The Plasma Display Coalition, which represents industry leaders Hitachi, LG Electronics, Panasonic and Pioneer, today announced that 43 big screen Plasma models introduced by its member companies in the last nine months have earned the new ENERGY STAR rating and have been placed on the EPA official roster of qualifying HDTV sets.

Tighter ENERGY STAR standards for TV sets were introduced in November 2008 by the Environmental Protection Agency. To qualify for the new "on mode" ENERGY STAR criteria, a 42-inch Plasma HDTV can consume no more than 208 watts. In "standby mode," newly qualified HDTV sets must use no more than a single watt of energy.

"While wildly popular in the 1990s, most 36-inch CRT tube televisions and larger tube-based projection TV sets typically consume at least 250 watts of energy, if not more. New models can offer consumers bigger screen sizes with superior high-definition viewing that are dramatically more efficient than older sets with traditional tubes. You can actually save energy and money by investing in a new energy efficient flat-panel Plasma HDTV. For example, if you replace your 36-inch tube TV that's using 250 watts with a larger, and most efficient 42-inch 720p Plasma HDTV that is ENERGY STAR rated, you can cut your TV power consumption by more than 35 percent," said Jim Palumbo, president of the Plasma Display Coalition. "Our members made these investments voluntarily, in order to promote their products with the ENERGY STAR mark, which is very highly regarded by consumers and retailers."

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, if all televisions sold in the United States met the new ENERGY STAR requirements, energy cost savings would grow to about $1 billion annually. ENERGY STAR was introduced by EPA in 1992 as a voluntary, market-based partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency.

The new "total energy consumption" ENERGY STAR requirements are based on TV screen size and resolution and use internationally supported test procedures. A list of ENERGY STAR-qualifying plasma models from Plasma Display Coalition members is below:

Hitachi models:
P42A202
P50A202
P50A402
P50S602
P50V702
P50X902

LG Electronics models:
42PG10-UA
42PG20-UA
42PG20C-UA
42PG25-UA
42PG60-UA
50PG20-UA
50PG20C-UA
50PG25-UA
50PG30F-UA
50PG60-UA
50PG60F-UA
50PG60F-UG
50PG70F-UB
60PG30F-UA
60PG30FC-UA
60PG60F-UA
60PG70F-UB
Z42PG10-UA
Z50PG10-UA    

Panasonic models:
TH-42PX80U
TH-42PZ800U
TH-C42FD18
TH-C42HD18
TH-46PZ850U
TH-46PZ800U
TH-50PE8U
TH-50PZ850U
TH-C50FD18
TH-C50HD18
TH-M50HD18
TH-58PZ800U
TH-58PZ850U
TH-65PZ850U

Pioneer models:
PDP-5020FD
PDP-6020FD
PRO-111FD
PRO-151FD