Home theaters were once anything but energy efficient, but this is changing as environmental awareness and political realities are being rapidly demystified by the media. While inaccurate information is perhaps more prevalent than honest information, it is still essentially true that overall awareness of energy concerns and the environment are more common these days. That means that savvy manufacturers and vendors are starting to tout products that are more energy efficient, even for home theaters. Once the home theater becomes energy efficient, what’s next? Hybrid sports car races perhaps?
Energy Efficient Television Sets
Modern flat screen television sets are energy efficient by comparison to some of their forbearers. The fact is that televisions are the heart and souls of home theaters, and it is hard to use a home theater without using the television. This means that energy efficiency starts with the television. ENERGY STAR compliance is a good way to determine which television sets and other home theater products meet certain energy goals, even if the standard has come under fire recently.
Additionally, some vendors such as Samsung and Mitsubishi, have started offering entire lines of energy efficient models. Best of all, most of these television sets cost only marginally more than their non-energy efficient models. This means that the premium price for energy efficiency can often be recovered after a period of time that will vary from one situation to the next. If energy prices continue to increase, the time it will take for an investment to prove wise will be lower.
Set Top Boxes Get Efficient
Verizon has recently announced plans to field test energy efficient set top boxes for its FiOS service. Two new models, known as the Motorola QIP 7232 and Motorola QIP 7100, offer a combination of software and hardware that will result in an estimated 30 percent savings on energy utilization. The QIP 7232 model is obviously the DVR model, and allegedly pairs higher performance CPU with more memory while still managing to consume less energy. Whether these boxes will see widespread deployment or not is uncertain at this time, but Verizon is not the only vendor that has been testing and even deploying efficient STBs (Set Top Boxes) recently; in fact, most major cable companies have been taking note of consumer demand for green products and doing their best to meet those needs.
What is truly interesting is that additional performance is offered in tandem with lower power consumption. There are countless new and/or upgraded features that could use the additional performance features in boxes such as the QIP 7232 and 7100, and it will be exciting to see exactly what the future holds for faster and more efficient boxes.
Gaming Consoles Cease Their Energy Guzzling
While the original Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles offered the ability to play video discs and games, they were also so inefficient and hot that local utility companies probably jumped for joy when they noted how quick these consoles flew off store shelves. Both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 have since seen constant revision with an eye towards increasing thermal efficiency and electrical utilization. While the PS3 may have lost some functionality along the way, the good news is that there are still future iterations of both consoles in the pipe that will further increase the greenness factor. Even Nintendo is rumored to be getting in on the low-power option, despite being an inherently efficient design that has never tried to compete in the high-end performance space.
The next generation of consoles is still too far away to predict, but it is possible that it will be the first generation of ‘green’ consoles that eschew cutting edge performance for energy efficient designs. Of course, that may not come to pass if the competition heats up. Still, the longer the distance in time between two generations of consoles, the better the chances are that additional performance and features can be added without sacrificing energy efficiency.
The Bottom Line
The bottom line is that the dawn of the energy efficient home theater has been upon us for some time now, but it is slowly getting better over time. Major leaps are coming on all fronts, and that can help the average consumer justify a broadband–powered home theater system.
Bookmark and Promote!
Related Articles:
- None Found
