Ask HN: Do darker pixels use less power?

1 points by walkon 16y ago ↗ HN

I am asking because it seems to me that the closer a pixel on an LCD monitor is to off, the less power it should take to display it. If so, sites that are commonly used as homepages and/or just visited often (e.g. google, facebook), could reduce the energy usage of client machines by using a large percentage of darker pixels (e.g. black background, lighter text). Considering the amount of client monitors displaying those sites on a daily basis, couldn't this make a significant difference? background-color: #000; FTW?!

3 comments

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tdedecko 16y ago ↗

This idea has come up a while ago and has been shot down. Research suggests that it would not reduce energy consumption. Here is Google's take on it: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/08/is-black-new-green.ht...

If you feel strongly about it you can always use: http://www.blackle.com/

walkon 16y ago ↗

Thanks for the links - I had not seen these before.

machrider 16y ago ↗

On an LCD, black uses the most energy. Granted, it's a miniscule difference. The backlight is always on, and energy has to be passed through the crystals to twist them and block the light at the individual pixels, in order to produce anything other than pure white.

On a CRT, black is probably the greenest color. But in both cases, I suspect the difference is so small that you wouldn't be able to measure it in pennies on your electric bill.