NPR Rails Against Digital Picture Frame Electricity Waste

Written on Feb 26, 2009 by Brian and filed under Knowledge Base, News

NPR aired a report recently about electricity waste with tech products, specifically digital picture frames. They’re right, as we’ve said all along, most digital frames waste an extreme amount of energy since they’re rarely turned off. And while we praise those that offer auto shutoff features, very few include that option.

NPR does take their analysis a bit to the extreme, claiming that if every household in America had a digital picture frame, we’d need to build five new power plants to run them. That may in fact be true, but of course isn’t very close to being realistic. Even so, the root argument is valid. More electronics, including digital frames, need to be better stewards of power.

Many frames do offer power management features though and we always note them in product announcements and reviews. There are three main ways they do this, each with varying effectiveness. As you research the purchase of a digital frame, it’s important to understand what these mean:

1. Scheduled Power On/Off – This is the most basic power management option and simply lets users schedule a shutoff time and start up time for their frames. It’s static, so each night you can schedule a turn off at 10pm and a turn on at 8am. 
2. Light Sensing – Some frames offer power saving via auto dimming features where the frame either shuts off or drops the brightness significantly when lights are out in a room. It stands to reason that if the lights are off, there’s no one in the room to watch the frame anyway. This is generally very effective and actually fairly simple to integrate for frame manufacturers.
3. Motion Sensing – The most advanced power management we’ve seen are frames that shut off or dim when there’s no movement in a room. By far the most effective way to save power, these frames have a sensor on the front that detects movement. If there’s none for a set period of time, the frame dims or turns off until motion is detected. This way even when it’s daytime, the frame won’t be on unless someone is nearby. Unfortunately this is the least commonly found power saving option.

Of course people can just turn frames on and off manually, but the reality is that doesn’t happen very often. Buyers want frames that blend in with the scenery and devices that take extra time to manage don’t get used much. Our recommendation – the next frame you buy should have some level of power management. You’ll not only waste less energy, but you’ll get more life out of the frame since the display, which has a finite life, won’t be on while you’re away.

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