Energy Saving Televisions Have Come a Long Way

(PhysOrg.com) -- With consumers being more cost sensitive, TV manufactures are coming out with innovative ways to cut power consumption on their television sets. Even when a television set is turned off, they are still consuming a small amount of electricity.

Sony has come up with some practical methods in reducing power consumption on their new line of LCD sets. One method is by having a small sensor located below the LCD panel that monitors if anyone is in the room watching television. When there is no one in the room the LCD panel shuts off until someone walks back into the room. Sony claims that this alone can save 50% in energy consumption.

To further cut power consumption, if no one returns to the room after 30 minutes, the television set goes into standby mode. This is similar to a computer going into hibernation mode if not used after a specific amount of time.

These energy saving techniques are being used on Sony's new V5 series sets. To give you an idea on power consumption, Sony's V1 series sets consume 217 watts (40" screen) and 263 watts (46" screen). Sony's new V5 series consumes 129 watts (40" screen) and 153 watts (46" screen).

Television manufactures are able to reduce power consumption by improving the design of the backlight and screen. On LCD TV's, a light panel usually remains on while the set is in use. This is necessary so that light shines through the screen allowing the image on the LCD itself to be seen. With new designs that allow the backlight power to be adjusted and more efficient engineering that lets less light to be lost and more to shine through.

We will begin to see other manufactures applying more efficient engineering to their LCD panels, as well as to the TV sets, that will further reduce power consumption.

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