One of the new twists to the question of "Is plasma better than LCD HDTVs" is the increasing energy efficiency of LCD sets. JVC today announced that its line of LCD televisions outperforms the latest ENERGY STAR 3.0 standards for energy use, making them among the most cost-efficient sets to operate.

Based on the new ENERGY STAR 3.0 requirements, JVC LCD models are the most efficient in their class. In the 32 inch class, JVC is tied for the most efficient TV, and has three of the next most efficient sets. In the 40-42 inch class and the 46-47 inch class, JVC swept the first four places, in every case significantly more efficient than the ENERGY STAR requirement. And in the 50-52 inch class, JVC had the top three most efficient models. Overall, JVC LCD TVs outperformed the ENERGY STAR requirement by anywhere from 29 to 60 percent.

Earning the ENERGY STAR qualification means a product meets strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy. According to ENERGY STAR, there are 275 million TVs currently in use in the U.S., consuming over 50 billion kWh of energy each year -- or four percent of all households' electricity use. This is enough electricity to power all the homes in the state of New York for an entire year.

As of November 1, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy issued more stringent ENERGY STAR specifications for televisions. Models that earn the ENERGY STAR label under these requirements will be up to 30 percent more efficient than non-qualified models.