CNET reader Ray asks:
Will leaving my TV powered on (but on black screen) for an extended period of time do any damage or affect the picture quality?
Good question.
For reasons that made sense (but I left out for space), CNET reader Ray leaves his HDTV on 24 hours a day. The cable box it’s attached to is “off,” but like most DVRs it still outputs a signal (because it’s not actually off).
So the TV is on, but creating a blank screen. Beyond the massive waste of power this is, the real question is if the TV itself will suffer.
The first thing to know is that all TVs dim over time. The phosphors in a plasma, the CCFL lamps in traditional LCDs, and even the LEDs in LED LCDs, all age over time. As they age they get less efficient, meaning that given the same amount of power, they produce less light. It’s possible that you could drive them harder (like turning up the contrast control with…
