The European Commission says it will investigate two reports that raise concerns over software used in televisions that may be altering their power output to affect their energy rating scores.
In one report an EU-funded research group, ComplianTV, suggests that Samsung’s televisions appear to use less energy during official testing conditions than they do during real-world operation.
TV manufacturers all use a standard test film which is a 10 minute video that contains a mix of fast and slow moving content shown at different brightness levels. The manufacturers run the tests and file the results themselves but just a few of the results are double-checked by energy regulatory bodies.
Samsung, of course, has rejected the notion that it has installed defeat devices into its TVs; it says that the discrepancy is due to an out-of-the-box feature called ‘motion lighting’ which reduces the television’s power consumption by reducing screen brightness when the picture on the screen is in motion.
A second study, carried out by the Swedish Energy Agency on an unnamed television manufacturer, says that it has come across televisions that lowered their energy use by adjusting the brightness of the display when the test film was run.
Samsung seems to be arguing that the buck stops with the customer, as in its blog it stated that customers are given the choice of whether to prioritise power efficiency over TV performance and that all settings are explained in the instruction manuals and on its website.
Viewer, do not adjust your set.
This may not be as clear-cut as the VW emissions scandal, but whatever the result of the European Commission’s findings; how many other devices and consumer products could contain defeat devices and who are we supposed to trust?
