Computers all have screensavers now, even though modern screens don't need them. So, if we're allowed to give screensavers to things which don't need them, how about TVs?
I know it's possible to buy videos of fishtanks, log fires, etc., but these would also make great screensavers. All it would take is a few additional chips in the TV's circuitry and Viola! Your choice of screensavers, including the super- realistic fishtank simulation and the swirly sound-activated psychedelic shapes as used in the displays in MP3 player programs like MusicMatch Jukebox aand iTunes
-- hippo, May 16 2002

ETV http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/ETV
Suitable substitute and shameless plug. [phoenix, May 16 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004]

TV Screen Saver http://www.zdnet.co...alkback_175302.html
Very simple concept. [bristolz, May 16 2002, last modified Oct 21 2004]

I also am in a complete state of disbelief as to why my television doesn't have a screensaver
-- kaz, May 16 2002


If you've not channel surfed in the past 10 minutes, does the screensaver come on?
-- pottedstu, May 16 2002


choose your own wallpaper behind the newsreader. huge tiger about to pounce on jeremy paxman.
-- po, May 16 2002


I agree that a TV doesn't need a screensaver but, since this *is* the halfbakery I have to ask, what is it saving the screen from? Are you in the habit of being tuned to the "Nostalgic Software Menu Screen Channel" 24 hours a day?
-- half, May 16 2002


I much prefer the 'Pong Emulation Channel'
-- [ sctld ], May 16 2002


The company I used to work for supplied and repaired TV and video equipment for the MoD. One of their information offices would leave a 20" TV tuned to a particular teletext page *all day*, and it came in for repair with the page header burned into the phosphor of the tube. They had already been warned.
-- angel, May 17 2002


I've got one just like the one bristolz's link points to.
-- thumbwax, May 17 2002


It seems straightforward to me. Think about it. Screen savers kick in when there hasn't been any activity for awhile. Watching TV is a passive thing - how does the set determine activity or lack thereof?

Three-quarters through a movie and the screen saver kicks in? No thanks.

bliss, just leave your TV on and you'll find it already does that when you get home. (well, not the meow part...)

You could consider every channel the TV receives to be a different screen saver. (Around here, it's the Weather Channel.)
-- waugsqueke, May 17 2002


Or take the tube and electronic gubbins out of a big old TV and dump a fishtank in there.
-- calum, May 17 2002


I should have known that hippo would beat me to this idea. Curse him!

Now that I enjoy the luxury of having a DVD player I quite often find myself pausing a film whilst I go off and make my dinner or answer the door to the Jehovah's witnesses, so a TV screen saver makes sense to me.
-- DrBob, Jul 16 2002


It just so happens that my DVD player HAS a screen saver. Kicks in when you pause for about 5 minutes or don't turn the power off.
-- AfroAssault, Jul 17 2002


[DrBob]: You answer the door to Jehovah's Witnesses?
-- angel, Jul 17 2002


Nobody likes a show off Afro. But that was exactly how I was thinking. Have it as a function on the DVD player rather than the telly.

angel, anyone who climbs up the three flights of stairs to my place deserves to get the door answered. They don't necessarily deserve the answer that they get when they arrive but they knew the risks when they took the job on.
-- DrBob, Jul 17 2002


It's a good job that the title of this idea is "Television screensaver" rather than "DVD screensaver" then isn't it? - otherwise it would be baked. Not that being baked is an automatic reason for expiry or deletion...
-- hippo, Jul 17 2002


hippo- I was directing that comment towards the DVD player discussion, not your idea. I voted for your idea.
-- AfroAssault, Aug 14 2002


//I also am in a complete state of disbelief as to why my television doesn't have a screensaver//

Ditto that. I recently saw a 50+ inch widescreen plasma display screen-burned at the sides, beacuse the conventional NTSC format doesn't reach that far.

They should be easy to retro-fit, all you need is a box between the tuner and the video-in. No IR signal detected within 30 mins? Activate screensaver.
-- FloridaManatee, Feb 19 2003


D'oh! I came here to put my idea for a television screen saver only to see someone else got to it before me. Oh well. *sigh*
-- koolcj291, Jan 24 2004


I'll delete it if you like - then you can do your idea.
-- hippo, Jan 25 2004


I want a screensaver for my television that comes on when there's nothing worth watching on.....Of course, that means almost all the time, the screensaver would be up....
-- normzone, Jan 26 2004



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