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I have a new PC build temporarily hooked up to a TV until I buy a monitor. I'm using a VGA cable. The TV will turn itself off if I don't use the computer for around 10 minutes.
I can't find any setting on the TV that might change this power saving feature. I also know that the Windows 7 rig is set to never sleep or hibernate or turn off the screen.
Anything I can do?
johnsonn
Posted 2012-03-11T10:04:39.463
Reputation: 11
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As pointed out in my comment this happens due to screen saver set to 'blank'. My last installation of windows was some time ago but I think that this is the standard setting.
The TV has no way to recognize the state of the PC if the image goes through the VGA cable.
Baarn
Posted 2012-03-11T10:04:39.463
Reputation: 6 096
so i can just disable screen saver and be cool? – johnsonn – 2012-03-11T10:25:26.863
screen savers were made in the first place to save the inner layer of the screen from beeing burned by the cathode ray if the picture did not move for a long time. If you still have a CRT TV it would be good to not turn of the Screensaver completely, just set it to a higher value (like 2 or 3 hours if you are watching movies). – Baarn – 2012-03-11T10:30:30.360
Seems that plasma displays are prone to this, too. Maybe have a read on the wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_saver
– Baarn – 2012-03-11T10:32:14.040but having a screensaver running doesnt work either. – johnsonn – 2012-03-11T11:23:14.357
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This answer is for a case of the television turning off the screen after a certain period of inactivity. I know of some that do that, however, it could be a different problem on the computer side of things - your comments say you had mistakenly set a blank screensaver.
You can set up the computer to use a screensaver before 10 minutes pass. As long as something is moving on the screen, the TV should stay on.
Alternatively, if you need to be able to see the screen (and so can't use a screensaver), try a script that moves the mouse cursor every few minutes.
Obligatory xkcd: 
Bob
Posted 2012-03-11T10:04:39.463
Reputation: 51 526
lol,,, i was thinking of some random mouse move script, googled it before i posted this Q. – johnsonn – 2012-03-11T10:26:56.910
no mistake, blank is default on new windows 7 install. – johnsonn – 2012-03-11T10:28:29.527
@johnsonn Odd, mine defaulted to None, not Blank. And that's on both a retail Win7 Pro and a HP OEM Win7 Prem. – Bob – 2012-03-11T10:32:37.177
Didn't work... screen saver was running, even winamp playing music... still blue screened the tv and turned off. It needs a keyboard or mouse input. – johnsonn – 2012-03-11T11:02:36.957
Have a hdmi cable too but it doesn't work well... not sure why, running atm an intel i5 2500k's internal HD3000 graphics. Didn't buy gfx card yet. – johnsonn – 2012-03-11T11:06:37.250
@johnsonn: Are you sure your computer isn't going to sleep? Because, as mentioned by Walter, there's no way for the TV to know if mouse or keyboard activity has stopped. Otherwise, your TV has a poorly designed autosleep feature. – Lèse majesté – 2012-03-11T12:32:41.387
1Sounds like screen saver (blank) to me, the TV has no way to recognize any (missing) activity of the PC trough the VGA cable. – Baarn – 2012-03-11T10:08:35.473
1just checked it was set to 'blank' screen saver. Will tinker with it, thanks. – johnsonn – 2012-03-11T10:14:55.690
Even if it is set to never turn off the screen, power saving can stop sending a signal to the display. For example, many of your newer displays, even with a screensaver, will turn themselves off. Good luck on finding the answer. I am curious too. – Charlie Wilson – 2012-03-11T10:20:25.547
I made an answer out of my comment, as it seems to really have been the cause of the problem – Baarn – 2012-03-11T10:25:24.783