Flowers for the energy-saving champions: EU Commission awards the new EU Eco-label to the Sharp AQUOS LE series

Back in 2005 Sharp was the first company to be awarded the Eco-label for its televisions. Up to the end of October 2009, in accordance with the regulations in place for the EU Eco-label until that time, Sharp’s bouquet comprised 83 flowers. From the very start of the new EU Eco-label, which is based on significantly more stringent regulations, no fewer than 28 Sharp AQUOS LCD TVs already bear the environmental label which is also known as the Environmental Flower. This is an unequivocal acknowledgment of the outstanding environmental performance of the AQUOS LCD TVs. The televisions from the current LE600E and LE700E series in particular are setting new standards in terms of energy efficiency. For a screen diagonal of 32 inches (81 centimetres) AQUOS LCD TVs from Sharp now require a mere 60 watts of power rather than 271 watts . Even the largest model with a screen diagonal of 52 inches (132 centimetres) remains below a power consumption of 100 watts (98 watts, to be exact) in Home mode, meaning its performance is significantly better than that of the competition. This performance and innovation in relation to environmental performance also convinced the European Commission which has set out even more stringent criteria in terms of energy consumption, material selection and recyclability in the new EU Eco-label with effect from 1 November.

“We are proud to be among the first manufacturers in the world to meet the rigorous standards of the new Eco-label with our AQUOS LE series. Even the production of the appliances in Sakai, one of the most environmentally advanced LCD factories in the world, is clear evidence of this. Furthermore, the LCD TVs stand out because of their full LED backlight. In addition to a brilliant picture, this technology also guarantees extremely low power consumption,” explains Frank Bolten, CEO Sharp Electronics. “As the reigning energy-saving champions, we therefore offer the customer optimum picture quality plus the two most efficient LCD TV series with LED backlight currently on the market,” Bolten continues.

The full LED backlight developed by Sharp is a new form of backlight for LCD TVs which uses energy-saving light-emitting diodes (LEDs) instead of the conventional cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs). These small light sources in the AQUOS LE appliances are also mercury-free, which represents a further enhancement by Sharp of the environment-friendliness of its televisions.

Information on the new EU Eco-label can also be found at  http://ec.europa.eu/environment/ecolabel/