Sony said it increased the greenness of some of its Bravia-brand HD units this year with its “greenest-ever” WE5 LCD series. The firm said the series is designed to consume about 20–30 percent less power than its Bravia offering last year.
The new eco-line will supposedly cut household energy bills, Sony said, “without compromising” 1080p video/audio performance. In fact, most its new LCD green models will consume about half the power of their Bravia predecessors, Sony said.
But the green machines, which will come in 40- and 46-inch models, have a trait or two that could prove more annoying to consumers than cost-saving. A feature dubbed “Presence Sensor” will detect body heat and movement of anyone sitting within several feet of the screen, and when a viewer leaves the room, a sensor will shut the picture off while leaving the audio intact. If no movement is felt by the sensor for half an hour, the set will shut itself off. (Thus, sitting perfectly still for a while—or walking to an adjoining room like the kitchen where the screen is still visible—could result in audio-only TV at times.)
Also, a new form of backlight technology in the WE5 series is designed to boost efficiency without compromising video quality.
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