Home Theaters

Clearly concerned over the environmental problems more than other countries, Australia is planning a ban on plasma and LCD televisions, as the units are said to use more energy than CRT devices.

While this may be true for plasma televisions (I’ve done no calculations), it is not true for LCDs, when judging on an inch for inch basis. The Australian authorities must be speaking of the very large LCD screens versus the largest of what is available with CRT.

 saving energy is good, but let’s not get all Luddite about it!

It is truly commendable that those down under are thinking about the whole planet. It does seem as though another method of saving energy could be employed instead of cutting  home theater lover’s off at the knees.

this is cropping up everywhere, so can’t we trade less energy used for the washer and dryer, for more inches of television - it’s our only vice!

Worrying about efficiency is fine, but the parts of an LCD screen, or plasma, for that matter, that are the cause of waste are the transformers. The step-down variety in the LCD case, and the step-up variety in plasma televisions. It is easily seen by anyone who owns an LCD monitor for their computer that most of the energy wasted is in the form of heat, coming off the power brick. This is where the effort should be put. Higher quality parts, with tighter tolerances, and monitoring electronics to supply only current needed to the transformer is what is needed. This is not new technology, just unused in this application because parts count goes up, and there after cost to the consumer. It becomes the ‘pay-me-now or pay-me-later’ proposition.

Being sensible about this is what will get the most people to comply willingly. It’s about trade offs. When you buy those 3 movies for the family, you are helping the planet by not making 3 separate trips to the multiplex in the car, you are not wasting gas also when you order them from Amazon. The UPS carrier is going by your house anyway, and your car stays in the driveway once again.

This is just a couple of ways that money, and energy is saved. I imagine that for many Australians, a trip to the movie house could involve quite a bit of fuel. Much better to stay home with the larger television, and let the postman, or other delivery person bring the movies home.

It’s all a matter of perspective. With the right motives and attitude, it is possible to show your ‘green spirit’, be ecologically responsible, and patriotic, too!

Think globally, act locally, watch movies in your own home theater!

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