Digital TVs - how much power do they use?

[Deleted User]

I was chatting to a TV engineer a couple of days ago and he reckoned that flat screen TVs use MUCH more electricity than the old bulkier TVs (he reckoned at least 10 x as much).

Does anyone know if this is true?

Inner_Zone

No, some use a bit more but no where near ten times. If that what he thinks I would be wary of using his sevices.

[Deleted User]

Modern flatscreen TVs actually use only a fraction of the power used by an old CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) TV. Plasma TVs use more electricity than the LED/LCD variety which is just another reason why Plasmas are being discontinued.

Your TV "engineer" doesn't appear too clued up, I wouldn't trust him to fix any of my sets!



Here's a link to an American site (which obviously references US models of TVs and US government agencies), but the message is still the same.

"The bottom line is that the television you buy today uses just a fraction of the power used by the television you bought 10 years ago, but that still isn't going to be good enough to meet the latest standards in some cases."

Cycrow

of course it depends on the size of the TV as well.

a very large LCD may use more power than a tiny CRT.

but in general, LCD use alot less than CRT's did

[Deleted User]

Inner_Zone wrote: »

some use a bit more

Comparing like-for-like, I doubt any flatscreen of similar screen size uses more than an old CRT. Also, the largest available CRT would have been (at the very biggest) only 36". Modern flat screens can be (and are) many times larger than that and can still have lower power consumption!

[Deleted User]

Thanks for the replies! The engineer is someone that a neighbour uses because "he's so reasonable" and I spoke to him when I went round there. She does get a bit carried away if something/someone seems cheap (we all like a bargain but I suspect that sometimes she forgets about quality).

I certainly won't be using his services - sounds like he doesn't know what he's talking about !!

bryanb

There will be a label on the TV saying how many watts it uses. If not look in the handbook.

Quiet_Spark

Back in the day it wasn't uncommon for larger (28" and above) CRT sets to pull in the region of 250 - 300W, a modern day 40" LCD will just about pull 50W when in use.

artyclarty

For comparison purposes I have looked at my spare 32" JVC CRT with my 32" LG LCD (2008 model).

The CRT pulled 350W wheras the LCD pulls 150W. Although the latest model is quoted at pulling 37W (0.3 in standby) on the Richer Sounds website which is getting closer to that 10x more efficient.

Its not something that I would really look into if swapping away from a CRT. I was much more interested in the space I saved: I wish I'd bought a much bigger tv now as it takes up so much less space and looks a bit small...

Strider590

To be honest there's no a lot in it.

Like for like, a 24inch LCD, will use less power than a 21inch CRT. (i think that's the closest comparison).

But compare a 28inch CRT to a 48inch LCD and they're pretty much going to be equal on power usage.

The big difference is standby power, modern power supplies use next to nothing on standby, where an old TV could have been sitting at 20-30W.

InsideInsurance

Corona wrote: »

I was chatting to a TV engineer

To be fair to the chap, what sort of "engineer" was he? The sort that goes into the gubbins of the TV to fix a problem? An aerial installer? The sort that just plugs in the cables for you? Someone who does THX type calibration?