Display Power Consumption: CRTs Versus TFT-LCDs

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An increasing number of flat panel displays are based on LED backlighting, and their manufacturers aren't shy about promoting the technology's benefits to power consumption. We checked the claims to see if the promised savings are worth emphasizing.

Benchmark Results: Analog And DVI Input

Analog Input

We set the brightness level to 100% using each display’s analog input. Results reflect the power consumption levels of the various displays. The new Acer LED-based display requires only 18 W, which is impressive for a 22” display. Our 19” and 20” monitors required 31 to 34 W, and the 24” Samsung display doubled this at 68 W. The two CRT monitors came in at more than 100 W.

Digital Input (DVI-D)

Then we switched to the digital display inputs, if available, still running at 100% brightness. The 24” Samsung display required a bit less power.

Patrick Schmid and Achim Roos