Power consumption of TVs?

[StanleyMuso]

Does any one know what the relative power consumptions are of the various big screen technology types available today? I don't mean an exact figure, just whether some types are more power hungry than others. I would like to find a set which doesn't gobble up the juice. With several children in the house, our TV gets quite a bashing.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

PS Why have I been classified as a newbie? I have posted, infrequently it must be admitted, but for quite a long time on this site. Cheers.

[StanleyMuso]

I was hoping for some excellent feedback from you usually very knowledgeable forum members, but I guess I got you stumped.

[yakkosmurf]

I have a 40" CRT, which I have a feeling sucks more juice that most RPTV, but I might be wrong. I'll try to remember to look on the back when I get home.

My advice was going to be looking at the back of the set. All electronics I've owned contain a label on the back that tells you how much juice it uses at a peak. It's not a definite number, but it would give you a means of comparison. Some give you a number in Watts, while others just give a number in Amps. Remember that Watts is equal to Volts multiplied by Amps.

Watts = V * A

I added up my stuff a while back and realize with the entire system running, I could be drawing almost two kilowatts. :D

[StanleyMuso]

"I added up my stuff a while back and realize with the entire system running, I could be drawing almost two kilowatts."

Bit frightening, isn't it. :)

Thanks for the advice - I will keep a little notebook with me from now on and jot down for comparison the figures on the stuff I'm interested in.

[sokelly]

My Sony 36 in wega sucks up 600 watts when running. Just like having a hair dryer running all the time,

[woodman]

Stanley:
I think you're looking at this issue from a POV that doesn't make good sense, if I may be so bold.

With the cost of today's "big screen" displays being what they are, it makes no sense to buy one (regardless of power consumption) and let children watch it for hours on end. They should have a much smaller direct-view TV set to watch for the hours that they'll have it on - sometimes not watching. Save the "big screen" display for serious viewing time, and forget about how much power it may or may not consume.

As a general rule of thumb, any CRT-based display - whether direct-view or RPTV or front projector - will probably consume more power than a fixed pixel display like LCD, DLP, LCoS, etc. But as I've already pointed out, whatever you choose should be used for only the hours that YOU and your S.O. (and sometimes the children also) sit down for some serious entertainment.

Hope this helps you -

[StanleyMuso]

This is exactly what I was after - a general comparison of the different technologies.

I was hoping you'd answer my post - I've read your other postings with great interest, and appreciate your great depth of knowledge in this area.

I take your point about letting the kids view a smaller TV and reserve the big screen for special viewings - it makes great sense, but it did not occur to me until you pointed it out. Our main TV, a 14 year old Philips (which has now been in for repairs three times in the past year or so - all of them minor thankfully) is in the family room and is the one which will need replacing soon. It is also the TV that most of the family watches most of the time. Hence my assumption that family viewing habits would continue after the big screen is bought.

Ironically, the most reliable set in the house is one I inherrited from my mother - it is over 30 years old, is all valve, generates an annoying high pitched sound and has a slightly washed out and blurred image, but has never, ever broken down, and is OK to catch up on the news late at night in the bedroom.

Electricity prices have soared dramatically since the electricity system was privatized in my neck of the woods. The belief in market forces to keep things competitive have not materialised. Hence, I am paying much closer attention to the power consumption of any products I purchase in the future.

Thanks for your good advice - it is much appreciated.

[woodman]

This is exactly what I was after - a general comparison of the different technologies.

I was hoping you'd answer my post - I've read your other postings with great interest, and appreciate your great depth of knowledge in this area.

I take your point about letting the kids view a smaller TV and reserve the big screen for special viewings - it makes great sense, but it did not occur to me until you pointed it out. Our main TV, a 14 year old Philips (which has now been in for repairs three times in the past year or so - all of them minor thankfully) is in the family room and is the one which will need replacing soon. It is also the TV that most of the family watches most of the time. Hence my assumption that family viewing habits would continue after the big screen is bought.

Ironically, the most reliable set in the house is one I inherrited from my mother - it is over 30 years old, is all valve, generates an annoying high pitched sound and has a slightly washed out and blurred image, but has never, ever broken down, and is OK to catch up on the news late at night in the bedroom.

Electricity prices have soared dramatically since the electricity system was privatized in my neck of the woods. The belief in market forces to keep things competitive have not materialised. Hence, I am paying much closer attention to the power consumption of any products I purchase in the future.

Thanks for your good advice - it is much appreciated.

You didn't mention what your budget is for renewing/revitalizing the video displays in your house - but here's a few down-to-earth pointers for you:

1. Take that 30yr. old set to a decent funeral home - thank it for it's many years of service - say goodbye and walk away ... do not look back. That set is gonna be detrimental to your eyesight - plus it probably consumes considerably more power than the 14 yr. old Philips in the family room.

2. If you have a fair amount of control over the ambient lighti in the family room, I'd suggest a front projector for your new main display. You can get one of them for as little as $999 (plus a screen of course) which could probably leave enough of your budget left to get a couple more inexpensive difrect-views for your bedroom and for the kids to watch most of the time. These projectors of which there are several at these prices, all use DLP technology and are quite bright (the family room does NOT need to be totally dark to watch it. Some people seem to be bothered by "rainbow artifacts" with DLP-based displays, but most don't. If you are to get one and are troubled with "rainbows", you can move up the price scale just a bit into an LCD-based model, which is not subject to the rainbow effects. Another plus to a front projector is - should it require servicing, YOU can tuck it under your arm and take it to the service facility ... no need for two men and a small boy to have to pick it up from you (and return it later - which just costs you money).

Hope this helps you

[StanleyMuso]

A front projector is not viable in my room for a number of layout reasons - I have considered it though - the most important of which is that the family room is as wide as the whole house and the whole rear wall from floor to ceiling is glass window, and still lets in quite a bit of light with the curtains shut. There is a narrow area of glass windows (a couple of feet wide) above the curtain which cannot be screened off because of intruding exposed roof beams.

Therefore, I am being drawn to the better quality rear projectors - unless a more affordable flat screen device comes on the market next year. After that, I will set up a surround system. At the moment, the sound for our DVD and TV viewing is going through my two channel hi-fi (all sepparates) to which I have added a sub.

You're right about the veteran in my bedroom, which I do intend to trash soon, but for sentimental reasons I have been putting off that decision. Besides, we only watch it for something like half an hour at night, and thats not every night.

I am looking forward, though, to getting rid of all the obsolete rubbish cluttering the house and investing in modern technology at long last.