Screensaver Development

Posted by seotech on June 26, 2009 under Multimedia Companies, Screensaver development | Be the First to Comment

Screensavers

Screensavers were originally developed to prevent ‘burn-in’ or ‘ghosting’ or CRT screens. This occurred when the same stationary image was displayed on the screen for long periods which changed the phosphor coating on the inside of the screen. This resulted in sections appearing greyed out and then permanently damaged. The very earliest screensaver was simply a black screen that appeared automatically if there was no activity. As black means there is no light it prevented damage to the screen. This is what the ’sleep’ function does now.

In 1989 Bill Stewart and Ian MacDonald developed the first ‘Magic Screensaver’ which had images that moved around on a black background. The popularity of the screensaver grew tremendously and soon the images were being animated rather than being simply static. Following animated images came 3D animated images. However all these screensavers were quite small in size ranging from the original 16-bit Magic Screensaver to 132 KB – 334 KB in size whereas today these programs are enormous by comparison (2GB to 47GB). The more detailed a scene, the greater the size usually.

Screensaver development

With the advent of LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and plasma screens there was no longer any risk of burn-in but due to their popularity screensavers survived. Several reasons for their prevalence include their entertainment value, security functions, uniformity, and promotional potential. Screensavers can be highly entertaining with the vast range of animations, cartoons and hilarious images available on the web. It can also function as additional security as you can set it up with a password- if someone tries to use it while it is in screensaver mode it will ask for a password before resuming its normal settings. Some organisations even use it to create uniformity in the workplace- by providing one screensaver for all employee computers employers can prevent inappropriate screensavers. It can also be a great promotional tool as they attract attention- especially at conferences and trade shows- and can display your business animated artwork and messages.