New power tests on CRT and LCD monitors finds that power savings are not as high as suggested.

We’ve now bolstered our testing to include eight monitors – four LCD and four CRT models - based on their default settings.

UPDATE AUGUST 9, 2007 - We've updated our testing again with results from 27 monitors! Read the final story here.  

While you can read the whole story about what Blackle actually claims, we still do not believe that its power saving claims stack up.

LCD monitor results

All of our LCD monitor tests showed that Blackle actually causes a rise in monitor power consumption over the standard white Google search engine page. The results also match what is known about LCD design – that the display has to block the passage of light from the backlight getting through to the front of the screen and in order to do that, more power is required.

On average, our four LCD monitors saw a rise of 0.35W by using Blackle instead of Google.

CRT monitor results

As we stated in the original story, power consumption of CRT monitors is dependent on a number of factors from tube size to refresh rate to manufacturer. And that’s pretty much what we found in our test results.

We picked four different sized monitors from four different manufacturers and only the 22-inch Compaq P1210 showed a power difference that either equaled or exceeded the 15-watt mark being used as the basis of Blackle’s power saving claims.

The 15- and 17-inch models were at 8.5W or less while the 19-inch Acer showed a difference of 11.3W. On average, the four models showed a power consumption drop of 10.825W by using Blackle over Google. However, to get a more accurate figure, you would need to find out the proportion of larger-tubed CRT monitors as it’s unlikely that there would be as many 22-inch CRT monitors as 17-inch monitors being used.

Based on our testing, Blackle’s claims still do not stack up because most monitors do not show a 15W power saving when using Blackle. And as CRT monitors are continually phased out, the power savings will be reduced further.

Bottom line, if you’re running a PC with an LCD monitor, not only are you are not saving the environment by using Blackle, you’re actually using more electricity by using Blackle instead of Google. 

UPDATE AUGUST 9, 2007: We've updated our test results again, this time testing 27 monitors. Read about The Final Tests .