Monitor power consumption basics
Raise your hand if you're interested in saving a few extra dollars. That's what we thought. Do you want to save the planet, too? Buying the right monitor can not fix the world, but paying attention to energy consumption when you buy to help make the world a better place while saving a few pennies. In these pages will explain why the consumption of energy is important, what you can do to conserve power, as different monitors stack up against each other to power conservation, and how CNET tests monitor energy consumption.
Conserving energy can save you money
The less energy your monitor stepping, lower your monthly electricity bill. How much lower? It depends on two key factors. The first is how often you use your monitor does not have to sit in front of it, surf the Internet, games or editing spreadsheets, just how often your monitor is turned on and displays the image. The second factor determining how much you will save the brightness setting on your monitor, which controls the intensity of lighting your desk. The lower you set your light, the less power you use.
You can not save the world just by turning off your monitor when you leave the house, but you're not helping matters of leaving, either. By conserving the amount of energy you use, you can reduce demand for fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas. Less burning of fossil fuels means lower emissions of carbon dioxide, the primary contribution to global warming. It's as simple as that. And then, of course, there's the money-saving perk. More.
How can I save my energy monitor?
Sleep mode is your friend
Make sure when you are in front of your monitor, the device is resting up. You can set the sleep mode in Windows by going to Control Panel and choosing the Power Options. Select the Power Schemes tab and under involved, change the "Turn off monitor" field to whatever time suits you. (We recommend at least 5 minutes to avoid approve your monitor off while reading a long article.)
Turn down your light
Light is one of the most important attributes to determine how much power monitor retreats, and is usually referred to as "Light" in the display screen of your monitor. Adjust the volume of the monitor affects the amount of light emitted by its light. In our tests, we found that trumps every other light setting for energy saving; monitors had the same amount of energy whether we were watching a game or Blu-ray movies, while the light setting is consistent.
You may be wondering how contrast fits all. Truth is not. Because the contrast setting controls only the white level and the monitor has nothing to do with lighting, not to have an effect on energy consumption.
If your monitor has a switch, use
Most LCD monitors are not turned completely off when you press the button and still draw some amount of energy. To ensure your monitor is not drawing power, click off the switch - usually found on the underside of your desk, near its connection options - if you have. Switch acts as an extra degree of power conservation. If the switch is, the monitor can be turned by pressing the button, but if you turned off the monitor can be turned in - even by the key - unless the switch is turned back.
If you're going to be away from your computer for a day or more and your monitor has no switch, unplug from the wall to make sure it is not sucking power.
Upgrade from CRT to LCD
If you're still using a CRT monitor, consider finally taking the plunge LCD screen. Not only will you save money and consume less power, but will also have more space on your desktop mouse pads, keyboards, and a little plush dolls, if you're in that sort of thing.
We tested the Sony GDM520K 20-inch CRT via VGA and based on our test methodology (see the test LCD monitor energy consumption) of the annual cost of CRT is 63 percent higher than the 20-inch widescreen HP 2009m.
Upgrade of Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp (CCFL) to light-emitting diode (LED)
CCFL and LED related to the types of lighting in the LCD monitor. Most monitors use CCFL backlighting, not so effective in filling the screen with light from the LED backlight. CCFL backlight, consists of several tubes arranged horizontally across the rear panel monitor. With LED lights, there are many individual LED diodes around the back of each screen that can not be excluded either. This gives very precise LED displays on the control amount of light coming through the screen, and therefore more efficient in energy consumption. LED-based LCDs also have the potential to perform better than CCFL monitors color accuracy and can be produced with much thinner slabs based CCFL screen.
We tested three LED LCD monitors, Dell G2210, Dell G2410 and ViewSonic VLED22. In our tests, Dell G2210 and G2410 LED really lived up to the hype, earning all our energy saving seal. The ViewSonic VLED22, not so much. The ViewSonic does not bad, just not to our energy saving standards (see the test LCD monitor energy consumption).
Take a smaller monitor
We know, playing Crysis on your 30-inch Dell in 2560 X1 ,600-pixel resolution is a reason to live, but it is also the reason for Energy company expect your monthly energy readings. The fewer pixels lighting should illuminate, the less power it uses. If you can stomach a smaller monitor, know that it will save you cash.
Panel Technology
Another factor that determines how much energy a monitor draws a type of panel it uses. In our tests, we found that the Twisted Nematic (TN) panels percenr pull 45 to 49 percent less juice super patterned vertical alignment (S-PVA) models with the same size. Obviously, IPS panels (which usually have better visual quality than TN panels) require more power for that extra pizzazz.
