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TV Manufacturers Accused of Gaming Energy Usage Tests (cbslocal.com)
The Natural Resources Defense Council has issued a new report accusing Samsung, LG and Vizio of "misleading consumers and regulators about how much energy high-definition screens devour, alleging that the televisions were designed to perform more efficiently during government testing than in ordinary use." The report "estimates that the collective electricity bills during a decade of watching the high-definition TVs will be $1.2 billion higher than the energy ratings imply," and that "the higher energy usage generates an additional 5 million metric tons of carbon pollution." CBS Local reports: The findings are based on an analysis of high-definition TVs with screens spanning at least 55 inches made in 2015 and 2016. The estimates on electricity costs are based on high definition TVs with screens 32 inches and larger. The study concluded that Samsung and LG have gamed the system during government testing in an effort to get better scores on the "Energy Star" yellow labels that appear on the sets in stores. Those scores often influence the buying decisions of consumers looking to save money on their utility bills. The report said Samsung and LG did not break any laws in their manipulation of the tests, but rather exploited weaknesses in the Department of Energy's system to measure electricity usage. The Samsung and LG sets have a dimming feature that turns off the screens' backlight during part of the 10-minute video clip used in government tests. But that does not typically happen when the sets are being used in homes to watch sports, comedies, dramas and news programming. The analysis also found that Samsung, LG and Vizio disable energy-saving features in their TVs when consumers change the factory setting on the picture, a common practice. The energy-saving feature is turned off, with little or no warning on the screen, sometimes doubling the amount of electricity consumed, according to the NRDC report.
I can't afford the extra 75 cents this year. I was counting on the manufacturers numbers to make my budget numbers. I guess I will just need to skip a meal. Damn you, LG!
Diesel, energy usage... this really has no end, right?
You start wondering if your home appliances, electronics and whatnot are really all that efficient, or if in fact it's just all the testing procedures that are rigged instead.
Compared to the plasmas, rear projection screens, and even good old fasioned CRTs over the last dozen years the new LED units are positively energy sippers.
Even so, update the tests and fix the stickers; consumers should know what they are buying.
Although I do take exception to the idea that the auto dimming during the test is 'unrealistic' -- yeah its true there isn't a minute of blackness during the average superbowl. But I can't tell you how often a movie has ended, or someone walked away from the HTPC, or something and its gone to sleep. Some of the devices go idle/sleep/off the TV basically shuts the screen off. Others it goes to this blue no-signal screen which it doesn't seem to detect as idle, and will sit there glowing blue nothing for hours... so yeah... testing what the screen does when its not being used SHOULD be part of the testing.
Wow! Who would have thought increasing the brightness and/or contrast of an LED screen would use more energy and make the power-saving measurement certification mode unusable?
OTOH, turning the screen off during video playback seems a little VW/Mitsubishi/Hyundai-like.
I think this speaks more to the culture of these companies than anything else. I mean seriously, why cheat on TV power ratings?
Even the most marginal consumer isn't going to make their purchasing decision because TV A cost $19/yr and TV B costs $22/yr in power! What this tells me is that they're very likely cheating on ALL products. Unlike TVs, refrigerators and air conditioners consume loads of power (13.7% and 16% of a typical home's consumption) and thus the claimed efficiency really does impact consumer choices.
If they're cheating with LED TVs, you can bet hard money they're cheating where it counts!
I work in the power industry. Keep up the good work consumers. I like those bonus checks.
What's our take away on this supposed to be?
(A) These evil scoundrels are cheating on the government tests
(B) The people who are designing the government tests epically suck at their jobs, should be fired, and have competent people hired in their places
I'm going to have to vote "B" here, folks.
Unless they did some Volkswagen-esque cheat the detected that a test was running and changed settings on the fly, then all they were doing was optimizing for the test, which is hardly fraud. They can't stop a consumer for switching to ultra-bright or from watching continuous flashing Pokemon episodes. It is impossible to come up with a "standardized" test that perfectly replicates "real world" conditions. My real world conditions are different than yours. All you can do is come up with some standardized test that is hopefully representative. If the government failed, then change the test.
The setting on my Samsung TV is called "Motion Lighting". It dims the screen when the image is perfectly still for more than a few seconds. It was, of course, one of the first things I disabled since it's absolute bullshit for normal use; it doesn't kick in for 99% of content, and when it does it's extremely disruptive, there's no reason static images should suddenly dim out of nowhere. I Googled it at that time (three months ago) and it seemed to be common knowledge that it was added to circumvent energy efficiency tests.
Corporations are dishonest that's a first /sarcasm
The difference between tests and actual is highest when depicting VW's on the screen.
Table-ized A.I.
So today I learnt that manufacturers think that consumers give enough of a crap about the energy rating of a TV that the companies need to game the system.
Just another example of companies completely detached from their user base.
from TFA:
NRDC and its consultant Ecos Research found that just a few clicks on a remote control could lead many 2015 and 2016 televisions from Samsung, LG, and Vizio to use up to twice the energy that consumers were told they would.
So, they are accusing the TV manufacturers of cheating on benchmarks, and they go on to say that if a user turns up the brightness, the TV will user more power. I just lost all respect for these clowns.
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
The report said Samsung and LG did not break any laws in their manipulation of the tests
So intentionally creating false numbers on the sticker on the box doesn't violate any false advertising laws?
Do they use sophisticated cheat software that somehow draws less from the kill-a-watt meter when an FCC employee is watching?
If the dimming world's like my Sharp TV, it works like this: The TV stays bright. After about 30 seconds, the TV fades to be more fun. Your eyes adjust, works fine for us. If you try to change the setting, it clearly states that the Energy settings are based over the lower power settings. Even choosing the Demo setting gives the same warning.
I think that's fair. If you want a bright picture, choose the bright settings, and know what that does to your energy usage. Otherwise the picture is a little more dim after it plays for 30 sec.
Also, when the screen get completely dark for a second, the screen turns black (meaning the back light turns off). So during the credits of some movies, the screen turns black, then back to dark gray, and repeats. This may be how they can claim a 5,000,000 to 1 contrast ratio.
Caring about how much power your TV consumes is like caring about how many calories are in the entire bag of cheetos you ate!
I can't say that I blame any private industry for trying to evade the capricious regulations fomented by fascist economics. Show me a single regulator that has an advanced degree in engineering and who has put it to actual use.
I has Engineer degree...
Damn cats. Now they think they're smarter'n me.
It sounds like all that was happening was TV's with local dimming were shutting off LEDs if parts of the picture are black. This is SUPPOSED to happen in a good TV set, to increase contrast and make the picture look better. It's not "gaming" the system if the TV is doing exactly what it says it is going to do! While sports may not have much black in the picture, tons of movies and TV shows do, so it's absolutely not deceptive at all for the TV to be doing this. Most people who are shopping for a high-end TV WANT this feature.
Sounds like the government should update their test videos to include more sports if that's what they want to test! Don't blame manufacturers because your tests don't test what you think you're testing.
Those scores often influence the buying decisions of consumers looking to save money on their utility bills.
Errr... no actually.
That's the very last thing that could influence my decision.
Size, Image quality, price, those are the determining factors for me.
Seriously, my TV represent less than 1% of my electric bill. Where I live, 80% of the bill is for heating.
Try it! Library of Babel