Even after you've bought a TV, you can still make a difference in your power consumption. We've assembled a short list of tips that just about anybody can do to make their home theater more energy efficient.
Turn the TV off when it's not being used
Sure, this one's obvious, but it's easy to get into the habit of leaving the TV on as "background" when you're not really watching it. And while TVs still consume power in standby mode, it's a tiny fraction of what they draw when they're actually on. Old habits die hard, but you'll be saving yourself some bucks if you remember this tip.Turn off the Quick Start option
Some HDTVs have an option called Quick Start or something similar, which makes the TV turn on more quickly when you press the power button. The flipside of this mode is that when engaged, it consumes significantly more power (typically 25 to 50 times as much) during standby, which can really add up. Do your energy bill a favor and turn this mode off. That few extra seconds' wait for the TV to warm up is well worth it.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 we get the best image quality when we turn down the backlight significantly.Turn on the power-saver mode
Many TVs these days come with a power-saver mode that's designed to cut down power consumption. Performance of this mode varies from model to model, with the effect sometimes being drastic and other times providing only a slight savings. The only downside is that the power-saver mode usually makes the TV less bright, but we've found that sometimes this has a beneficial effect on the image quality, especially with the room lights turned off, in which case it's a win-win situation.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.How much savings can you get by reducing light output? The Imaging Science Foundation, an organization that provides professional calibration services, estimates that their calibrations can save 30 to 50 percent of your set's current energy consumption. On the Panasonic TH-58PX600U that we tested before and after our own calibration, we found the power consumption dropped from 442 watts pre-calibration to 318 watts afterward, a 28 percent drop. Tags: TV, Imaging, retail company, HDTV, LCD
