Pretty snazzy. But why wasn't this out five years ago? seems pretty simple.

Fujitsu scientists: A relay! Of course! Why didn't we think of that before!

That is pretty impressive. Now make one that uses Zero Watts when it's ON!! =-D

"will be sold"

My company would love these monitors. My own business would like one too. Personally, I use the off button.

I want to see an attachment that you plug things into that would cut off power completely until it sensed the device was actually turned on.... Come on folks, it can't be that hard.

@BigDanInTX: Done! *tosses BigDanInTX a sharpie*

How will this work? How will the monitor know a signal was sent if it uses no power?

@Darrone:

But why wasn't this out five years ago? seems pretty simple.

Good question. The bad answer is that consumers didn't care five years ago. Now that every watt is being counted, suddenly the manufacturers are doing what they should have done from the beginning.

I suspect that in five years from now it will be expected that all new devices put themselves at zero watts when in standby, and suddenly items like the smart strip (see link below) will be a relic of the day when we wasted energy.

[www.terrapass.com]

who really cares about saving 2 watts when people are using kilowatt power supplies in their gaming rigs? yet more worthless 'green' tech to make people feel good about themselves

@pizzlepaps: But this isn't really for those people with gaming rigs. People leave monitors on all the time in my office and these would probably save the company thousands of dollars a year in electric bills.

@majortom1029:

There's a type of "electronic chip" that when a current isn't present is fliped to "0" and when a current is present it will flip to "1" and uses no power. When it's a 0 it will not let power to the monitor, when it's 1 it will. It doesnt use power it uses sand instead. Crazy I know but it works.

Oh and there was on building that did a study on people that keep lights on all night. The building saved $1 million in a single year by implentmenting motion single lights on all it's floors.

Doesn't just save the environment but also pocket books as well.

Just imagine how much the electric bill would be if people would shut down thier computers at night as well.

@highfloydelity: AMEN! The average american house has a footprint of bubkiss compared to almost any industrial or large commercial place of business. Start at the top, I'd guess. Major step forwards.

i can't wait for a high-tech washing machine like this!

@Lupison: In fact, federal energy codes have requirements listed for motion sensing lights in some corporate-owned buildings. The energy standards are HIGH now.

@se7a7n7: Actually there is such a device. It's called the 'Smart Strip' check it out:
[www.smarthomeusa.com]

FIRST OF THE WORLD

@pizzlepaps: Agreed. There is no reason to address any small problems as long as there are large ones.

This is also why I propose eliminating arresting people for assault so long as there are murders and petit larceny so long as there is grand theft auto.

I also always pay $3 for my $1 coffee (because why bother saving $2, since I'm going to have to pay over $1000 in various bills at the end of the month.)

I also always make sure to throw my lunch wrappers in the street, because honestly, have you seen how much litter there already is in the city?

Finally, I refuse to wash my hands while I'm at work, because it would just encourage me to feel good about the fact that I'm not bothering to take a full shower.

@92BuickLeSabre:
Agreed. And sarcasm accepted. If over the lifetime of the unit you save more money on your electric bill than the unit cost you then it's worth it... Unless you would rather pay more for a product with, say, higher refresh reater, greater resolution, or whatever. Those are all types of costs you have to weigh against each other. It's like having to make the decision between getting the best or getting the most cost effective. It depends on your budget and what you are looking for in the product.

This would probably be great for businesses, and probably even the "casual" home computer user (again, if it would save them money).

@Rabid Penguin:
Whatever the hell "higher refresh reater" is, is beyond me.

"higher refresh rate"

I don't know why people can't be bothered to turn the damn things on and off themselves.

*click* See, now it's using ZERO watts!

*click* Now it's displaying my desktop!

*click* *click* *click*

@chaoslink: My monitor still uses power when I turn it off as evidenced by the power button glowing amber instead of green. I think a lot of monitors do the same or similar and that is exactly what this monitor is claiming to avoid.

i really thought this is what monitors did. see all you do it get a CMOS chip to measure the signal, if one isnt there, use that same CMOS chip to turn off a relay powering everything else. This CMOS chip still monitor the signal, therefor its still on, but this chip literally uses no measurable power. how is it that this isnt what the already do? except mine keeps the light glowing yellow, but thats pretty much nothing anyway

Most people don't realize that a lot of consumer electronics devices, like your monitor and your Xbox 360, suck power while completely turned off.

I don't care what LCD monitor you have, when you hit the soft power button on it, it still draws a little bit of energy to power the circuitry used for that soft on/off switch.

This is something new indeed, and if it draws 0 watts in regular standby mode (when your computer tells the monitor to turn off, and is capable of turning it back on without you having to press a button) then that is something truly impressive.

@jamesuschrist: yeah...i'm so angry about *soft* power buttons. Hint to everybody: if you can turn your device (TV, DVD player, whatever) on with a remote, then it wasn't off in the first place. It was sucking power so it could watch for the remote control signal. Some devices suck very little power to do this...others much more. I think there's a few plasma screens that pretend to be off, but are actually using several 10's of Watts to keep themselves warmed up and ready to turn on instantly.

my first DVD player had a true on-off switch -- you pushed it by hand, and it actually compressed all the way in and stuck. You could then turn the DVD player on and "off" with the remote, but of course, it was always watching for the remote signal, consuming power. But, if you walked up there and pushed the power button again, it popped back out and was really OFF.

newer DVD player: the power button does the exact same thing the remote on/off button does. There's no way to turn it off for real without unplugging it or turning off its power strip. Lame. How much does a real switch actually even cost a manufacturer? Nothing! I think that in addition to regulating standby power, the government should mandate that every device be equipped with a true off setting of its own.

@EQC: Good idea. Let's start with the iPhone.