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posted by
martyb
on Friday September 23 2016, @04:27PM
from the teaching-to-the-test-yields-a-fail dept.
from the teaching-to-the-test-yields-a-fail dept.
El Reg reports
The NRDC [Natural Resources Defense Council] reckons TV makers are configuring sets to perform well on government tests, while in the living room they become energy hogs.
Its specific claims are:
- The TVs perform well on the US Department of Energy-mandated energy use test--but that's based on a clip that doesn't match real-world video content. ([To El Reg,] that seems like a slip-up by the DoE);
- TVs from Samsung, LG, and Vizio are designed to disable energy-saving features if the user changes their screen settings, but there's little or no warning about this. This, the NRDC says, can as much as double the power consumption; and
- UHD TVs turn into energy hogs when they're playing high dynamic range (HDR) content, but HDR isn't included in the DoE's test (again, surely that means the DoE needs to update its tests?).
The NRDC says European testing seemed to match another observation it made: that during the DOE test loop, some TVs seemed to exhibit "inexplicable and sustained drops in energy use". It suggests that software is specifically detecting the test loop and adjusting the TV's performance to suit.
One assumes that "a clip" refers to the standard video loop used in the tests.
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TV Manufacturers Get their Own Dieselgate Over Power Consumption Tests
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Can anyone remember when the times were not hard, and money not scarce?
(Score: 2) by frojack on Friday September 23 2016, @07:45PM
Don't think so.
BUT, you didn't read TFA, or apparently, TFS.
The TV itself is detecting the test video clip and dropping its power consumption dramatically when it senses it.
So it would have fooled even your linked device.
I have a power strip chart recorder, and I can tell you that TVs do not draw a constant amount of power. It depends a great deal of what is being viewed on the screen.
The problem is DOE published a clip that told the manufacturers exactly what to look for. Rather than saying something like:
Testing agencies will view typical tv content from common feeds (antenna, cable-box, Sat-receiver, DVD-player) over minimum of 30 minutes to a maximum of 5 hours, with one to 15 channel changes within the period, and then average the results over 5 test runs of varying content
The DOE said: Here, play this specific clip and measure power draw.
(I doubt DOE tests these themselves, that is contracted out to people like Underwriters Labs and CSA and CE, and the whole shebang of compliance tests are run in commercial labs, usually on exactly ONE device of each model).
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by Zz9zZ on Friday September 23 2016, @08:00PM
It was a tongue-in-cheek comment, I know it was the test clip that's why I mentioned them "experimenting" by watching TV and eating popcorn. These engineers don't know how to turn a boring task into something better! Hell, they could have set up their own mini-lair with all the TVs making up one wall!
~Tilting at windmills~
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 23 2016, @09:22PM
The obvious logic behind providing the test loop is that you make an apples-to-apples comparison across brands and models. From a testing perspective I think this still makes the most sense. Perhaps they should update their test loops they provide, or use NASA-generated high-def videos or something. But whatever it is, make sure they're using the same stuff.