the monitor, it makes no sense to get something cheap to needlessly destroy. Why even let it burn in? $30 seems like a small price to pay to potentially save an lcd.
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My thoughts exactly... But I don't think they're my boss's thoughts. I dunno, I'll talk to him monday and find out.
 
LCD's don't burn in images so don't worry about it. If it was Plasma or CRT then it would be an issue but not LCD.
 
Interesting, every tech article I have read on LCD has said they are not susceptible to image burn in. Good thing I don't really like LCD much and keep going back to my trusty CRT.
 
rgratto2 said:
It seems to me that if he already has the monitor, it makes no sense to get something cheap to needlessly destroy. Why even let it burn in? $30 seems like a small price to pay to potentially save an lcd.
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Depends on the boss. Getting authorization for $30 now may be more painful than just replacing the monitor during the next upgrade cycle. (Silly accountants...:p)
 
penguin said:
Yeah, I think it's a great deal for $30, but this display is just gonna sit in the equipment hall and show an equipment monitor. I don't have to worry about anything other than orbiting the display, so powerstrip seemed a little overkill, and my boss didn't seem too keen on spending $30 for it.
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because you have a cheap a$$ boss! he thinks 30 dollars is too much to save his investmen? i'm sure he spend much much more on that LCD!

I hope his LCD burns and he learns not to be cheap anymore
 
MaXimus666 said:
because you have a cheap a$$ boss! he thinks 30 dollars is too much to save his investmen? i'm sure he spend much much more on that LCD!

I hope his LCD burns and he learns not to be cheap anymore
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Look, don't call my boss "cheap a$$." He wanted me to find out if there was a free alternative to buying a $30 utility that did way more than we need. I do that, and everyone is flaming him. If it comes down to Powerstrip or nothing, I'm sure he won't mind spending $30.

Oh, and *bump* :D
 
<rant>
I would say most business owners aren't on the FLIP of the technology side of things. His boss is cheap? I would say not, a smart business man having an employee in which he is already paying, look for a solution before spending $30.00? Seems some what non cheap.
</rant>

Anyway, Powerstrip is a great program. The link poster was very useful as well

 
What's the best way to prevent burn-in without a screensaver?


...turn off the monitor.


Does it have to always be on? LCD displays have little to no risk of burn-in. You could enable a PowerSaver mode to have it turn off after so long or something.
 
I wish. Turning it off isn't an option - the entire point of this display is to see any alarms that are up as soon as you walk into the equipment hall, so it kinda always has to be on. I'm gonna code a VB program to move the window around on a black background, which should effectively do the same thing, but it won't be in hardware space, it'll be in userspace. Yay for VB (That language has the WORST quote encapsulating I've EVER used. I wanna use PHP again :()
 
fenderltd said:
<rant>
I would say most business owners aren't on the FLIP of the technology side of things. His boss is cheap? I would say not, a smart business man having an employee in which he is already paying, look for a solution before spending $30.00? Seems some what non cheap.
</rant>
Click to expand...
It's cheap if he paid his employee $60 or more to research whether to buy a $30 product. The labor cost of researching and configuring and testing PowerStrip is probably going to be more than the coost of the monitor (and this is before he decides to spend some quality time writing his own non-screensave in VB).. Add in the boss' time spent managing the project, and it's a losing proposition before the first meeting is over.

(At my company, it would have resulted in a inter-divisional project team that would have taken six months to evaluate Powerstrip, three months to finish due diliengence on the vendor, and six months to add the software to the "approved applications" list. Then the auditors would write us all up after discovering shareware applications on the network, so it would have been assigned to the development team to write the app for internal use. Two years later, you get a call from the developer asking if you're still having that "screensaver problem". :p)
 
A pretty simple solution might be one of those screensavers that still show stuff but just have, say, a bubble bouncing around the screen. But the VB thing is pretty good if it's worth your time.
 
LCDs can't burn in. They can suffer a temporary 'memory effect' from a static image being left on for a long period of time, but that will fade away into nothingness over the course of a few minutes to a few days depending on intensity of the pattern, length of exposure, and contast setting.
 
Well, I started and finished the program this morning, and it works like a charm. I had heard that the memory affect was permanent, but I'm not sure, and I don't feel like risking it. I might toss the program up for download when I'm at work tomorrow. It's pretty sweet, if I do say so myself.
 
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