Screen switches off irrevocably after running vlc for a few minutes

[Mayuresh <mayuresh%acm.org@localhost>]

This is happening with vlc-1.1.13nb5 for me.

When (perhaps due to power saving settings) monitor goes off after a few
minutes of running a video in vlc, there is no way to get the screen back.

Monitor remains off, sound can be heard as the video playback continues.
Network connectivity remains active, though even killing vlc over network
(and then operating keys or mouse) doesn't restart the monitor.

Only way out is to restart the machine.

Any suggestions what can can be tried out?

Mayuresh.