Blackle
January 12th, 2008
Blackle.com is just Google on a black background. So simple.
The claim is that a Black Google would have the potential to save 750 megawatt hours of electricity per year by simply not being white, based on the theory that it takes less energy to display black images than white images.
To quote from the blackle.com website:
Blackle saves energy because the screen is predominantly black. “Image displayed is primarily a function of the user’s color settings and desktop graphics, as well as the color and size of open application windows; a given monitor requires more power to display a white (or light) screen than a black (or dark) screen.” Roberson et al, 2002
So, armed with our trusty Plug-in Electricity Consumption Monitor we set out to do a few tests on the power required to display a white screen and a black screen on 2 different types of display.
 Test 1: JVC 26″ CRT television (5 years old) Black Image: 59 watts White Image: 107 watts |
Test 2: Dell 19″ LCD monitor (3 years old) Black Image: 24.3 watts White Image: 21.7 watts |
Comments:
Test 1: The traditional CRT device took almost twice as much power to display a white screen (107 watts) than it did to display a black screen (59 watts). When watching television on a traditional CRT TV we could see the reading on the power meter go up and down with the brightness of the picture.
Test 2: The LCD monitor took 2.5 watts more to display the BLACK screen (24.3 watts) than it did to display the WHITE screen (21.7 watts). We repeated switching from Google and Blackle over and over again and each time we saw the same readings.
Conclusion:
LCD monitors have a backlight that is always on and they activate the LCD cells to block out the light to make the screen appear black so it would seem to be the case that it takes about 2.5 watts extra to hold all the LCD cells in the black state.
If you are using a CRT monitor then black backgrounds can offer you an energy saving. If you are using a LCD monitor then there probably isn’t very much in it.
For energy saving purposes, if you have a traditional CRT television set then it’s best to watch horror films set at night in dimly lit houses than bright happy films shot outdoors on a sunny day!
January 23rd, 2008 at 5:01 pm
I recommend using Darkoogle since is available in over 40 countries http://www.darkoogle.com
http://www.darkoogle.com/international
and they have the option ’simiar pages’ in the search result like the normal white Google.
January 29th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Fine, there is no big difference if you use a LCD monitor.
But what percentage of the worlds monitors are LCD?
May 27th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
For those who happen to use an LCD monitor http://www.brightle.com may be a better option. Not because it saves energy but because it encourages you to think about saving energy.
August 15th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
There are around 22 different versions of “black google” online. The best one I’ve found is http://www.cleanblack.com. Cleanblack is the only version that allows you to change the text colors of the google search results. Try it yourself by going to http://www.cleanblack.com/theme/
August 26th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Do you really think it will help?
September 15th, 2008 at 6:15 am
Considering that blackle works only on CRT it might be a waste when it comes to our new tech of Plasmas and LCD’s using liquid display…. But Energy is only 1 part of the concern, there is also the myth of the internet bandwidth being limited.
( http://news.cnet.com/2100-1034_3-6237715.html ) and various articles covered in the past few months have all been focused around how Ineternet usage and bandwidth would be 50 times more than today and the content created then would jam the internet space.
Typically utilization of bandwidth and usage is directly proportional to the no.,quality & results of QUERIES that a user inputs from the moment he logs on. These queries can be as simple as searching, or as intense as uploading. At the end of it, its all about minimizing the no. of queries.
We are trying to research the potential ways of minimizing these queries by pre-defining most searched “keywords” & “categories”.
By not entering any search query, or typing for searches you would be skipping multiple steps and help in saving energy and bandwidth.
If we all try and add to this pre-defined list of searches, we can help save far more energy, bandwidth and money.
Help us all move towards the green technology.
http://www.lazii.com
(currently in beta stage)
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:54 am
More variables on energy-savings related innovation will come up soon. In the meantime, this is one of a good stuff you can’t pass up.
Kudos to all who worked hard on a Blackle