Philips LCD Monitor Detects Your Presence

By Marcus Yam
published

It can sense you.

We’re in front of our computers a lot throughout the day. In fact, many of us we spend more time in front of our screens than anything else, be it for business or pleasure. But invariably throughout the day, we get up and leave our desks sometimes for lunch or other breaks.

We try to be energy friendly by setting our displays to go to sleep after a certain number of minutes, but it’s still not as ideal as having a display turn itself off whenever we’re not in front of it.

Enter the Brilliance LCD from Philips, which has a built-in sensor that detects the presence of someone in front of it. When the monitor senses that no one is in front of it, then it dim itself and cut power consumption by half. Original settings are restored once the user returns.

The sensor is also configurable for a range between 30 cm and 120 cm and works independent of external systems software or OS.

North American pricing and release aren’t yet known, but it’ll be hitting the UK in July for £170 ($282), according to pocket-lint.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
11 Comments Comment from the forums
  • joshthor
    In soviet russia computer monitors you!
    Reply
  • sot010174
    Nice idea, but I want a "disable" button for this feature. I own a 23" LCD and sometimes I'm watching videos from my bed and I wouldn't want to the thing to dim when I´m far from it. Nevertheless I like the concept.
    Reply
  • Gin Fushicho
    Thats awesome , getting pretty close to the way I'd like it.;D
    Reply
  • mdillenbeck
    Questions that pop into my head:

    Any info on the difference in power usage between the sleeping monitor and the monitoring sensor? How long would a typical user need to own the monitor before the sensor technology would pay for itself? Would it not be better just to get in the habit of turning the monitor off whenever you get up and and turning it on when you sit down?

    Of course, I can see how such a sensor might be useful in the corporate environment. How often are business users (or educational lab users) away from their workstations, or near their desks but not actually in front of their workstations using them? In this case, I can see how having such technology would help the green image of a business. (In the same way having motion sensor lighting makes sense versus always-on lighting).
    Reply
  • sykes12
    This is great for fat,lazy americans who can't make the effort to press a button to turn it off. What's next, a monitor that detects when you're horny and starts showing prOn?

    Instead of bullshitting customers with such gimmicks how about figuring out how to make S-IPS panels as cheap as TN.
    Reply
  • XD_dued
    Eh...i just push the button when i leave for extended periods of time. If its not anymore expensive i wouldn't really care getting it or not.
    Reply
  • Core2uu
    XD_duedEh...i just push the button when i leave for extended periods of time. If its not anymore expensive i wouldn't really care getting it or not.
    I never knew it was so easy.
    Reply
  • gio2vanni86
    Turning it on or off is so easy and takes up seconds 1-3 to come onto screen if your that lazy to move a mouse or a button on a monitor then for sure something is wrong with you.
    Reply
  • NoCaDrummer
    I have mine go to sleep AND lock the computer after two minutes. If I'm away from my desk, I don't want someone coming in and messing with my files or computer. Yes, I have to press Ctrl-Alt-Del then type my password, but the safety is worth it.
    If Philips wanted to do something REALLY amazing, it would "know" when you've left, lock up, shut off the display, and not come back on until it "knows" you're back. In other words, it would eliminate that logging-in time. THAT would be worth a few extra bucks.
    Reply
  • p05esto
    I really, really like this idea. Screen savers do NOT save energy, and I think stand-by mode also sucks some juice. It would be nice to turn off automatically without me messing around. In theory it would also turn on faster than for me to sit, grab mouse, move mouse and then figure out what I'm going to do. The motion of me sitting down would trigger it and probably save like 3 seconds a pop on wake-up (X 25 times a day). Just a small convienience, but also seems high tech and a smart device.
    Reply