Electronic companies agree to improve energy efficiency of TVs

A group of major companies have signed a voluntary agreement with industry organizations to “significantly improve the energy efficiency of TVs” sold in North America.

The European Union in 2021 introduced a new stricter Energy Label to specify both SDR and HDR power consumption, and further tightened energy requirements in March 2023.

The new voluntary agreement covering the US and Canada includes the following initiatives:

Ensure that at least 90 percent of TVs sold in the U.S. and Canada by 2026 will have a standby-mode power usage of no more than 2.0 watts

Develop additional on-mode power usage commitments within a year

Retain an independent auditor to oversee and confirm the accuracy of third-party lab testing and manufacturer-submitted confidential sales data

Some of these improvements would have come with no further effort required as a natural extension of the EU’s rules, given that many TV models sold in Europe are also sold in North America.

In North America, consumers tend to buy bigger TVs than in Europe including power-hungry LCD TVs with full array local dimming (FALD) that can top 450W for a 75-inch 8K model and 650W for a 85-inch 8K model.

In 2020, Funai, Hisense, LG, Samsung, TCL and Vizio reached a preliminary agreement with NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), ACEEE (American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy) and CTA (Consumer Technology Association) to “develop and promote an updated test method for measuring television energy use”.

The next step – the so-called first phase – is to implement the initiatives outlined in the previous section. LG Electronics, Google TV, Hisense, and Sony Electronics have signed up and publicly announced their support. Additional TV makers are expected to join in the future, the organizers said.

The first phase is believed to result in savings of an estimated 58 TWh once fully realized, and believed to save consumers more than $2.4 billion annually in electricity bills. It should reduce CO2 emissions by over 10 million metric tons per year, they said.