Enabling energy efficient TVs remains top priority for LCD TV Association members

BEAVERTON, USA: On the eve of Earth Day 2010, member companies of the LCD TV Association—a global, not-for-profit, marketing trade association formed to help the entire LCD TV supply chain, retail channel and consumers—today re-enforced their ongoing pledge to usher in an era of greener TVs.

“With power consumption by electronic devices becoming increasingly important throughout the world, it’s critical that all companies in the TV supply chain work toward greener processes and products,” noted David Barnes, Chief Research Officer of the LCD TV Association.

The LCD TV Association’s GreenTV logo program was launched in 2008 in an effort to help focus LCD TV manufacturers and brands on reducing the power consumption of LCD TVs and lessening the overall environmental impact or "footprint" of LCD TV components, products and logistics. In addition, the GreenTV logo raises consumer awareness of this important issue. Products in the current program reduce energy consumption by as much as 60 percent.

Corning
Corning's award-winning EAGLE XG glass substrates are the industry's first to contain no added heavy metals or halides-allowing increased opportunities for LCD technology to be green before, during and after use. Between their introduction in 2006 and today, EAGLE XG glass substrates have prevented the use of nearly 14,000 tons of heavy metals. That amount of hazardous material would fill 2,192 dump trucks, or a train consisting of 139 hopper cars.

DisplaySearch
DisplaySearch forecasts that Green FPD penetration will exceed 50 percent in 2011 and completely penetrate the market by 2014. “In order to continue profitable growth in an environment of continuous cost pressure and more stringent environmental controls, TFT LCD makers must simultaneously drive down manufacturing costs and reduce power consumption,” noted Paul Semenza, Senior Vice President of DisplaySearch.

“The technologies that directly address these issues include those that aim to improve the historically low optical transmission of TFT LCDs, as well as the efficiency of backlighting. Manufacturers that can bring such improvements into mass production will have a competitive advantage.”

mSilica’s
mSilica has dedicated itself toward developing ICs that improve energy efficiency and user experience in LCD-TV backlighting. mSilica’s wide dimming options provide unparalleled contrast ratio and has earned design wins at household names in the world of consumer electronics.

A proprietary efficiency optimizer carefully and adaptively meters and reduces power dissipation. This technique was perfected and proven three years before energy efficiency standards for large LCD-TV panels were introduced in California. With mSilica’s ICs, an average of 10 percent power can be saved per TV. If all 150M TVs are shipped with mSilica technology, a whopping 1,875MW of instantaneous power could be saved.

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt Germany
Merck, the world´s leading manufacturer of high-tech display materials, in particular for LCD TVs, remains strongly committed to sustainability and product stewardship. The company only uses safe and legally compliant (i.e. no acutely toxic or mutagenic) substances manufactured by highly efficient and environment-friendly processes.

Together with its customers Merck KGaA is strongly involved in the development of new LCD technologies such as PSVA (Polymer Stabilized Vertical Alignment), which features a significantly enhanced panel transmission—enabling significantly lower backlight and consequently TV set power consumption for more eco-efficient hence ‘greener’ LCDs.

NOVA Chemicals
NOVA Chemicals’ ARCEL resin is a high performance foam packaging solution designed to ensure that products withstand the rigors of shipping, while creating cube utilization and material source reduction efficiencies that reduce environmental impact throughout the supply chain. This leads to a positive customer brand experience at a lower total cost.

Supertex Inc.
Supertex Inc. is a leading developer of energy efficient high voltage LED drivers not only for backlighting LCD TVs, but also for many other solid-state lighting applications.

By incorporating solid-state components instead of cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL), OEMs manufacturing LCD TVs can reduce typical energy consumption by around 50 percent. Supertex LED drivers also prolong LED lifetimes through effective power delivery, thereby extending solid-state product life and reducing electronic waste.

Supertex remains committed to delivering energy efficient driving solutions for the solid-state lighting industry as a whole, with specific focus on the LCD TV market sector.

TAOS Inc.
TAOS Inc., the market leader and pioneer of digital ambient light sensors (ALS), is providing key "green" technology to the HDTV industry that is directly benefiting consumers who purchase flat panel HDTVs and other consumer electronics.

Ambient light sensors automatically adjust the display brightness based on ambient light conditions that result in power consumption being reduced by as much as 30 percent, thereby conserving energy while simultaneously providing an enhanced picture quality. By adopting TAOS "Green" technology, manufactures are able to produce increasingly more energy-efficient, "Energy-Star"-compliant products.

Westinghouse Digital
2010 Westinghouse LED LCD HDTVs are Energy Star 5.0 compliant meeting the standard’s requirements two years early. The new 26” LED edge backlit TV uses less power than a 45 watt light bulb while the 32” uses 10 percent less energy than a 60 watt bulb. The 42” LED uses 20 percent less energy than a 100-watt bulb.

All Westinghouse LED/LCD HDTVs are mercury-free, feature recycled/recyclable cartons, use eco friendly soy based ink for carton and manual printing and are RoHS compliant. The new ultra-slim designs with a maximum thickness of 1.5 inches allow 20-25 percent reduced transportation carbon footprint compared to 2009 models.

VIZIO
The current version 3.0 ENERGY STAR TV product specifications require that all qualified televisions address both active and standby power (when your TV is on and off). Eco VIZIO HDTVs exceed the current minimum standards by at least 15%. Furthermore, all VIZIO TruLED products are mercury free, as the display’s LED backlight is environmentally-friendly and mercury-free. Lastly, VIZIO is proud to participate and abide by state and federal requirements relating to appropriate disposal of e-waste.