Your Big Screen Banned?

[The Straight Story]

Your Big Screen Banned?

(courtesy of ocregister.com)

Posted by BRIAN JOSEPH

In their continuing quest to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, state regulators have uncovered a new villain in the war on global warming : your big screen TV

Couch potatoes, beware.

The California Energy Commission is considering a proposal that would ban California retailers from selling all but the most energy-efficient televisions. Critics say the news standards could take 25 percent of televisions off the market — most of them 40 inches or larger.

"The larger the television, the more at risk it is of being banned unnecessarily in California," said Douglas Johnson, senior director of technology police for the Consumer Electronics Association.

Association officials say the standards are not only unnecessary – because the federal government already regulates energy efficiency through the voluntary Energy Star program — but also ill-timed. The last thing our economy needs now is products taken off the market, they say.

Furthermore, they say that with a weak economy, consumers are going out less and watching TV more.

http://www.knx1070.com/Your-Big-Screen-Banned-/4076685

[glowing]

1. They will have to find a more energy efficient way to produce a big screen.

Sounds like making jobs; not taking them away.

[Deja Q]

3. Ah, but how many TVs are being made in America right now, or will be because of "cost stigma"?

[customerserviceguy]

2. People will just go to other states to buy them

Since they last for ten years or more, the trip would be worth it for a lot of folks.

And let's face it, "going out less" involves less auto emissions into the air, that's worth something.

[Deja Q]

5. In theory; the cold cathode tube dims over time...

40" and above are nice, but I'll stick with 32" (or 37" if no 32" with a high quality panel is available)

[dkofos]

4. Will they be happy if I use 100% wind power to power my 60" TV??

Maybe they should DEMAND the power companies clean up their own emissions.

[AndyTiedye]

6. Is This For Real or Are They Just Trying to Stimulate Sales of TVs?

It worked wonders for the gun industry. Spreading rumors of a big-screen ban might be a way to get those big TVs moving again.

[Uben]

7. Easily remedied

Hey, once you go big, you can't go back! I have been watching a 72" Mitsubishi TV since 1999. It's gettin old now. I now watch my movies and sometimes play video games or surf the internet on a 12'X9' screen....in my living room! I bought a projector last year to show movies on a 16' outdoor inflatable screen. We had a great time showing movies for our youth club one weekend a month. I discovered it works great indoors because I have a two story high ceiling in my great room just above my 72" TV. The wall is about 10'X18', and works great as a screen for movies! All I have to do is run an HDMI cable from the TV to the projector and voila! Huge screen TV!

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. If your TV is 'old' after just 10 years, you bought a bad model

Get something that will last better, next time. Modern electronics should last for decades.

[Uben]

11. It still works fine.....

....it's just that the picture is not as crisp as it once was. I have cleaned the lenses on the CRTs. It has 9" CRTs, the biggest available at the time, and I think, still. I have had zero problems otherwise. I probably just need to take it in. The problem is, no service center will pick it up! It's a huge set. I still love it. It's a Mitsubishi Diamond series, with two tuners that you can watch two channels simultaneously on a split screen, as long as you have two sources such as cable and satellite.
The projector that I have is actually more "crisp" than the TV.

[DCKit]

8. AFAIK, none of those televisions is made in the U.S.. Nor are the components.

Banning them wouldn't even affect the retailers since they'd simply end up selling the alternatives - it's not as if the consumer would have any choice.

The new "LaserVue" sets are far more efficient at ~100 watts than one friends 230 watt DLP or another's 230-320 watt (depending on brightness/color temp) plasma big screen.

My own 17 year old, 27" CRT is also far less efficient than it could be. Some of the new ones use just over half the energy.

[Warpy]

9. AFAIK, the only ones banned will be the plasma jobs

because they suck power like crazy and run hot, making the AC suck power like crazy.

[blockhead]

12. damn,

and I have the black model too.