display power consumption (mostly for hdtvs)

[eon]

I'm looking for a 46"+ hdtv and power consumption has become a pretty big factor. However I was thrown a curve ball after seeing the specs of this Vizio 47" XVT:
http://review.zdnet.com/product/flat-panel-tvs/vizio-sv470xvt/33196900
The power consumption is rated at 400watts (way too much in my book) but there's also a cnet tested operational consumption of 239watts and a calibrated consumption of only 141.
Now I'm confused if looking at the manufacturer's power consumption listing is the correct way to compare different tvs.

 

[obobski]

the manufacturer is probably listing that at like 100% brightness (or close to it, which is probably what it comes out of the box set to)


cnet is probably showing realworld specs with the brightness brought down to realistic levels, and calibration takes that even lower (because it brings everything down to earth)

as far as "400W is too much", thats less than most household appliances by a good margin, if you're really concerned, replace ~3 (fairly heavily used) rooms of standard lightbulbs with energy savers, and you've made up your 400W or more

 

[JaguarSKX]

The 400w could be the maximum possible power consumption for the HDTV list by the manufacturer.