According to AP, newer televisions may be more energy efficient per inch of screen size than their CRT counterparts but their larger general size of late more than makes up for any gain in efficiency. Plasma sets in particular easily draw 400 watts, or as much as four older tube-type TVs.

With that in mind, Samsung has brought to CES a more power-efficient screen technology - organic light emitting diode. OLED is an emerging flat-panel display technology that uses an organic material that emits its own light - no power-hogging backlight is needed.

The 31” Samsung model is currently still too expensive for the mass market (for example, Sony’s 11” OLED is $1,700) but it’s a start down the right road.