New TV Extremely Eco-Efficient
Uses No Power in Stand-by Mode
These days those fancy flat-screen televisions are more affordable than ever before. As such, just about everyone in the U.S. owns one, be it an LCD, LED or plasma TV. But there's no denying that most of these sets -- particularly the cheap ones -- are hardly energy-efficient. That may be changing soon, however, and major manufacturer Toshiba appears ready to get the ball rolling.
Toshiba says that its new Regza 32BE3 television, which will make its way to retailers in mid-December, uses less power than its predecessors by employing an "Eco Chip" and storage capacitor. What's the deal? The Regza 32BE3 cuts power usage by reducing electricity requirements when the TV is on and then totally cutting off from the electric grid while in stand-by mode.
Toshiba says it has built three power-saving features into the Regza 32BE3 to cut power when it's actually showing something, like a movie, channel or video game. Its use of LED backlighting apparently cuts power usage by 27 per cent alone, but there are two additional low-power modes that, when employed, can reduce energy consumption by either 50 or 75 per cent. Of course, it's worth keeping in mind that this is likely to cut the screen's brightness and may have a negative effect on the overall picture. However, we'll have to wait until the TV actually ships to know whether that hypothesis is proven correct.
What's really drawing tech experts to the Regza 32BE3 is the way it operates in stand-by mode, which can be considered a 'rest' setting for a TV somewhere between on and off. Most televisions continue to use some power while in this mode, and while it's not a lot, those trickles of energy can add up over the lifetime of a TV. By contrast, Toshiba's Regza 32BE3 uses absolutely no power in stand-by mode because it employs what's described as an "Eco Chip" and storage capacitor to house just enough energy that the TV will be responsive to a remote signal but can also completely disconnect itself from the electric grid.
In the end, it's surprising it took manufacturers this long to develop such technology. After all, who wants their TV to use power when it's not on? In all likelihood, the delay is tied to the fact that most Americans simply don't care enough about saving power.
“I think power consumption is not that high on the consumer consideration list, at least in the US,” said industry analyst, Paul Gagnon.
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