Power-guzzling plasmas could be barred by EU
By Darren Murph 
posted Jan 12th 2009 6:48PM
posted Jan 12th 2009 6:48PM
[Thanks, Isaac]
posted Jan 12th 2009 6:48PM
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It's about time the EU started slapping energy ratings on TVs and other consumer kit. They already do it for fridges & washing machines.
Well if that is the case, I was wondering would they reimburse me for the energy that I paid in that past and if they will also give me money for a new television. That's only if I have to get rid of the one I currently own. I forgot they will probably blame it on the consumer.
My Panasonic Plasma circa 2007 has an Energy Star sticker on it, doesn't that count for something? I'm assuming this 3.0 spec is a bit more stringent.
It's a dubious exercise. I don't mind labels, but a ban of a specific technology is too much, I think plasmas got a bad rap when I did find LCDs of the same size that were worse.
I want power consumption be labeled as rated by standby power, and power consumption per unit area.
yeah yeah, Old news.
This just seems Silly, and the Government getting into things that it shouldn't. You are PAYING your own money for the electricity being used. Who's business is it that Your using a little more on your TV then someone else? Your the one paying for it. Pretty DUMB.
This is no different then here in the states you have counties supplying water and prohibiting how you use it. For instance, its ok if the house next door uses 2.5 times as much water than me because they have five kids, but if my childless household wants to water his lawn once per week then they threaten to shut my water off--even if the monthly consumption is still in my favor (using less).
JBDragon, yes you are paying for your electricity but the country is collectively paying for the environmental and energy waste impact when millions of people do the same. Aside from energy consumed by some devices, they may also be hard to recycle and their production / disposal might involve toxic materials.
Leaving things in the hands of consumers is all well and good, but most of the time, the environmental impact or consumption of the device is WAY down the list on the purchaser's mind. In Europe large appliances like freezers, cookers, washing machines are required to display energy ratings with A+ being the best and G being the worst. The scheme is also being extended to lightbulbs and cars. I see no issue with mandating the same be applied to TVs, DVD/BD players, consoles, computers etc. IMO its long overdue, and might actually make the running cost of equipment more prominent to users.
I see no issue either with restrictions on energy consumption on classes of devices. I have no idea if plasmas are actually going to be banned or if this is The Daily Fail doing its usual scaremongering but it would surprise me if most of them were tagged with a D or E rating even if they did continue to be sold. This alone might be enough to kill sales.
Your analogy is closer than most people realize, GhostDoggy. Unlike LCDs, plasma displays do not use a constant amount of electricity. Because each individual pixel is "burning" according to the color and amount of light it needs to generate, the power consumption of a PDP in dark scenes is far lower than that of LCDs. The rated power consumption of a PDP is based on its maximum - generating a pure white screen constantly. Even "older" plasmas will generally use similar or less power as compared to a similar age LCD.
This is crass "politicalism" at its worst. They'll pass a meaningless ban on "older" plasma technology that is no longer manufactured. It will do nothing except strand some poor reseller with a few hundred units that they can no longer sell - probably bankrupting the poor guy in the process. And the politicians will pat each other on the back for "saving the earth", while luxuriating in their air-conditioned offices waiting for their gas guzzling limos and SUVs to pick them up to take them home.
Everyone always looks at a plasma's maximum power draw (a full white screen) rather than the more accurate AVERAGE power usage. Plasmas vary from very high energy usage during bright scenes to very low (much lower than LCD) during during dim scenes. Traditional LCDs are almost always at full power usage, since the backlight is always on. The net result is roughly the same energy use from similar sized LCDs and Plasmas.
Once again, plasma gets a bad rap from the ignorant masses.
The Daily Mail (like The Daily Telegraph) is a loopy 'traditionalist' right-wing British nutters rag.
It most certainly does not reflect the views of the majority.
The big deal here is that they tested various sets.
According to those tests, a 42inch plasma TV may consume three to four times as much power as a similar sized LCD TV - or even large CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) television.
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/giant-plasma-tvs-face-ban-in-battle-to-green-britain-1299665.html
There's no way that ought to be encouraged.
We need clean & green policies and that sort of waste is just unacceptable.
If we must use fossil fuels to create our energy then we ought to be making the absolute most of it, not wasting it.
Unfortunately for plasma it is a power-hungry device.....and LCD is catching up what little advantage it once had anyways.
Laser (assuming it takes off) merely completes the job.