• Go Green: Save Power with LED Technology

    Go Green: Save Power with LED Technology

    Roydon Cerejo, Jun 24, 2009 1330 hrs IST

    Find out if LED technology is really environment friendly

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Going green, it's the latest fad in today's times with everyone sporting the 'Green' tech certified label on their products, but how can we be certain if they are really helping the environment? Green tech needn't require a label on the box to be certified. For instance something as simple as using a Phillips Long Life light bulb instead of a regular one can save you a lot of power, while at the same time last you longer.


 

Besides fridges, which need to run continuously, there is another appliance in every household that's almost constantly on. It's none other that out favorite idiot box which has evolved from black and white CRT's all the way to LCD technology, and now LED TV's paving the way for OLED TV's and god knows what else. So why are we banking so hard all of a sudden on going green?



Well, most of us are oblivious to the fact that generating electricity is more of a struggle nowadays than it was earlier. While researching the web for this article I stumbled upon some facts on National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) which is one of our nation's largest electricity providers. Their 79 coal-fired units spread across the country managed to increase their electricity output by 3.7% over the previous year but had to consume 5.4% which means they had to burn about 7 million more tonnes of coal to get about 6.8 billion more units of electricity. Now that's a whole lot of electricity and a whole lot of smoke to fill our lungs.
If LED technology can help reduce power intake, which means less coal being burnt, leading to a smaller carbon footprint, then the small premium is definitely worth it. 


 


 


How does it work? LED vs CCFL



 




Let's start off with the traditional backlighting method known as CCFL or Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp lighting. Here the LCD panel is lit up by a cold cathode lamp placed behind the LCD with the diffuser evenly distributing light across the TV. These are usually placed at the top and bottom of the screen, which is why at time you'll notice some bleeding at the top and bottom sections when you have a black background.


 




CCFLs normally have a life span of 10,000 to 20000 hrs, which is shorter than that of LEDs. Some of the biggest known drawbacks of CCFLs can be seen in cold weather when the light output can drop down by almost 60%. Also, their life span can be reduced greatly by vibrations, sometimes up to 50%, so it should be handled with extreme care.



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Discussion Board
(7) Comments
Sparks
,India, on Jun 26, 2009 07:16 PM
And let me add up, Rather than using these Goofy LCD TVs, Get LCD monitors and a External TV tuner. A 24 inch Full HD panel costs about 15k and eats only 30W of power. On the other hand, even a 26 inch NON HD Stupid LCD TV Costs over twice and eats much more watts!!! These LCD TV brands are just LOOTING US UP.
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Sparks
,India, on Jun 26, 2009 07:11 PM
Mr, Bhavani Prasad, I appreciate your comment- thanks for pointing out the facts. Lets not forget that LED is currently insanely expensive, which washes out all the power savings. And, LED has CRI (colour rendering Index) of 80 or less. CCFL can have over 95 CRI. and good old CRT has 97+ CRI! ha ha. Old is gold.
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Faisal Shaikh
,mumbai, on Jun 26, 2009 11:36 AM
It would have been more interesting to see the difference between SONY LCD, Samsung LCD V/S SONY LED and Samsung LED. Another reson is as per your last article SONY is using the same Bravio engine in its LED model. So it will be interesting to see the actual difference in LDC v/s LED. I am sure you guys will also agree.
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Faisal Shaikh
,Mumbai, on Jun 26, 2009 11:29 AM
It would have been more interesting to see the difference between SONY LCD, Samsung LCD V/S SONY LED and Samsung LED. Another reson is as per your last article SONY is using the same Bravio engine in its LED model. So it will be interesting to see the actual difference in LDC v/s LED. I am sure you guys will also agree.
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Kunal Vyas
,Mumbai, on Jun 26, 2009 10:57 AM
OLED has already come in commercial market in 11" size by SONY. its 1 year more for complete 30" size to hit the market. It is actually the lowest power consuming TV and contrast ratio in millions.
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Bhavani Prasad
,Bangalore, on Jun 25, 2009 03:33 PM
The review fails to consider the initial cost. Second: The LED consumes a lot of energy for its manufacture. Third: The life of LED is definitely more; But the rate of reduction of output with the standard drive is different with different colors. As such LED which is giving white today may give varius different tinge or masking as it ages over a period of 3 years. Eventhough the picture is there it may be seriously difficienmt in color balance as it ages. It is unfortunate that the manufacturers are suppressing the information about the practical or useable life of LED systems. Please consider these aspects and give a complete review.
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Lalatendu
,Bangalore, on Jun 25, 2009 10:01 AM
The LG scarlet 2 has got another energy saving option by which one can save upto 50 % power on normal consumption. If that option is turned off then it is 160 W as mentioned above else it will come to somewhere in the range of 80 W - 100 W, which is again very less !!
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