Should I turn my IPS monitor off?

[ubuysa]

It's been a good many years since I've owned a desktop PC, I've been using laptops for longer than I care to remember. My last desktop PC had a CRT monitor that took up half the desk space.

I now have an Asus PAQ238QR Proart 23" IPS monitor (and very nice it is too). I leave the PC on all the time and I use a screen saver on the monitor even though I know they don't suffer burn-in as much as CRTs did. It just seems a sensible thing to do.

My question to the panel is 'should I turn the monitor off at night?'. I'm not fussed about power saving, it's the longevity and health of the monitor I'm concerned with. Web searches throw up conflicting opinions so I thought I'd ask people whose opinion I value and trust.

To turn off or not to turn off, that is the question;
Whether 'tis better for the monitor to suffer,
The slings and arrows of permanent operation,
Or flip the off switch and sleep better at night....perchance to dream.

(Shakespeare must be turning in his grave) :yes:

 

[SpyderTracks]

I've never turned off any of my LCD screens, they're always on standby and the only early failure I've had is with a Samsung panel but that was a fault with the power supplies capacitors that were dodgy (Samsung refused to acknowledge the fault though). I still have all my lcds and they're all still working going back 10 years or so.

 

[Lez501]

On occasions that my PC is left switched on, for whatever reason, I don't physically switch it off. However, I do let windows switch off the monitor after a few hours (I never let my PC go into sleep mode, so a quick move of the mouse and I'm back up and running).

 

[ubuysa]

On occasions that my PC is left switched on, for whatever reason, I don't physically switch it off. However, I do let windows switch off the monitor after a few hours (I never let my PC go into sleep mode, so a quick move of the mouse and I'm back up and running).

On Windows 10 Anniversary at least, letting Windows switch off the monitor also disables audio output. Not good if you're leaving iTunes or similar running....

 

[Oussebon]

I had the same model of budget IPS screen at home as was also used at an office. The two were treated quite differently in terms of screen locks, monitor switch off, being turned off overnight etc. Over a 4 year period it appeared not to have made any difference at all to them. I'm not sure that it should have any real impact either.

 

[ubuysa]

I had the same model of budget IPS screen at home as was also used at an office. The two were treated quite differently in terms of screen locks, monitor switch off, being turned off overnight etc. Over a 4 year period it appeared not to have made any difference at all to them. I'm not sure that it should have any real impact either.

Now that is very helpful. Thank you!

 

[ubuysa]

On Windows 10 Anniversary at least, letting Windows switch off the monitor also disables audio output. Not good if you're leaving iTunes or similar running....

This issue of 'screen off' also turning audio off led me to do some research on this issue, because having the screen turn off (and the moitor go into standby) is the perfect solution to my issues. I'm very happy to leave the monitor on and in standby overnight.

I've discovered that the 'screen off=audio off' issue is related to a Windows 10 feature called 'Modern Standby' and this is a development of a Windows 8 feature called 'Connected Standby'. These new standby modes are an attempt to make laptops (especially) and PCs behave much more like a tablet or smartphone in that a device in 'modern standby' mode is apparently off and yet it can remain connected to the Internet and compatible programs (like Skype) can continue to run in the background receiving notifications, messages and calls - just like a phone or tablet.

The problem with Modern Standby is that it requires compatible hardware and compatible software and in any case is really not suitable for a desktop (IMO) which is left on 24 x 7. Microsoft do not provide a Settings control that lets you turn Modern Standby off, there is however a registry hack that will apparently turn it off. Simply run regedit and navigate to the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\CSEnabled and change the binary value from 1 to 0.

I've tried this and I can confirm that on my desktop PC running Windows 10 Anniversary Edition you can set the screen to turn off at whatever interval you like and the audio keeps running. I'm posting it here in case it helps others.

Naturally you modify the registry at your own risk and I'm not guaranteeing that this will work for everyone nor that it will not harm your computer.

 

[Lez501]

Thanks for letting us know, and kudos for doing the research........