a second look at LCDs

[Erdrick]

Companies have been hawking their LCDs as being ultra-energy-efficient and the way of the future. While I would agree with the second part, they are, on the whole, actually MORE power hungry than the final generation of tube-based tvs that were released.

I live in Japan, where cars and electronics are thrown away, or even paid to be thrown away, at an alarming rate. Even TRACKING DOWN a tube-based tv is quite the chore... and why? They have SCRAPPED them all! There are even laws in place that are making the sale of old electronics illegal in some cases.

I got off on a tangent though... I finally broke down (mainly because I couldn't find a good tv, but also because I physically couldn't carry a 200+ pound tv by myself, and the wife was going to be no help) and got an LCD. It cost an arm and a leg compared to what I would have paid if I were living in America, but oh well. I need my Wii.

Now, let's get on to the meat of this post. I have a 32" Sony Bravia LCD. It normally uses about 150 watts. I was switching through the options, and saw an "energy saver mode" so I figure I would see what it did (keeping a close eye on the kill-a-watt). To my surprise, the meter read 50 WATTS!!!! The energy consumption had dropped to a third of the original value!! I was blown away! Flabbergasted! The brightness of the panel was definitely toned down, but I doubt if someone could tell that it was in energy saver mode if they didn't see the transition.

So, while thinking that I would be stuck with a (in my opinion) power hungry beast, I now have a very efficient tv that I only wish I could bring back to America with me. That is, if my company ever lets me go back... that story for another day though!

[}{ead$hot Zod]

Unless you are really a hardcore A/V fan, most people don't now that you can have a ISF certified techie come to your house and properly calibrate your set. They come in with about $10k in equipment and calibrate everything.

Here's the scenario, you go to a store to buy a set. You look at a bunch of sets that are factory calibrated with very high brightness and such. And you generally base your purchase on some visual side by side comparision....... And with everything so cranked up you can get headaches, eyestrain and actually shorten the life of you set.

Now you can sort of do some calibration with special dvds or Tweak TV. But if you have $200-$300 have a professional do it and you will save the most amount of power and add life to your set.

It is the most proper way to go green.

[bhazard]

Could be a LOT worse, you coulda got a plasma tv. They use well over 500 watts. Go to your local retailer, and walk by their plasma tv displays. Youll notice at least a 5 degree temperature increase I bet.

[NoCO2]

Any idea, besides just the screen brightness, what else "powersaver" mode actually changed on your tv? Just wondering because I use all LCD monitors and TVs in my apartment and I'd love to mimic the settings, but I don't have a "powersaver" setting anywhere that I can see.

[Erdrick]

I don't know that I would consider paying someone $200-300 to calibrate my t.v. That would be like adding 30%+ to the cost of the tv! You would never recoup that money, and the fact is, most people wouldn't even know the difference. If you are hardcore enough to worry about something like that, chances are you can do it yourself.

I own a Sony Bravia, with 1080p, produced in 2007. This is Japan though, so the 2008 models are where Sony started adding the power saving features in America. I am unaware of any other companies with settings like this. All it does it lower the backlight intensity. You have high, medium, low, and off. I keep mine on low. Respective wattages are something like 150, 130, 50, and 30. At the off setting the whole screen is turned off and only the speakers work, so I never use that.

[SmartTrucker]

power saver mode on my DLP saves power by not using any power while it's off........a hard concept to understand i know ;p

It just takes a few extra seconds when powering on to get the color to brighten up.