UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCYWASHINGTON, D.C. 20460

OFFICE OF AIR
AND RADIATION

October 24, 2017
Dear ENERGY STAR® Televisions Partner or Other Interested Stakeholder:
Since releasing the Final Draft Version 8.0 ENERGY STAR Televisions Specification, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has had significant additional engagement withstakeholders around our proposal for addressing Automatic Brightness Control (ABC), with thegoal being to both ensure consumer savings and preserve manufacturer freedom to innovate intheir designs. As a result, the Agency is sharing an updated Final Draft Version 8.0 specificationthat reflects refinements consistent with stakeholder feedback. The effective date of thisENERGY STAR TV specification will be July 1, 2018.
Following the release of the Final Draft in July, stakeholders raised two concerns regarding EPA’sluminance requirement for TVs that qualify with ABC enabled by default as well as a question
regarding the inclusion of projectors in scope. In response, EPA has updated proposed
requirements as follows. This Revised Final Draft Version 8.0 specification is consistent with theFinal Draft distributed on July 18, 2017 except for these changes:
Clarification to Excluded Products: Based on inquiries from stakeholders, EPA has
specifically listed projector products as an excluded product type.

Average Screen Luminance: Stakeholders noted that requiring the average screen
luminance for room illuminances at 3, 12, 35, and 100 lux to be 50 percent of the luminancein the Brightest Selectable Preset Picture Setting would result in screen luminances that are
too bright for consumer preferences for TVs with high maximum screen luminances. To avoid
creating an unintended scenario where TVs ship too bright, EPA is adding a clause to section
3.6.3 that says: “For products that certify to the On Mode requirements with ABC enabled bydefault and have a luminance in the Brightest Selectable Preset Picture Setting greater thanor equal to 300 cd/m2, the average luminance at the illuminance conditions of 3, 12, 35, and100 lux with ABC enabled shall be greater than or equal to 150 cd/m2.”

Luminance at 3 Lux: Three manufacturers noted that EPA’s screen luminance requirementof 125 cd/m2 at 3 lux was still too bright, despite the ISF findings on consumer preferences forscreen brightness of 150 cd/m2 in dark room viewing conditions. EPA has subsequently
become aware of the SMPTE ST 2080 Standard for content editing on HDTVs, which call for
a 100 cd/m2 screen luminance. In the absence of industry-wide consensus on optimalbrightness for dark room viewing, and given this additional point of reference, EPA is lowering
the requirement for luminance at 3 lux to greater than or equal to 100 cd/m 2.

Any final comments on the Version 8.0 televisions specification may be submitted no later thanTuesday, November 7, 2017. Please send comments via e-mail to televisions@energystar.gov.
All comments received will be posted to the ENERGY STAR Product Development website,
unless the submitter specifically requests otherwise.

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The exchange of ideas and information between EPA, industry, and other interested parties iscritical to the success of ENERGY STAR. To track EPA’s progress in revising the ENERGYSTAR TV products specification and to review comments, please visit the Product Development
Web site at www.energystar.gov/RevisedSpecs and click on “Version 8.0 is in development”
under “Under Revision” under “Televisions.”
Thank you for taking the time to review these materials. Please contact me atRadulovic.Verena@epa.gov or (202) 343-9845 with any questions or concerns. For anyquestions related to the test method for ENERGY STAR products, please contact Jeremy
Dommu at Jeremy.Dommu@ee.doe.gov or (202) 586-9870.

Best Regards,

Verena Radulovic, Product Manager
ENERGY STAR for Consumer Electronics
Enclosures:
Revised Final Draft Version 8.0 ENERGY STAR Televisions Products Specification
Final Draft Version 8.0 Comment-Response Document2