Technology enables 42-in. flat panel TV to consume less electricity than a 60-W light bulb

Technology enables 42-in. flat panel TV to consume less electricity than a 60-W light bulb

Sensors enable TV to exceed Energy Star 6.0 proposals while delivering highest quality viewing experience, including 3D

Unterpremstaetten, Austria and Las Vegas (January 7, 2013) – ams (SIX: AMS), a leading worldwide designer and manufacturer of high-performance analog ICs and sensor solutions for consumer & communications, industrial & medical and automotive applications, today announced the availability of technology that enables a 42” flat panel TV to use less than 60 watts of power, while delivering an optimal viewing experience. ams will demonstrate this advancement during CES using an off-the-shelf television enhanced with ams’ Digital Ambient Light Sensor technology and smart LED drivers. The result is a TV that uses up to 50% percent less energy than standard 42” models – exceeding Energy Star 6.0 guidelines – while providing the highest picture quality, even in the lowest light conditions.

In addition to the direct consumer benefits of combining these ams technologies, there is a significant environmental benefit as well. Based on the average daily television viewing in the United States, adopting ams’s intelligent sensor-driven backlighting technology would result in a reduction in CO2 consumption equivalent to removing more than 1 million cars from the road.

A study by the Consumer Electronics Association showed that when it comes to TVs, two items at the top of consumers’ wish lists are a low-power HDTV, and better picture quality. Yet with new Energy Star Guidelines being introduced in the spring of 2013, delivering both items on the wish list will become more challenging. Energy Star 6.0 calls for a 42” TV set to consume just 62.9 watts of power, and the maximum any TV can consume – regardless of size – is just 85 watts. Additionally, the measurement of power usage will cover four levels of ambient room light, as most consumers prefer to watch television in living rooms with low light levels.

2013 televisions that combine an ams Digital Ambient Light Sensor with local dimming and high-accuracy drivers will meet and exceed the Energy Star 6.0 ratings without waivers or unusable brightness settings, while delivering a higher quality viewing experience. The ams Digital Ambient Light Sensor does this by sensing the ambient light level of the room and adapting the backlight to a lower power level.

The impact of this is threefold :

1) the TV has improved contrast ratio, which is noticeable and pleasing to the eye;

2) there is no blinding or discomfort to the consumer by the “excessively bright displays, and

3) substantial power savings is realized due to automatically adjusted lower backlight drive based on ambient light conditions.

ams spokesperson Herbert Truppe, Senior Product Manager for Energy Efficient TV Backlighting, stated: “One of the biggest power users in consumer electronics today is the flat panel TV. Higher efficiencies are being mandated by countries throughout the world to reduce energy consumption. By intelligently connecting ams sensor-driven lighting technologies to current TV designs, high-quality viewing experiences can be delivered with no increase to the cost of the television, while significantly reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions.”

The combination of ams Digital Ambient Light Sensors and smart LED drivers is generally available now from ams.

CES 2013 registered media that would like to schedule an appointment for a briefing and demonstration should contact Rainier Communications at ams@rainierco.com, or tel +1 508-475-0025.

about ams

ams develops and manufactures high performance analog semiconductors that solve its customers’ most challenging problems with innovative solutions. ams’ products are aimed at applications which require extreme precision, accuracy, dynamic range, sensitivity, and ultra-low power consumption. ams’ product range includes sensors, sensor interfaces, power management ICs and wireless ICs for customers in the consumer, industrial, medical, mobile communications and automotive markets.

With headquarters in Austria, ams employs over 1,200 people globally and serves more than 6,500 customers worldwide. ams is the new name of austriamicrosystems, following the 2011 acquisition of optical sensor company TAOS Inc. ams is listed on the SIX Swiss stock exchange (ticker symbol: AMS). More information about ams can be found at www.ams.com.

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