The Wrong Case: Energy Consumption and Television

The LA Times is running a piece about how flat-screen televisions aren’t energy efficient and how California is going to impose rules on energy consumption and all that other hippie shit. I call bullshit. Know why? Because less than 5 years ago, no one had a flat-screen HDTV except the extremely wealthy. Everyone had those old, shitty, big ass CRT television sets. Using Google, I compared a 30-inch Samsung flat-screen display to a 32-inch Samsung CRT. Here’s what I found:
Samsung SyncMaster 305T – 30″ Display
Power Consumption Operational: 130 Watt
Source: http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=Samsung+SyncMaster+305T&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&cid=2349199014125518526&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&resnum=4&ct=result#ps-sellersSamsung TXM3298HF – 32″ CRT
Power Consumption Operational: 190 Watt
Source: http://reviews.cnet.com/direct-view-tvs-crt/samsung-txm3298hf/4507-6481_7-20461179.html?tag=mncol;rnav
Now don’t get me wrong, there is a 2-inch margin of error here and a bunch of other shit you could throw at me, but it’s a general fact that those old CRTs are way less efficient than newer, thinner television sets. Perhaps California should try going with the flow instead of fighting the tide.


