The need for a green display strategy

With this multitude of labeling and rating options, TV product design is entering a new stage of complexity. The main risk for the TV manufacturer is not even the energy efficiency required by the CEC, but the complexity it potentially introduces. What if California is correct and other states follow its example by introducing their own versions of energy efficiency requirements? (We can't expect all of them to use the same regulation as California.) This would add significant complexity to the design and marketing efforts of all companies in consumer electronics.

Insight Media has discussed many of these issues in its recently released Green Display Report, which provides more detail on other aspects of environmental product design, such as energy use during manufacturing, use of resources and hazardous materials, and end-of-life issues related to specific display technologies. These aspects are not considered in the CEC regulation, which is strictly aimed at energy consumption, but are a considerable part of many of the other labeling programs.

Despite the best intentions of the CEC regulation, it is not clear the outcome will be saving energy and overall resources, reducing air pollution, and saving the consumer money. A more global strategy of addressing CE environmental issues, including energy consumption of TVs, may lead eventually to a more successful solution the CE manufacturers can live with.

Resources

Insight Media, Norwalk, Conn., www.insightmedia.info