“If you do not use a screen saver, you will destroy your computer monitor?”
This statement was actually very valid many years ago. The monitors of that time had phosphor-based displays. If left displaying a static image for a prolonged period of time, the monitors would lose their brightness. As a result, a fuzzy copy of the image would be permanently displayed onscreen despite turning off the computer monitor, ruining the computer hardware.
Even if some of the ghostly images are very faint, their negative effects are felt right away. Computer users can immediately see that the image quality of their computer monitor has greatly eroded.
The screen disfigurement of phosphor-based computer monitors is called a phosphor burn-in or, in layman’s term, a screen burn. Apart from replacing the computer screen, these old monitors — both CRTs and LCDs alike — could not be repaired, and many users ended up replacing this valuable computer hardware.
To prevent phosphor burn-in, it was essential for old-fashioned computer monitors to have a dynamic screen image. Thus, screen savers were invented. Called as such because they save the computer monitor from an early grave, screen savers ensured that no part of the computer screen was left to display the same image for a long period.
With advancement in computer hardware technology, it is not possible for modern computer monitors to suffer from screen burn. Dynamic screen savers are no longer necessary to protect today’s computer monitors from any type of disaster. You can let your computer display the same image for as long as you want.
Screen savers are still around, but we no longer use them for the same purpose that we once did. Today’s screen savers are now used more for artistic expression, than to protect computer monitors from screen burn.