The need for a green display strategy

CEC also confirms that all Pro AV and hospitality televisions must fulfill all standards as provided. In response to the question of additional electronic circuitry for enhanced functionality, the CEC expects all circuits to be designed to turn themselves off when not in use. Theoretically this should allow all manufacturers to include functionality in their design without exceeding the power limits, but many in Pro AV think some of the monitoring circuits (like RS-232) will need to be redesigned to let them have sleep and wake-up functions. Otherwise, their high off-state power levels will not meet CEC or Energy Star requirements.

While the Energy Star program pushes the envelope for future technologies by setting higher and higher hurdles, the CEC regulation may indeed become a hurdle for the introduction of new technologies like 3D TV, Internet TV, and proximity sensors. Some of these new technologies create new use models and consumer experiences, but will raise the energy consumption of the TVs to a certain degree. Additional electronics needed for this new functionality will make it more difficult to fulfill the energy requirements in general.

Technologies aimed at reducing the overall power consumption through sensing the presence of viewers in the room (and eventually shutting down if nobody is in the room) require additional electronics. Thus they boost energy consumption incrementally. While there was internal discussion at CEC about crediting such innovative designs, the lack of accepted test measurements led officials to leave this out of the current regulation.

One specific oddity of the CEC program is its limitation to TVs under a screen diagonal of 58 in, or more accurately, a screen area of less than 1,400 square inches. If the concern of the CEC is the higher energy use of larger and larger TVs, why are the largest ones exempt from this regulation? Will this push some new technology introductions to these larger, exempted TVs?

What does this all mean in the greater scheme of things? Will television sets disappear from the Californian markets as predicted by CEA? Some older models with lower energy efficiency may indeed exit the Calif. market faster than their manufacturers originally planned, but newer models at a higher price point will most likely make up for it. In addition, human nature may actually create a buying frenzy in late 2010 to snap up those non-complying TVs at bargain prices.

To illustrate the effect of the CEC regulation on TV products from today's perspective, consider the accompanying chart comparing the on-power rating of all Energy Star-rated TVs available in the USA with the future Energy Star requirements and the CEC regulation. Television sets that are not Energy Star rated are either older models or models using older technology, which will be replaced with newer technology in the near future.

First, Energy Star-rated LCD TVs with a diagonal up to 37 in are already capable of fulfilling the Tier 1 requirements of CEC today. Some of the larger TVs need further energy reductions if they want to stay in the Calif. market. It also becomes clear that PDP (plasma display panel) TVs have a tougher time in fulfilling the CEC regulation compared to LCDs. While it can be expected that PDP will be able to fulfill the Tier 1 requirements, more technology improvements will be needed to reach the Tier 2 level required in 2013.

The graph also shows that the CEC energy limits coincide nicely with Energy Star requirements. This basically makes the Energy Star 4.0 requirements a mandatory requirement in Calif. in 2013. California sees itself as a leader in this trend toward energy savings and expects other states to follow suit. It might even encourage the federal government to change the direction of Energy Star from a market incentive program to a mandatory, regulative approach.

During the recent ‘Green Display Expo 2009’ in Washington, DC, it was stated that there are more than 35 worldwide labeling options for manufacturers to consider, including, but not limited to, energy efficiency ratings.