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You can find very few people who may not know what a screensaver is. Every computer manufactured comes with several of these small programs as standard equipment. A screensaver is a computer program designed to prevent what is called Phosphor burn-in. This is a condition which occurs on CRT screens. And leave ghost images on the screen after the original image has long gone away. The screensaver prevents this by either blanking out the monitor screen or by filling it with various types of moving images. This is usually initiated when the computer is idle. Modern screensavers are used for both entertainment as well as security.

Prior to the modern LCD computer monitor screen came into popular demand the average computer monitor used a CRT screen. One of the serious problems associated with these screens occurred when the same image is prominently displayed for exceptionally long periods of time. Due to the properties of the CRT coasting an image becomes grafted as part of the screen. An excellent sample of this would be on the ATM teller machine. Eventually from use you would be able to see the bank identifying information on the screen even after you had logged in and different data was being displayed. This is the burn in effect.

The screen saver program was designed to avoid these effects by changing the image on the screen continuously during those periods when the computer was not in use. Since screensavers are running during the times that the computer is idle it is an excellent opportunity to allow some background processing to be accomplished. During the screensaver actions a useful background task can be activated. These tasks can be virus scans or even a computing application. One such application is known as SETI@home project. Usually the program is set up where the application only uses the computer processing power when it is not used for anything else.

Generally monitors which are running a screensaver will consume no additional energy then it would if running normally. Some of the modern day computers have what is known as a power saving mode where one can switch to save energy. Actually the best way to save the screen is to turn the machine off completely.

Screen savers sometimes make use of game technology and often times permits the user to play various games on it. The ability of screensavers to entertain is especially valuable for use in a business environment where the business can often times advertise your specials, etc.

Many screensavers can have a password protection system activated to prevent unauthorized use of the computer. Once the screensaver kicks into action the user would be prompt to insert a password in order to continue to use the computer. This is a rudimentary form of security at best but is excellent when you leave your desk for short periods of time.