Re: eMac: is the display really sleeping?

Hi Greg,

Your description exactly matches my experience with three all-in-one,
slot-loading iMacs. I guess the answer to the "Will it float?", er, I
mean... "Is it really sleeping?" question depends on your definition
of "sleep" :-).

Should the pure-black darkness of the display be considered a sign of
sleep? Probably not, since if I close my eyes really tightly, I may
still be conscious. Is wattage-in-use an analogous measure of the
monitor's consciousness? Could a monitor ever dream? What are the
moral implications of unplugging a display from the AC socket?

Perhaps I'm getting way too existential for MAGNet. Don't even get me
started on Dark Matter[*]...

Rob "currently not sleeping, but nevertheless somewhat sleepy" Johnson

[*] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6235751.stm

Greg Merritt writes (1/22/07 at 4:28 PM -0800) :
   (Concerning - [MAGNet] eMac: is the display really sleeping?) :

>This is hardly a problem, but it is something that has been nagging
>me for a very long time.
>
>1GHz G4 eMac, all-in-one 17" CRT, running 10.3.9. The Energy Saver
>system preferences are set to put the display to sleep after so many
>minutes. Sure enough, the display does black out as advertised.
>The computer itself is set to never sleep, but it is desired that
>the display black out after the computer has been idle.
>
>What surprises me, though, is that the screen wakes virtually
>instantly in response to keyboard or mouse inputs. There is no sort
>of "snap" sound of the CRT getting power once again, no brief pause,
>no fade-in to brightness... just BOOM! and the screen's ready to go.
>
>Basically every other display-sleeping CRT situation I've ever known
>requires a real, brief warm-up of a second or two. My suspicion is
>that the eMac's CRT is not really going cold when the display
>sleeps, but rather still idling at (relatively) full power while
>effectively showing a black image. I suspect that this otherwise
>well-behaved eMac is an energy hog.
>
>Does this seem to match or contradict anyone else's experience with an eMac?

------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following was automatically added to this message by the list server:

For information about MAGNet, its meetings and events, and its
mailing list, including information on subscribing and unsubscribing,
see the MAGNet Web site at <http://magnet.berkeley.edu/>.
Received on Mon Jan 22 2007 - 17:52:16 PST