An environmental group called The Natural Resources Defense Council recently accused three major TV companies including Samsung of making sure that their TVs cheat on power efficiency tests. Samsung was accused of designing its TVs to draw less power when they are being tested by government regulators than in normal household use. The group says that this practice by these three manufacturers adds an extra $120 million in electricity bills each year with the added expense amounting up to $20 per household annually over the estimated 10-year life of a typical HD TV.
Samsung has issued a statement on the matter, saying that it “firmly rejects” the accusation that it's misleading customers. It mentions that the ENERGY STAR rating of its TVs is based on their default setting and that majority of users stay within those default viewing settings during the lifetime of their TV. Samsung also said that it believes users “should always have the option to customize the viewing experience on their TV.”
The company also pointed out that its Motion Lighting and Auto Brightness Control features are default settings in its TVs. These features have been designed to save energy for consumers in real-world conditions. The Motion Lighting feature reduces screen brightness when the picture is in motion while Auto Brightness Control adjusts the brightness accordingly with ambient light to reduce power consumption. Samsung TVs do have additional viewing settings for user preferences in which both of these features are turned off by default and that's a fact that customers are duly notified of.
Samsung says that its TVs are compliant with U.S. government guidelines and regulation and it would also like to remind everyone that it is the winner of the ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year award for the last six consecutive years.
