Get the most from an energy efficient monitor
Get more sleep
The most important thing to do is to ensure that power management is enabled on your computer to put your monitor to sleep whenever the computer has been inactive (no keyboard presses or mouse movement) for a little while. You can choose how much time you want to pass before the monitor goes to sleep – some people choose as little as 5 to 10 minutes, while others prefer using 30 minutes to an hour. Either way, your monitor will last longer and use less energy if it automatically shuts down when not needed.
It’s better if your monitor is not too bright
Turn down the brightness control. This setting has the biggest impact on energy use, and is often adjusted too high for room lighting conditions. Even better, look for monitors with automatic brightness control, which can help compensate for changes in room lighting conditions by adjusting screen brightness accordingly. Picture quality is generally highest if monitors are operated at a bright setting in a brightly lit room and a dimmer setting in a dimly lit room.
Orientation matters
Orient your screen away from sunlight or the reflection of bright windows. No monitor performs well if it’s competing with daylight, so you’ll turn the brightness up and likely still be dissatisfied with the monitor view.
Set the colors and backgrounds the way you like them
The old picture-tube monitors (CRTs) saved energy when they were displaying darker colors, so users who wanted to save energy often chose to display light text on a dark background. Most LCDs tend to consume similar amounts of power regardless of what image is being displayed on the screen, though new LED backlit models, especially units with local dimming, will tend to draw less power when displaying dark images. Still, it’s a marginal difference.
Screen-savers are energy-wasters
These do nothing to help save current screens, and only succeed in causing them to run warmer and use more electricity (particularly the electricity used by the computer to perform all the animation). Instead, simply put your screen to sleep during periods of inactivity.
For more information, see:
http://reviews.cnet.com/green-tech/monitor-power-efficiency/ http://www.efficientproducts.org/product.php?productID=3
