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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?

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    Sounds like screen saver (blank) to me, the TV has no way to recognize any (missing) activity of the PC trough the VGA cable.
    – Baarn
    Commented Mar 11, 2012 at 10:08
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    just checked it was set to 'blank' screen saver. Will tinker with it, thanks.
    – johnsonn
    Commented Mar 11, 2012 at 10:14
  • 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
    Commented Mar 11, 2012 at 10:20
  • I made an answer out of my comment, as it seems to really have been the cause of the problem
    – Baarn
    Commented Mar 11, 2012 at 10:25

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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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.

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  • so i can just disable screen saver and be cool?
    – johnsonn
    Commented Mar 11, 2012 at 10:25
  • 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
    Commented Mar 11, 2012 at 10:30
  • Seems that plasma displays are prone to this, too. Maybe have a read on the wikipedia article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_saver
    – Baarn
    Commented Mar 11, 2012 at 10:32
  • but having a screensaver running doesnt work either.
    – johnsonn
    Commented Mar 11, 2012 at 11:23
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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: Command Line Fu - #196

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  • lol,,, i was thinking of some random mouse move script, googled it before i posted this Q.
    – johnsonn
    Commented Mar 11, 2012 at 10:26
  • no mistake, blank is default on new windows 7 install.
    – johnsonn
    Commented Mar 11, 2012 at 10:28
  • @johnsonn Odd, mine defaulted to None, not Blank. And that's on both a retail Win7 Pro and a HP OEM Win7 Prem.
    – Bob
    Commented Mar 11, 2012 at 10:32
  • 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
    Commented Mar 11, 2012 at 11:02
  • 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
    Commented Mar 11, 2012 at 11:06

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