back to article TV industry gets its own 'dieselgate' over 'leccy consumption tests

The idiot box is smarter than it seems: a spat has broken out between America's Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Consumer Technology Association about the energy consumption of televisions. The NRDC reckons TV makers are configuring sets to perform well on government tests, while in the living room they become …

  1. JeffyPoooh
    Pint

    Eco Mode

    Many TVs have an explicitly-explained 'Eco Mode' if you want to save energy.

    And many have a 'Full Garish' (<- I just made that name up, energy hog) Mode so that they "look good" in brightly lit stores.

    None of this is a secret.

    1. Ugotta B. Kiddingme

      Re: Eco Mode

      And even if Full Garish mode, my current LCD TV uses significantly less electricity than the smaller Plasma TV it replaced. That assessment is based upon actual power consumption readings from one of these

    2. energystar
      Windows

      Re: Eco Mode

      Find personal offense on Government 'kidders'.

  2. Steven Roper
    Linux

    There is a simple solution

    to all this test-finagling on the part of the private sector.

    Pass a law requiring all software embedded in products sold to the public to be released open-source.

    1. David Pollard

      Re: There is a simple solution

      It might be easier to have a law requiring product labels to state clearly when embedded software is not open source. That way an additional effect might be that the general public would eventually come to know where the benefit lies.

    2. Martin Milan

      Re: There is a simple solution

      Make Windows open source you mean? (in the case of PCs)

  3. Steve Knox
    Paris Hilton

    NRDC:"We found these specific issues with specific televisions."

    CTA: "Stop fighting a war or television with your lies!"

    One of these two is a constructive statement.

    1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      "One of these two is a constructive statement."

      With dieselgate fresh in the memory I'd have expected the CTA to have taken the moral high ground - which in this case would probably be the fence on which it could sit. Otherwise, if NRDC is proven right when the shit hits the fan they'll be standing right in line to get their share.

  4. a_yank_lurker

    What is picture quality of bureaucrats' power saving mode? I suspect it is terrible so to have a decent picture it will use more power. Also, how many people explicitly buy a TV on power consumption alone?

    1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
      Thumb Up

      "Also, how many people explicitly buy a TV on power consumption alone?"

      I'd guess the answer to that would be as close to 0% as to make no difference.

  5. Neil Barnes Silver badge

    It's not difficult.

    Place television in a selection of homes.

    Add energy measuring box.

    Leave for a week.

    Count energy.

    Average.

    1. The Travelling Dangleberries

      Re: It's not difficult.

      Place television in a selection of homes which are connected to a mains electrical supply and are inhabited by people and where the aforementioned inhabitants watch television on a telly.

      FTFY.

      Although as IANAL I am sure I have missed out a few clauses that would make sure that the test conditions could not be misinterpreted.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: It's not difficult.

        Then you'll have the TV companies trying to find out who these people are so they can influence them to use the TV 'correctly' and eco lobbyists doing the same thing in the opposite direction.

        I would have thought it's not that hard to specify a test to get a reasonable power reading, the only caveat I'd add is that all picture quality (things like brightness and contrast) data published must be that captured during the tests. Then if the manufacturer creates an artificial mode for the tests which compromises picture quality for low power use their picture quality specs will show that.

        "Real world" fuel economy is a tough thing to replicate as people drive so differently and put different tyres on, carry extra stuff, encounter different traffic etc. Watching TV has got more variables today than in the past but surly it's not that complicated.

  6. Fraggle850

    Actively encouraged to drop the eco-nonsense

    I've a talk talk freeview box connected to my telly. It points out during start up that you can make it fire up quicker by going into the eco settings in the menu. I'd guess they have to hit a stand by power consumption to sell the box but once it's sold all the eco-twattery, hair-shirt shite can go out of the window in favour of a much better user experience.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I've a talk talk freeview box

      TalkTalk? You poor bastard. Condolences.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Actively encouraged to drop the eco-nonsense

      My YouView box courtesy of Talkshite is the most eco friendly electronic device in the house - it works so badly it lives unplugged on the floor in the office!

      1. Fraggle850

        @X2 ACs Re: Actively encouraged to drop the eco-nonsense

        I know, what can I say? Can't be arsed to switch and I'm also a tight-arse who objects to paying the dirty digger a subscription to access stuff I've no intention of watching and still have adverts (honestly, you want me to pay for TV and expect me to watch adverts? And adverts seem to make up around 15-20% of any hour of programming?) Guess I've been spoilt by the BBC.

        Really ought to sort out a better ISP though...

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Mexican petrol station pumps

    It's well known in Mexico that the govt agency in charge of standards has a fixed quantity they pump out of a petrol station pump to check that it's calibrated.

    So if you ask the pump for that amount, you get exactly that amount. Any other amount you ask for gets a station-owner-configurable diddle factor applied to the amount, so you get less. Sometimes quite a bit less.

    You have to park with the pump in your immediate field of vision and make sure the pump attendant sees you watch them zero the pump, or they will just pretend to put fuel in. But that's a story for another day.

  8. VinceH

    "that during the DOE test loop, some TVs seemed to exhibit “inexplicable and sustained drops in energy use”. It suggests that software is specifically detecting the test loop and adjusting the TV's performance to suit."

    Well, duh. That's not cheating on a test, that's how it should perform when it's in that situation: It's detecting when it can save a little energy, and doing so.

    This, along with the counters already pointed out above and in the article, show the whole argument is silly.

  9. wyatt

    I purchased a screen and then set it to have the best picture I could achieve with my vision. I don't really care about it's consumption, only the picture. If however it used a stupid amount of lecy then I might be concerned.

    Fortunately the kids are at school now so it's not on much so I care even less.

  10. SImon Hobson Bronze badge

    So let me get this right ...

    ${regulatory_body} lays down tests that ${product} must pass. Manufacturers make products which pass those tests. ${regulatory_body} acts all surprised when it's noticed that products passing it's tests behave differently under different conditions.

    Just like the dieselgate row, the product passed the tests laid down - that's all there is to it. If ${regulatory_body} wants ${product} to behave in a specific way under specific situations/conditions then they need to make their tests representative of those conditions.

    All this shows (yet again) is that if you lay down specific tests/targets, then people will work to them. This isn't news to any of us - except perhaps the people doing the complaining.

    Schools get assessed on certain things (like exam results) - so they start to teach towards maximising those things they are assessed on. Those with long memories will recall when cars were taxed on engine size, with breaks at 1600cc and 2000cc resulting in all manufacturers having 1598 and 1998cc engine options. Then taxman decides he's missing out and moves the goalposts - resulting within a very short time in 1798cc engine options. Hospital waiting lists are another example.

    None of this is news, sigh

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Changing the subject...

    I'm currently trying to work out which vacuum cleaners score the worst in the energy efficiency ratings so that I can buy one with the same suction power as my aging DC01 which I can't get spares for any more... A vacuum cleaner isn't efficient if a low power motor means it can't do it's job properly.

  12. Mark 85
    Flame

    Stop it... just stop it!!!!

    Stop the mindless adding of "-gate" to every stinking scandal or cover-up. El Reg, you're better than the mass media that feeds the rest. Take a stand and drop the "-gate".

    1. Inventor of the Marmite Laser Silver badge

      Re: Stop it... just stop it!!!!

      Stopitgate, anyone

  13. Herby

    Something to note...

    I suspect that most (if not all) modern LCD sets consume considerably LESS energy than the set my folks bought back in 1967. It was loaded with nice glowing vacuum tubes (valves) that nicely warmed the room that we watched the TV in. The set it replaced (from the 50's) might have consumed less, but it was a smaller screen size.

    If you want to criticize power consumption, look at plasma sets. They get hot to the touch. Of course, the also have good contrast ratios, but fade away over time. Oh, they are HEAVY! as well. I won't go into how much RF hash they create (it is a bunch!).

  14. Bakana

    Interlocking Corporate interests anyone?

    How much of all this is driven by interlocking ownership of various corporations?

    For instance, are the companies which manufacture TVs also owned by some of the same people who own the Power or Oil companies?

    Not a Conspiracy so much as "Hey, lets not get Hasty and build something that hurts profits from my Other stocks."

  15. G R Goslin

    My TVHasn't used....

    ...any energy, in the past four years, simply because there was nothing on worth turning it on for.

  16. Ellis Birt 1

    Another example of manufacturers wrking around unrealistic environMENTAL regulations.

    Surely the savvy consumer would prefer to see real-world figures and decide to buy a smaller product if they really are concerned how much it will cost to run.

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