[cody]

if a projector specs says 500w does it really consume this much when in use?

 

[Mark_A_W]

yup, and turns most of it into heat.

 

[spearce]

Yup, CRTs are very good space heaters. They aren't very portable however, so you sort of need to plan on which room in the house will be the coldest and need the CRT to keep it earm.


My guess is their rating is actually a tiny bit above the amount they actually consume during the highest peak, but I'd doubt the engineers would measure a peak of 100W and call it 500W. I think its more like they might measure 470W and call it 500W.


I'm not sure how contrast relates to power consumption. I believe that the higher the contrast setting, the higher the power draw on the power supply. Lower contrast settings shouldn't draw nearly the same amount of power as a higher one, but someone would need to attach a power meter to the line to verify this is true. I wouldn't be surprised if this is true, and that the power draw is not exactly linear with the contrast setting.

 

[WD-40]

Depends.


If a projector manual says it consumes 500 watts of power, it most likely consumes very close to that kind of power, and most likely not any more than that.


However, if you open it up and a power supply has a 500 watt rating on it, it most likely draws less than that. Same thing with computers. One PC with a 400 watt power supply is NOT going to consume more power than the same PC with a 200 watt power supply. Power supplies are rated at their max output, actual useage is dependent on what you have hooked up to it.


- David