The reports are in: Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) monitors use considerably less energy than their Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) counterparts. The tubes in the CRT monitors take more energy to heat up, and generate more heat thereby requiring more air conditioning to keep the ambient temperature of the room to a comfortable level. Overall, LCDs can reduce display energy use by 50-70%. Compare ViewSonic's 19" X Series LCD monitor using 35 watts of power with their 19" E Series CRT monitor that needs 100 watts. (Besides the energy savings of LCD monitors, they give you the full diagonal viewing area. Both monitors compared are considered 19". The LCD gives you that 19" diagonal measurement, whereas the CRT monitor's viewing area is 18".) Furthermore, LCD screens recover from standby mode faster than CRT monitors and consume less power when doing so.

A recent Japanese study estimated that their ratio of LCDs to CRTs will increase almost three-fold between 1996 and 2003. Granted, the number of PCs was forecast to increase by a factor of three. Now if these LCD monitors utilize 1/3 the power of the CRT monitors (like the ViewSonic monitors), we have a tidy ratio at play. Japan can output the same amount of power to run the PC monitors from 1996 to 2003 since the increase in the number of monitors matches the decrease in wattage use. And you thought such coincidences were just found in pulp fiction novels.