Considering the energy consumption of your HDTV

Can flat-screen TVs make the efficiency grade? [CNET News] 

With the focus nowadays on improving home energy efficiency to reduce energy costs and improve one's carbon footprint, many television viewers are asking about their HD television's energy usage. Do HDTVs consume more electricity than older CRT televisions? Which types of flat screen televisions consume the least amount of electricity? How can I find out how much electricity my television or the television I'm considering purchasing consumes?

CNET has published a good guide to television energy consumption that answers many questions that users have about their television and the changes that may be coming with respect to a proposal in California that will limit TV energy usage. Those changes have the potential to impact televisions sold across the nation as manufacturers change their specs to meet the new California requirements.

The three main factors in determining the energy usage of your television are size, display technology and brightness level. Size is the biggest factor in electricity consumption. Simply put, a larger television will use more electricity. From a display technology standpoint, LCD HDTVs generally consume less electricity than plasmas of the same size. And while keeping the brightness level of your HDTV turned up yields a better picture, the brighter your picture, the more electricity you will use.

In addition to this article, CNET has published a video that outlines the factors that impact a television's electricity consumption. I've embedded it below, and the discussion about televisions and energy considerations starts at about the 1:38 mark.

Comments

[mike lazfsh]

Of course these won't really be affordable for a couple more years.

[mike lazfsh]

OLED TV's use 1/10th the power of LED's and have YOU considered the power consumption of our "always listening" DVR's?