Why blackle saves energy

In the majority of monitor sales are LED backlit LCD's which do not light up the parts of the screen that are black. Since manufacturers have moved away from CCFL's. We believe that there is value in the concept because even if the energy savings are small, they all add up. Secondly we feel that seeing Blackle every time we load our web browser reminds us that we need to keep taking small steps to save energy.

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Email required Address never made public. Name required. Follow Following. Monish's Blog. One of the most visible manifestations of the belief that black screens save energy is Blackle , an online search engine whose Web site is cast almost entirely in black. Created by Heap Media, Blackle exists "to remind people of the need to take small steps every day to save energy," says Blackle founder Toby Heap, who launched the site in January.

All of the scientific test data we have come across shows a slight saving on black LCD screens, which suggests that the rest state on many LCD screens does not allow light through.

Even though Google isn't tied to Blackle other than powering its search engine, Google green energy czar Bill Weihl in August posted a blog disputing the notion of black as the new green. New advances in LCD technologies could eventually validate the belief that black is better.

Newer types of LCD include a dynamic dimming capability that changes the strength of the backlight based on the image being displayed.

In the meantime, the world is evenly split between CRT and LCD monitors, totaling roughly million and million respectively in , according to iSuppli data. So if you're still toiling away in front of a hefty CRT monitor that takes up three-quarters of your desk, then black screens will save you some energy. For those who've graduated to thinner LCD models, black screens are actually sucking up more energy then their white counterparts.

Larry Greenemeier is the associate editor of technology for Scientific American , covering a variety of tech-related topics, including biotech, computers, military tech, nanotech and robots.

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