Energy Savings

Proper TV calibration can result in significant energy savings

Your TV is bright, but is it set up optimally? According to sources such as The New York Times and CNET, a correctly-calibrated TV can save a substantial amount of energy over an uncalibrated set. A professional calibration can cost hundreds of dollars and should be done at least once a year. Spyder3TV is a one-time purchase that can be used for all of the sets in your home as often as necessary. Spyder3TV scientifically calculates the correct adjustments to brightness, color, tint, and temperature, but is very simple to use. Don't rely on your TV's factory settings and don't guess at what the correct settings are.

Energy Fact
With larger screen sizes becoming the norm, televisions consume more energy than ever. The average plasma today consumes about the same amount of energy as a full size refrigerator! A Spyder3TV-calibrated television can save a significant percentage of the annual operating costs of a TV.

This Is Not a Test: Calibrate Your HDTV

By Don Reisinger, The New York Times

"The customer's TV was well out of whack. Mr. Rhoades said the TV, a 46-inch Sony Bravia, was overcompensating with blue and was making green and red work harder to create the picture. The result was an HDTV that wasn’t reproducing an accurate image and was using up almost 50 percent more energy than usual."

That Giant Sucking Sound May Be Your New TV

By Rebecca Smith, The Wall Street Journal Online

"Consider that a 42-inch plasma set can consume more electricity than a full-size refrigerator -- even when that TV is used only a few hours a day. Powering a fancy TV and full-on entertainment system -- with set-top boxes, game consoles, speakers, DVDs and digital video recorders -- can add nearly $200 to a family's annual energy bill."

TV power consumption

By Brian Nadel and Matthew Moskovciak, CNET

If you diligently click off the lights when you leave a room, obsess over the fuel-economy stickers on new cars, and cringe when the electricity bill arrives, you may be interested to know that your shiny, new flat-screen television could be a power hog.

Turn down the LCD's backlight
Many LCDs give you the ability to control the intensity of the backlight in the TV. By turning down the backlight, you'll lower power consumption, but also make the TV less bright. While retail stores love to turn the backlights up all the way for their displays, we find that we get the best image quality when we turn down the backlight significantly.

Reduce light output with other settings
Many people buy a TV, turn it on, and never think to change the picture settings. Not only is that bad for the picture quality, it's bad for power consumption. Most TVs are very bright by default, and that leads to using more juice. One of the first things a professional calibrator will usually do is turn down the light output--which is traditionally controlled primarily by "contrast" or "picture" controls--along with several other adjustments that will maximize the performance of your TV.

What does the BBC have to say?

By Sean Coughlan, BBC News Magazine

There are other issues surrounding television energy consumption - such as the brightness of screens. The Market Transformation Program warns that televisions are often set for display in shops, rather than the much lower levels of light needed for home use. It suggests that creating an "eco-mode" for screen brightness could cut power consumption by 15%.