When you think hulking, flat-screen entertainment systems, the first thing that pops to mind is probably how your favorite movie or video game will look, not energy efficiency.

But times are changing, and so are consumer attitudes toward power-hungry home electronics.

Enter Phillips’ new Eco TV, a slick 42″ flat-panel LCD that walked away with Best of Show honors at January’s Consumer Electronics Show. It scored big marks for its HD 1080p resolution, vivid picture, and concealed sound system.

It’s what’s beneath the Model 42PFL5603D’s expansive, glossy black exterior that is turning heads, though. Phillips has baked-in a slew of green features in its new Eco TV — all without compromising performance.

More movie for your watt

The Eco TV’s big sell is its smart dimming capability. The panel’s onboard sensors constantly monitor the program material, automatically dimming the backlight on darker passages. Phillips says this dimming can vary by up to five times its peak brightness. Throttling the backlight when it’s not needed saves energy, but it also has the effect of deepening the picture’s black levels. That means deeper interstellar star fields, inkier night scenes, and richer contrasts.

As with many panel screens, there’s a monitor to track room lighting and dim the panel’s overall brightness under dimmer conditions. The darker the room, the less energy necessary to maintain a crisp picture. Phillips has also made available a power-saving mode available that caps the Eco TV’s peak brightness.

All three of these major settings can be tweaked (or even disabled) by the user. Fully engaged, Eco TV’s green features held the panel’s power consumption to around 75 watts at the CES demo booth. Holding a best-of-class 42″ flat-panel TV’s energy consumption to about that of a single incandescent light bulb is a pretty plush bit of engineering.

Getting the lead out

Phillips has also gotten on board with the electronic industry’s trend toward less toxic internal components. They’ve gone with lead-free components and reduced mercury content to trace amounts, allowing the Eco TV to comply with the European Union’s strict RoHS toxicity standards. This should make the Eco TV safer to recycle and less of a concern should any end up in landfills.

In a final touch, Phillips has opted to ship its new Eco TV using packaging and manuals sourced from recycled materials.

At a suggested retail price of $1399, the Eco TV is price competitive within its class and demonstrates meaningful earth-friendly features without compromising performance. That’s a hopeful development in the home electronics field. Another good sign: since going on sale over the past few weeks, the Eco TV has proven to be a brisk seller. Ultimately, it’s consumer demand that will push manufacturers to follow Phillips’ lead in green electronics.

Phillips’ Eco TV sips power, saves rainforest (CNET)
Phillips Model 42PFL5603D Eco TV (Phillips)

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