Should I use a screensaver on an LCD panel?
 

I just got a new LCD Panel (will write a User Review soon, don't worry :)) that upgraded my CRT.

When I had my CRT my screensaver was set to "blank screen" after 5 minutes, and then after 20 or so minutes of inactivity I had the monitor power down.

Now with my LCD though, setting the screensaver to "blank screen" doesn't really do much in terms of backlight preservation since the backlight is still on with a screen of black pixels. So I changed my settings to simply have the panel power down after 5 minutes and give me a "really" black screen. This way the backlight doesn't get run unnecessarily if I leave my computer for a little bit.

My question is- is this setting ok to keep? My concern is that constant on-and-off cycles of the backlight are just as bad for it as leaving it run.

Ruahrc

I've had an LCD on my home PC for about a year. The power down time is set for 15 minutes. At the end of the day, I turn it off with its power switch. I haven't seen any degredation in the screen following this scheme.

I dont even use screensavers or powerdown features anymore. Just turn it off anytime I'm not using it.

By the way LCD works, I don't think there is an equivalent to "burned images".

I thought burned images were a thing of the past on CRTs until I saw one of our programmers' monitor turned off : the COMPUTER LOCKED image is burned on the screen. That machine holds some test databases and is always on, he also leaves the monitor on all nights and weekends. That monitor isn't very old, 2 years maybe.

It's not burn-in that I'm worried about though, it's just unecessary usage of the backlight that i'm trying to eliminate.

Ruahrc

i just turn mine off when i am away as well

A what?