Do TV manufacturers have the technology to improve efficiency?
Overall, yes. Some LCD manufacturers are starting to use LED-based backlights, rather than fluorescent backlights, to be more efficient. The added costs from this are projected to come down dramatically because they are on a “Moore’s Law-type trajectory,” said NRDC’s Horowitz. In general, plasmas don’t have the same efficiency improvement potential as LCDs, according to Katzmaier. But at the Consumer Electronics Show this year, Panasonic–the largest plasma vendor–announced that it has developed technology to cut electricity by up to one half compared to 2007 models. The proposed California standards are fairly lenient, which means that the majority of the TVs will be able to meet the standard without sacrificing image quality, Katzmaier said. The TVs most in danger of not meeting the California mandates or getting an EnergyStar label are the very large plasmas, particularly those that are more than 54 inches, he said. Meanwhile, there is movement to ratchet down gadget use in other sta
