Plasma HDTVs: Hey, We're Green Now, Honest!

Plasma televisions upon their debut boasted some of the deepest blacks ever seen on a flat screen television, blowing LCD HDTVs out of the water when it came to picture quality. Unfortunately, they also consumed the most energy, nearly twice as much as their LCD counterparts. Good news, though! The Plasma Display Coalition has recently gotten their act together and has announced that new plasmas from the Big Four are now anti-global warming; plasma makers Hitachi, LG Electronics, Panasonic and Pioneers’ have all been certified to meet new Energy Star rating requirements.

For the curious, the EPA energy efficient rating standard requires a 42 inch plasma to consume less than 208 watts during normal use and only 1 watt during stand-by (yes, your television consumes power while doing nothing, which is why we suggest checking out auto-shutdown devices like the Isolé IDP-3050 Power Strip).

Also, according to the PDC, consumers will save much more money in the long run if they invest in one of their TVs. Apparently, up to 35% in power savings if you were to replace a tube with an EPA-certified flatscreen HDTV.

[via SlashGear]