So I got one of those Kill-A-Watt power monitors today, I'd been wanting one for various reasons, one of them being to gather some more information than what is listed in the xx71 FAQ on power usage at different backlight levels. So I proceeded to get the wattages for different levels on my 4071, along with power usage on my PS3, Xbox 360, and Toshiba A30.
On the TV side, I tested the different power levels using the same scene from Lady in the Water that happened to be on HBO HD at the time. It was used because the image filled the whole screen and it had a lot of white in it. The power used by the TV will vary greatly between what level of backlight is being use, what level of Energy Saving is being used, and the amount of brightness in the image, as I'll mention at the end.
The format is as follows, "6" means a brightness of 6, no power savings. "6L" is brightness 6, energy savings at low. "6M" and "6H" is with energy savings on medium and high. I didn't test every single variation, just a bunch.
I saw no change in power usage at the different AMP settings. Mode was Standard for all unless otherwise noted.
TV Off - 1w or less
10 - 240w
10L - 181w
10M - 145w
10H - 116w
10 Dynamic mode - 240w
10 Movie Mode - 156w
9 - 217w
9L - 175w
8 - 201w
8L - 164w
7 - 187w
7L - 154w
7M - 125w
7H - 104w
6 - 172w
6L - 140w
6M - 118w
6H - 101w
5 - 159w
5L - 131w
5M - 112w
5H - 97w
4 - 143w
4L - 121w
3 - 126w
2 - 111w
1 - 93w
0 - 78w
Now if I'm looking at my PS3 menu, using a brightness of 5, and it has a white background on it, it will use around 160w, which meets the above listings. If I go to another menu and it has a black background, the power will drop to about 154w.
So what do the "energy savings" levels do, I'm not sure if they do anything other than give you a way to fine tune your power usage. I would say using a "5" setting does look brighter than a "6L", and it certainly uses more power. I'm not sure if this just means, if you're on the fence between using a "6" and a "5", with you feeling that the "5" is a little too dark for you, if the answer would be to try an "8L" since that power usage is between the 2 others.
So besides the TV, here's the power usage on the other devices I mentioned. Remember, this is the usage for these devices only, the TV doesn't apply to these.
PS3 (80 GB model)
Off - 1w or less
At main menu - 175w
Playing back video off HD - 163w
Playing demo (Heavenly Sword) off HD - 190w
Playing game off disc - 200w
Playing Blu-Ray disc - 166w
Xbox 360 Elite (using the newer, lower power Falcon chipset with the 175w power brick)
Off - 3w (tsk, such a hog )
At main menu - 100w
Playing back video off HD - 95w
Playing demo off HD - 117w
Playing game off disc - 128w
Toshiba A30
Off - 1w or less
Turned on, no disc - 20w
Playing HD DVD - 25w
I'll have to compare the SD upconvert quality, but if the PS3 doesn't look a lot better than the A30, then it's definitely a power savings to watch the SD on the A30 than the PS3.
Added for the sake of comparison,
Benq FP241W 24" widescreen display - 60w
On the TV side, I tested the different power levels using the same scene from Lady in the Water that happened to be on HBO HD at the time. It was used because the image filled the whole screen and it had a lot of white in it. The power used by the TV will vary greatly between what level of backlight is being use, what level of Energy Saving is being used, and the amount of brightness in the image, as I'll mention at the end.
The format is as follows, "6" means a brightness of 6, no power savings. "6L" is brightness 6, energy savings at low. "6M" and "6H" is with energy savings on medium and high. I didn't test every single variation, just a bunch.
I saw no change in power usage at the different AMP settings. Mode was Standard for all unless otherwise noted.TV Off - 1w or less
10 - 240w
10L - 181w
10M - 145w
10H - 116w
10 Dynamic mode - 240w
10 Movie Mode - 156w
9 - 217w
9L - 175w
8 - 201w
8L - 164w
7 - 187w
7L - 154w
7M - 125w
7H - 104w
6 - 172w
6L - 140w
6M - 118w
6H - 101w
5 - 159w
5L - 131w
5M - 112w
5H - 97w
4 - 143w
4L - 121w
3 - 126w
2 - 111w
1 - 93w
0 - 78w
Now if I'm looking at my PS3 menu, using a brightness of 5, and it has a white background on it, it will use around 160w, which meets the above listings. If I go to another menu and it has a black background, the power will drop to about 154w.
So what do the "energy savings" levels do, I'm not sure if they do anything other than give you a way to fine tune your power usage. I would say using a "5" setting does look brighter than a "6L", and it certainly uses more power. I'm not sure if this just means, if you're on the fence between using a "6" and a "5", with you feeling that the "5" is a little too dark for you, if the answer would be to try an "8L" since that power usage is between the 2 others.
So besides the TV, here's the power usage on the other devices I mentioned. Remember, this is the usage for these devices only, the TV doesn't apply to these.
PS3 (80 GB model)
Off - 1w or less
At main menu - 175w
Playing back video off HD - 163w
Playing demo (Heavenly Sword) off HD - 190w
Playing game off disc - 200w
Playing Blu-Ray disc - 166w
Xbox 360 Elite (using the newer, lower power Falcon chipset with the 175w power brick)
Off - 3w (tsk, such a hog
)At main menu - 100w
Playing back video off HD - 95w
Playing demo off HD - 117w
Playing game off disc - 128w
Toshiba A30
Off - 1w or less
Turned on, no disc - 20w
Playing HD DVD - 25w
I'll have to compare the SD upconvert quality, but if the PS3 doesn't look a lot better than the A30, then it's definitely a power savings to watch the SD on the A30 than the PS3.
Added for the sake of comparison,
Benq FP241W 24" widescreen display - 60w
