This document, concerning Energy Conservation Program: Test Procedure for Set-top Boxes, is 

a rulemaking action issued by the Department of Energy. Though it is not intended or expected, 

should any discrepancy occur between the document posted here and the document published in 

the Federal Register, the Federal Register publication controls. This document is being made 

available through the Internet solely as a means to facilitate the public's access to this document. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[6450-01-P] 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

10 CFR Parts 429 and 430 

[Docket No. EERE-2012-BT-TP-0046] 

RIN: 1904-AC52 

Energy Conservation Program: Test Procedure for Set-top Boxes 

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) proposes to establish a new test procedure 

for set-top boxes (STBs). The proposed test procedure describes the methods for measuring the 

power consumption of STBs in the on, sleep (commonly known as standby mode), and off 

modes. Further, an annual energy consumption (AEC) metric is proposed to calculate the 

annualized energy consumption of the STB based on its power consumption in the different 

modes of operation. DOE has tentatively identified that the test methods described in the draft 

Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) standard, CEA-2043, “Set-top Box (STB) Power 

Measurement” are appropriate to use as a basis for developing the test procedure for STBs. The 

draft CEA-2043 standard specifies the test methods for determining the power consumption of a 

STB in the on, sleep, and off modes. The proposed test procedure in this rulemaking is primarily 

based on the draft CEA-2043 standard, which was issued as an email ballot to the members of 

the CEA working group developing the standard for a vote on November 27, 2012. 

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DATES: DOE will hold a public meeting on Wednesday, February 27, 2013, from 9 a.m. to 4 

p.m., in Washington, DC. The meeting will also be broadcast as a webinar. See section V, 

“Public Participation,” for webinar registration information, participant instructions, and 

information about the capabilities available to webinar participants. 

DOE will accept comments, data, and information regarding this notice of proposed 

rulemaking (NOPR) before and after the public meeting, but no later than [INSERT DATE 75 

DAYS AFTER FEDERAL REGISTER PUBLICATION]. See section V, “Public 

Participation,” for details. 

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held at the U.S. Department of Energy, Forrestal 

Building, Room 8E-089, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585. To attend, 

please notify Ms. Brenda Edwards at (202) 586–2945. Please note that foreign nationals visiting 

DOE Headquarters are subject to advance security screening procedures. Any foreign national 

wishing to participate in the meeting should advise DOE as soon as possible by contacting Ms. 

Edwards to initiate the necessary procedures. Please also note that those wishing to bring laptops 

into the Forrestal Building will be required to obtain a property pass. Visitors should avoid 

bringing laptops, or allow an extra 45 minutes. Persons can attend the public meeting via 

webinar. For more information, refer to the Public Participation section near the end of this 

notice. 

Any comments submitted must identify the NOPR for the Test Procedure for Set-top 

Boxes, and provide docket number EERE-2012–BT–TP–0046 and/or regulatory information 

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number (RIN) number 1904-AC52. Comments may be submitted using any of the following 

methods: 

1.	 Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for 

submitting comments. 

2.	 E-mail: SetTopBox2012TP0046@ee.doe.gov. Include the docket number and/or RIN in 

the subject line of the message. 

3.	 Mail: Ms. Brenda Edwards, U.S. Department of Energy, Building Technologies Program, 

Mailstop EE-2J, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC, 20585-0121. If 

possible, please submit all items on a CD. It is not necessary to include printed copies. 

4.	 Hand Delivery/Courier: Ms. Brenda Edwards, U.S. Department of Energy, Building 

Technologies Program, 950 L’Enfant Plaza, SW., Suite 600, Washington, DC, 20024. 

Telephone: (202) 586-2945. If possible, please submit all items on a CD. It is not 

necessary to include printed copies. 

For detailed instructions on submitting comments and additional information on the 

rulemaking process, see section V of this document (Public Participation). 

Docket: The docket is available for review at regulations.gov, including Federal Register 

notices, framework documents, public meeting attendee lists and transcripts, comments, and 

other supporting documents/materials. All documents in the docket are listed in the 

regulations.gov index. However, not all documents listed in the index may be publicly available, 

such as information that is exempt from public disclosure. 

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A link to the docket web page can be found at: 

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/rulemaking.aspx/ruleid/33. This 

web page will contain a link to the docket for this notice on the regulations.gov site. The 

regulations.gov web page will contain simple instructions on how to access all documents, 

including public comments, in the docket. See section V for information on how to submit 

comments through regulations.gov. 

For further information on how to submit a comment, review other public comments and 

the docket, or participate in the public meeting, contact Ms. Brenda Edwards at (202) 586-2945 

or by email: Brenda.Edwards@ee.doe.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mr. Jeremy Dommu, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, Building Technologies Program, EE-2J, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, 

Washington, DC, 20585-0121. Telephone: (202) 586-9870. E-mail: 

Jeremy.Dommu@ee.doe.gov. 

Ms. Celia Sher, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the General Counsel, GC-71, 1000 

Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC, 20585-0121. Telephone: (202) 287-6122. E-mail: 

Celia.Sher@hq.doe.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents 

I. Authority and Background 

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II. Summary of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

III. Discussion 

A. Effective Date and Compliance Date of Test Procedure 

B. Products Covered by This Rulemaking 

C. Industry Set-top Box Test Procedures 

D. Definitions 

1. Definition of Set-top Boxes 

2. Basic Model of an STB 

3. Manufacturer of a Set-top Box 

4. Other Definitions 

5. Definitions of Power Modes 

E. Test Conditions 

1. Set-top Box Settings 

2. Test Room 

F. Test Setup 

1. Test Voltage 

2. Measurement Accuracy 

3. Test Equipment 

4. True Power Wattmeter 

5. Calibration 

6. Network Setup 

G. Test Method and Measurements 

1. Set-top Box Warm-up 

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2. Test Configuration Information 

3. Test Conduct 

4. Calculation of Average Power Consumption 

5. On Mode Power Measurement 

6. Sleep Mode Power Measurement 

7. Off Mode Power Measurement 

8. Sleep to On Mode Transition Time Measurement 

H. Sampling Plan 

I. Method to Calculate the Energy Consumption of a Set-top Box 

IV. Procedural Issues and Regulatory Review 

A. Review Under Executive Order 12866 

B. Review under the Regulatory Flexibility Act 

C. Review Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

D. Review Under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

E. Review Under Executive Order 13132 

F. Review Under Executive Order 12988 

G. Review Under the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 

H. Review Under the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 1999 

I. Review Under Executive Order 12630 

J. Review Under Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 2001 

K. Review Under Executive Order 13211 

L. Review Under Section 32 of the Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974 

V. Public Participation 

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A. Attendance at Public Meeting 

B. Procedure for Submitting Prepared General Statements For Distribution 

C. Conduct of Public Meeting 

D. Submission of Comments 

E. Issues on Which DOE Seeks Comment 

VI. Approval of the Office of the Secretary 

I. Authority and Background 

Title III of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6291, et seq.; “EPCA” or, 

“the Act”) sets forth a variety of provisions designed to improve energy efficiency. (All 

references to EPCA refer to the statute as amended through the Energy Independence and 

Security Act of 2007 (EISA 2007), Pub. L. 110-140 (Dec. 19, 2007)). Part A of Title III of 

EPCA (42 U.S.C. 6291–6309) established the “Energy Conservation Program for Consumer 

Products Other Than Automobiles,” which covers consumer products and certain commercial 

products (hereafter referred to as “covered products”).1 In addition to specifying a list of covered 

residential and commercial products, EPCA contains provisions that enable the Secretary of 

Energy to classify additional types of consumer products as covered products. (42 U.S.C. 

6292(a)(20)) For a given product to be classified as a covered product, the Secretary must 

determine that: 

Classifying the product as a covered product is necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes 

of EPCA; and 

1 For editorial reasons, upon codification in the U.S. code, Part B was re-designated Part A. 

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The average annual per-household energy use by products of such type is likely to exceed 

100kWh per year. (42 U.S.C. 6292(b)(1)) 

Under this authority, DOE published a notice of proposed determination (the 2011 

proposed determination), that tentatively determined that STBs and network equipment qualify 

as a covered product because classifying products of such type as a covered product is necessary 

or appropriate to carry out the purposes of EPCA, and the average U.S. household energy use for 

STBs and network equipment is likely to exceed 100 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year. 76 FR at 

34914 (June 15, 2011). 

DOE may prescribe test procedures for any product it classifies as a “covered product.” 

(42 U.S.C. 6293(b)) Under EPCA, the “Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products 

Other Than Automobiles” consists essentially of four parts: (1) testing, (2) labeling, (3) Federal 

energy conservation standards, and (4) certification and enforcement procedures. The testing 

requirements consist of test procedures that manufacturers of covered products must use (1) as 

the basis for certifying to DOE that their products comply with the applicable energy 

conservation standards adopted under EPCA, and (2) for making representations about the 

efficiency of those products. Similarly, DOE must use these test requirements to determine 

whether the products comply with any relevant standards promulgated under EPCA. 

General Test Procedure Rulemaking Process 

Under 42 U.S.C. 6293, EPCA sets forth the criteria and procedures DOE must follow 

when prescribing or amending a test procedure for covered products. EPCA provides in relevant 

part that any test procedure prescribed or amended under this section shall be reasonably 

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designed to produce test results which measure energy efficiency, energy use or estimated annual 

operating cost of a covered product during a representative average use cycle or period of use 

and shall not be unduly burdensome to conduct. (42 U.S.C. 6293(b)(3)) 

In addition, if DOE determines that a test procedure amendment is warranted, it must 

publish a proposed test procedure and offer the public an opportunity to present oral and written 

comments on it. (42 U.S.C. 6293(b)(2)) Finally, in any rulemaking to amend a test procedure, 

DOE must determine to what extent, if any, the proposed test procedure would alter the 

measured energy efficiency of any covered product as determined under the existing test 

procedure. (42 U.S.C. 6293(e)(1)) If DOE determines that the amended test procedure would 

alter the measured efficiency of a covered product, DOE must amend the applicable energy 

conservation standard accordingly. (42 U.S.C. 6293(e)(2)) 

EPCA specifies that if the Secretary determines that a test procedure should be prescribed 

for a covered product, a proposed test procedure should be published in the Federal Register and 

interested persons should be provided an opportunity to present oral and written data, views, and 

arguments with respect to the proposed procedure. (42 U.S.C. 6293(b)(2)) Since DOE has 

tentatively determined that STBs are a covered product and a test procedure is required to 

determine the energy conservation standard for this product, a test procedure rulemaking is being 

undertaken to provide a test procedure to measure the energy consumption of STBs. 

In addition to proposing a test procedure to measure the energy consumption of STBs in 

on mode, DOE is proposing test procedures to measure the energy consumption of STBs in sleep 

mode (an industry term that refers to standby mode) and off mode. This is consistent with EISA 

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2007, which amended EPCA to require DOE to implement a standby and off mode energy 

consumption measurement, if technically feasible, in new or existing test procedures that do not 

have this measurement. Otherwise, DOE must prescribe a separate standby and off mode energy 

test procedure, if technically feasible. (42 U.S.C. 6295(gg)(2)(A)) EISA 2007 also requires any 

final rule establishing or revising energy conservation standards for a covered product, adopted 

after July 1, 2010, to incorporate standby mode and off mode energy use into a single amended 

or new standard, if feasible. (42 U.S.C. 6295(gg)(3)(A)) DOE recognizes that the standby and off 

mode conditions of operation apply to STBs, the product covered by this proposed rule. 

Therefore, in response to this requirement, DOE proposes to adopt provisions in the test 

procedure to measure the energy use in standby and off mode for STBs. Because ‘sleep’ is the 

term used by industry for indicating that a STB is in standby mode, DOE is using the term ‘sleep 

mode’ to refer to standby mode in today’s NOPR. The proposed approach for measuring the 

power consumption in sleep and off modes is discussed in sections III.G.6 and III.G.7, 

respectively. 

In June 2011, DOE published the 2011 proposed determination that tentatively 

determined that STBs and network equipment meet the criteria for covered products. 76 FR at 

34914 (June 15, 2011). If DOE issues a final determination that STBs are a covered product, it 

may establish a test procedure and energy conservation standard for STBs. To initiate this 

rulemaking process, DOE published a request for information (RFI) document on December 16, 

2011 (the 2011 RFI), requesting stakeholders to provide technical information regarding various 

test procedures used by industry to measure the energy consumption of STBs and network 

equipment. 76 FR at 78174. Such industry test procedures included the ENERGY STAR® 

program’s specification, ENERGY STAR Program Requirements for Set-top Boxes, Version 3.0 

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(ENERGY STAR specification)2, Consumer Electronics Association’s (CEA) standards 

ANSI3/CEA-2013-A4 and ANSI/CEA-20225, Canadian Standards Association’s (CSA) test 

procedure C380-086

, as well as International Electrochemical Commission’s (IEC) standard IEC 

620877

. Id. In the 2011 RFI, DOE also solicited comments on the key issues affecting the 

development of a new test procedure. Today’s NOPR has been developed based on DOE’s 

research and analysis of existing and draft versions of industry standards, that prescribe test 

procedures for testing STBs, as well as stakeholder responses to the key issues discussed in the 

2011 RFI. 

In this NOPR, DOE proposes measurement tests to determine the power consumption of 

STBs in the on, sleep, and off modes. Pursuant to the National Technology Transfer and 

Advancement Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104–113), which directs Federal agencies to use voluntary 

consensus standards in lieu of Government standards whenever possible, DOE proposes a STB 

test procedure that has primarily been developed from the draft CEA-20438 standard, currently 

under development by a CEA working group that includes representatives of the STB industry. 

This draft standard provides the definitions, measurement criteria, and test procedures for testing 

the specific modes of STBs. DOE also proposes a method for determining the ratings of power 

consumption in the on, sleep, and off modes for a given basic model of STB, which includes the 

2 ENERGY STAR® Program Requirements for Set-top Box Service Providers. Version 3.0. 

<www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/product_specs/program_reqs/STB_Version_3_Program_Requirements_Service_P 

roviders.pdf?38d7-750d> 3 American National Standards Institute. 4 ANSI/CEA Standard. “Digital STB Background Power Consumption.” ANSI/CEA-2013-A. July 2007. 5 ANSI/CEA Standard. “Digital STB Active Power Consumption Measurement.” ANSI/CEA-2022. July 2007. 6 Canadian Standards Association. “Test Procedure for the Measurement of Energy Consumption of Set-top Boxes 

(STBs).” C380-08. August 2008. 7 International Standard. “Methods of measurement for the power consumption of audio, video and related 

equipment.” Edition 3.0 2011-04. Section 8. 8 Draft CEA-2043. “Set-top Box (STB) Power Measurement.” The version referenced in today’s NOPR was issued 

as an email ballot, for vote, to the R04WG13 working group on November 27, 2012. 

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number of units that must be tested and the statistical tolerances. Finally, DOE proposes a metric 

to calculate the annual energy consumption (AEC) of the STB. DOE’s proposed metric combines 

the rated values of STB power consumption in each mode of operation with the expected time 

spent in the respective mode. The time weightings used to calculate the typical energy 

consumption (TEC) in the ENERGY STAR specification were used as a starting point to develop 

the time weightings for the AEC metric proposed in today’s NOPR. 

II. Summary of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

In this NOPR, DOE proposes: (1) a test procedure for determining the energy 

consumption of STBs in the on, sleep, and off modes; (2) a method for determining the ratings of 

power consumption in the on, sleep, and off modes for a given basic model of STB; and, (3) a 

metric to calculate the AEC of the STB. DOE also proposes to exclude network equipment from 

the scope of this rulemaking, which is discussed in further detail in section III.B of this NOPR. 

DOE’s proposed test procedure for determining the energy consumption of the STB is 

largely developed from the draft CEA-2043 standard. The draft CEA-2043 standard was issued 

as an email ballot to CEA’s working group members for vote on November 27, 2012. The 

standard specifies the definitions, measurement criteria, and the test methods for determining the 

power consumption of the STB in different modes of operation. DOE reviewed several 

approaches for testing the power consumption of STBs and determined that the test procedure 

specified in the draft CEA-2043 standard is representative and generates repeatable power 

consumption values. This determination was made based on discussions with industry experts as 

well as through DOE’s internal research and analysis. Additionally, DOE has proposed some 

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modifications to the test procedure specified in the draft CEA-2043 standard as discussed in 

sections III.D through III.G. 

DOE’s proposed test procedure for determining the power consumption of a STB in on 

mode is comprised of two main tests: (1) an on (watch television (TV)) test that records the 

power consumption when a channel is viewed; and, (2) a multi-stream test that evaluates 

different functions of multi-streaming STBs depending on its capabilities, such as channel 

viewing, recording, and playback. The proposed tests for on mode are discussed in further detail 

in section III.G.5 of the NOPR. For testing the power consumption of the STB in sleep mode, 

DOE developed the test procedure from the sleep mode test procedure specified in the draft 

CEA-2043 standard. Sleep mode as defined in the CEA standard meets the definition of standby 

mode as outlined in EISA 2007. (42 U.S.C. 6295(gg)) As discussed in Authority and 

Background, section I of this NOPR, DOE proposes to use the industry term ‘sleep’ mode in 

place of standby for this test. For the sleep mode test, DOE proposes two tests: (1) a manual 

sleep test in which the STB enters sleep mode through a user action on the remote control; and, 

(2) an auto power down (APD) test in which the STB automatically enters sleep mode after a 

period of user inaction. For both sleep mode tests, an average power measurement over a period 

of at least 4 hours and up to a maximum of 8 hours is recorded as discussed in section III.G.6. 

For testing the power consumption of the STB in off mode, DOE proposes an average 

measurement over 2 minutes after the STB has been placed in off mode. The proposed off mode 

measurement test is discussed in further detail in section III.G.7. 

In addition to proposing measurement tests to measure the power consumption of the 

STB in the different modes of operation, DOE is proposing a sampling plan that requires testing 

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of at least two STBs for each basic model, to determine the power consumption in each mode of 

operation and the application of tolerances for determining the rating of a given basic model, as 

discussed in further detail in section III.H. 

Finally, DOE is proposing a metric to calculate the AEC of the STB from the rated power 

consumption in the on, sleep, and off modes of operation. The proposed metric combines the 

rated power consumption values of the STB in the different modes of operation into a single 

metric based on the expected time spent in each mode of operation such that it is representative 

of the STB’s annual energy use. The time weightings used to calculate TEC in the ENERGY 

STAR specification were used as the starting point to develop the time weightings that are 

proposed for the AEC metric. DOE believes that the proposed test procedure will accurately 

represent the energy consumption of STBs by capturing the AEC in on, sleep, and off modes. 

The AEC metric is discussed in further detail in section III.I. 

III. Discussion 

A. Effective Date and Compliance Date of Test Procedure 

If adopted, the effective date for this test procedure would be 30 days after publication of 

the test procedure final rule in the Federal Register. At that time, the new metrics and any other 

measure of energy consumption which depends on these metrics may be represented pursuant to 

the final rule. Compliance with the new test procedure and sampling plans for representation 

purposes would be required 180 days after the date of publication of the test procedure final rule. 

On or after that date, any such representations, including those made on marketing materials, 

websites (including qualification with a voluntary or State program), and product labels shall be 

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based upon results generated under the final test procedure proposed to be included in Appendix 

AA to Subpart B of 10 CFR Part 430 as well as the sampling plan in 10 CFR Part 429. 

The final DOE test procedure shall be utilized or referenced by all other organizations, 

such as U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its ENERGY STAR specification for 

STBs, the California Energy Commission (CEC) and any other state regulation providing for the 

disclosure of information with respect to any measure of STB energy consumption once the test 

procedure becomes effective 30 days after the test procedure final rule publication. The final rule 

will supersede any existing state test procedure for STBs to the extent the state regulation 

requires testing in a manner other than that required by the final DOE test procedure. (42 U.S.C. 

6297(a)(1)) 

B. Products Covered by This Rulemaking 

In the 2011 RFI, DOE requested comment on the scope of the STB and network 

equipment test procedure rulemaking. DOE received some comments that network equipment 

should not be included in the scope of the rulemaking, and received some comments in favor of 

developing a Federal test procedure for STBs. Verizon commented that DOE should not identify 

network equipment as a covered product and should clarify that only “traditional, dedicated” 

STBs would be subject to any test procedure or energy conservation standard. (Verizon, No. 

0032 at p. 5)9 The Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE) commented that they support the 

development of a test procedure for STBs that accurately measures STB energy consumption by 

9 A notation in this form provides a reference for information that is in the docket of DOE’s rulemaking to develop a 

test procedure for STBs (Docket No. EERE–2011–BT–NOA–0067), which is maintained at www.regulations.gov. 

This notation indicates that the statement preceding the reference is document number [0032 as assigned in 

regulations.gov] in the docket for the STB test procedure rulemaking, and appears at page 5 of that document. 

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simulating actual usage by consumers. (CEE, No. 0028 at p. 1) Further, the joint response of 

DISH Network L.L.C. (DISH), EchoStar Technologies L.L.C. (EchoStar), and DIRECTV L.L.C. 

(DIRECTV), commented that this rulemaking should be limited to STBs and should not include 

network equipment. (DISH, EchoStar, DIRECTV, No. 0030 at p. 1) The National Cable & 

Telecommunications Association (NCTA) commented that if DOE proceeded with a rulemaking, 

the scope of this rulemaking should include STBs that are defined as any non-gateway devices. 

(NCTA, No. 0034 at p. 43) DOE also received a comment in support of a test procedure for 

network equipment. The joint comment response of Appliance Standards Awareness Project 

(ASAP), American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), and Consumer 

Federation of America (CFA) encouraged DOE to continue investigating both network 

equipment and STBs in order to realize energy savings for consumers as well as other economic 

and environmental benefits. (ASAP, ACEEE, CFA, No. 0025 at p. 1–5) These commenters did 

not recommend any specific test method for testing network equipment but suggested that DOE 

should look into existing test methods that were identified during the development of the 

ENERGY STAR specification for small network equipment.10 (ASAP, ACEEE, CFA, No. 0025 

at p. 3) 

Based on stakeholder feedback, DOE proposes to exclude network equipment from the 

scope of this NOPR and focus exclusively on STBs. DOE proposes that the scope of today’s 

proposed rulemaking is to capture the energy consumption of STBs that primarily receive and 

10 ENERGY STAR Small Network Equipment. “Draft Specification Framework Document.” October 2009. 

<www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/prod_development/new_specs/downloads/small_network_equip/SNE_Draft_Fram 

ework_V1_0.pdf?ecf4-2f7e> 

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output video content. DOE proposes to define STBs as described in section III.D.1 below. DOE 

will continue to evaluate the need for a test procedure for network equipment. 

In addition to receiving comments on the overall scope of coverage of today’s NOPR, 

DOE received comments about the exclusion of specific models of STBs. Sidley Austin LLP 

(Sidley Austin) commented that during a meeting between DOE, AT&T, and Sidley Austin on 

March 7, 2012, AT&T representatives suggested that AT&T’s U-verse® receivers should not be 

covered under any test procedure or energy conversation standard rulemaking because the 

product already uses less power than other STBs and does not meet the annual 100 kWh 

statutory threshold set by EPCA for covered products to be regulated. (Sidley Austin LLP, No. 

0024 at p. 2) Sidley Austin further commented that AT&T’s U-verse® is one of the most energy 

efficient STBs on the market and is continuing to improve its efficiency. (Sidley Austin LLP, 

No. 0024 at p. 2) Next, AT&T commented that DOE should refrain from promulgating a test 

procedure or energy efficiency standard for Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) receivers because the 

energy use of IPTV STBs does not meet the statutory threshold for these boxes to be regulated. 

(AT&T, No. 0032 at p. 5) DOE considers that today’s test procedure NOPR is applicable to any 

STB, including IPTV, as defined in section III.D.1 and will address the scope of coverage for 

any energy conservation standard during that rulemaking, if required. 

DOE also received several comments on the coverage of low noise block-downconverters 

(LNBs), auxiliary boxes, optical network terminals (ONTs), and standalone digital video 

recorders (DVRs). The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) recommended including all 

of these products in the scope of this rulemaking. (NRDC, No. 0017 at p. 2) NRDC further 

commented that once ONTs are installed, they are not removed when service is terminated. If a 

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customer switches to a service provider that does not require an ONT, this unit could continue 

drawing power without being used. (NRDC, No. 0017 at p. 2) Conversely, DISH, EchoStar, and 

DIRECTV commented that LNBs should not be included in the scope of this rulemaking. They 

commented that LNBs can consume varied power in different configurations. (DISH, EchoStar, 

DIRECTV, No. 0030 at p. 5) Further, the outdoor unit (ODU) that consists of a receiving dish, 

LNB, and radio frequency (RF) switch would need to be specified in detail to test these units in a 

repeatable fashion. Finally, the power consumption of the ODU devices varies with weather and 

location. (DISH, EchoStar, DIRECTV, No. 0030 at p. 11) 

Because of the complexity associated with these equipment and the significant 

operational differences from STBs, DOE does not propose to include LNBs, ONTs, ODUs, or 

other infrastructure devices that do not directly deliver TV signals to a consumer display to be in 

the scope of this rulemaking. 

DOE requests comment on focusing the scope of today’s rulemaking to STBs and 

excluding network equipment. Further, DOE seeks additional information and comment related 

to the development of a test procedure for LNBs, ONTs, ODUs, or other infrastructure devices 

and the standard configuration in which these products should be tested. 

C. Industry Set-top Box Test Procedures 

While developing the proposed test procedure for STBs, DOE researched existing and 

draft test procedures that measure STB energy consumption, as discussed in the 2011 RFI. DOE 

received a comment from CEA stating that it should not duplicate the private sector’s 

development of a consensus standard test procedure for measuring the power consumption of 

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STBs. (CEA, No. 0031 at p. 3) DOE agrees with CEA and is proposing a test procedure for 

STBs that is largely based on standards accepted and developed by industry. The standards that 

were reviewed to develop this test procedure NOPR include the ENERGY STAR specification, 

CEA standards ANSI/CEA-2013A, ANSI/CEA-2022, the draft CEA-2043 standard, CSA test 

procedure C380-08, as well as IEC standard IEC 62087. 

The ENERGY STAR specification includes a test method for determining the power 

consumption of the STB in different modes of operation. The ENERGY STAR test method 

provides the test setup, test conduct, initialization requirements, and test procedures for testing 

the STB in many different modes of operation. These include, in the on mode: watching TV, 

recording to a DVR and removable media, and playing back recorded content from a DVR and 

removable media. In the sleep mode, the test procedures include: sleep mode, APD, and deep 

sleep. Finally, the ENERGY STAR test method also includes a method for testing a STB that 

has multi-room capability. The ENERGY STAR test method was developed based on the CSA 

test procedure, C380-08. DOE referred to some sections of the ENERGY STAR specification to 

develop today’s NOPR, which are discussed in detail in sections III.D to III.I. 

The ANSI/CEA-2022 and ANSI/CEA-2013A provide an overview to determine the 

power consumption of STBs in the on, sleep and off modes, respectively. The standards do not 

contain detailed information about testing and setup for the different modes of operation. As 

discussed, CEA is also developing a new standard, CEA-2043, that is currently in draft form but 

will supersede CEA standards ANSI/CEA-2013A and ANSI/CEA-2022 once it is published. 

Therefore, DOE did not refer to ANSI/CEA-2013A and ANSI/CEA-2022 to develop today’s 

proposed rule; instead it refers to the draft CEA-2043 standard. 

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The CSA test procedure, C380-08, specifies test conditions and setup requirements that 

are also referenced in the ENERGY STAR specification and are the same as those specified in 

the draft CEA-2043 standard. The C380-08 standard specifies test procedures for determining 

energy consumption in the on and sleep modes of operation, from which the ENERGY STAR 

specification was developed. Therefore, DOE does not reference this CSA test procedure in the 

NOPR because the information specified in the CSA test procedure is also included in the 

ENERGY STAR specification. 

IEC 62087 provides specification for testing the STB at different input signal levels and 

different input terminals depending on the type of the STB. The standard provides test 

procedures for determining power consumption in the on and sleep modes. In the on mode, IEC 

62087 specifies tests in the play, record, and multi-function (with single and multiple tuners) 

modes. In sleep mode, it specifies tests at the active high, active low, and passive modes. DOE 

refers to IEC 62087 to support some of its proposed requirements. 

DOE primarily focused on the draft CEA-2043 standard to develop the test procedure for 

STBs that is proposed in this NOPR. The draft CEA-2043 standard specifies the test conditions 

and test setup at which power consumption of the STB should be measured. These include the 

modes of operation of the STB, test room and equipment requirements, and measurement tests 

for determining the power consumption in each mode of operation. DOE also referred to the 

ENERGY STAR specification to develop some of the proposed requirements, such as the AEC 

metric, that are not specified in the draft CEA-2043 standard. In review of CEA-2043, DOE 

found that CEA is a leading organization that connects consumer electronics manufacturers, 

retailers, and other interested parties to develop industry accepted electronics test procedures. 

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The CEA Technology & Standards program is CEA’s standards making body that is accredited 

by ANSI.11 CEA-2043 is being developed under the CEA R04 WG13 STB Energy Consumption 

working group, which falls under the CEA Technology & Standards program. DOE 

representatives have observed the development of CEA-2043, attended conference call meetings 

between STB manufacturers and energy advocates during draft revisions, and have been 

included on all notes and documentation from the CEA R04 WG13 STB Energy Consumption 

working group. Today’s NOPR has primarily been developed using the draft version of the 

CEA-2043 standard that was issued as an email ballot to members of the working group for a 

vote on November 27, 2012. However, DOE is proposing some modifications, which are 

discussed in sections III.D through III.G. 

The draft version of the CEA-2043 standard was in a 30 day voting period that ended on 

December 28, 2012. Once the final CEA-2043 standard is published, it will be available on 

CEA’s website at http://www.ce.org/Standards/Standard-Listings.aspx. DOE requests comment 

on using the draft CEA-2043 standard as the basis for today’s proposed test procedure for STBs. 

D. Definitions 

1. Definition of Set-top Boxes 

Because there are no statutory definitions for STBs under EPCA currently, DOE 

proposes to develop a definition for STBs. Cisco commented that defining STBs as traditional 

STBs would capture only some of the ways in which video program is delivered and a broader 

definition that is designed to encompass all means by which a consumer could receive video 

11 “ANSI-Accredited Standard Developers.” 

<www.ansi.org/about_ansi/accredited_programs/overview.aspx?menuid=1> 

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signals from multichannel video programming distributors (MVPD) could inadvertently bring 

tablet computers, computers, gaming consoles, and smartphones under this regulation. (Cisco 

Systems, Inc., No. 0027 at p. 11) DOE understands these concerns and is proposing a definition 

that captures more than just traditional STBs, while mitigating the issues associated with a 

broader definition of STBs. The proposed definition would be included in 10 CFR Part 430.2 and 

would define STBs as “a device combining hardware components with software programming 

designed for the primary purpose of receiving television and related services from terrestrial, 

cable, satellite, broadband, or local networks, providing video output using at least one direct 

video connection.” 

DOE also proposes to include a definition for direct video connection, in 10 CFR Part 

430.2, as “any connection type that is one of the following: High-Definition Multimedia 

Interface (HDMI), Component Video, S-Video, Composite Video, or any other video interface 

that may be used to output video content.” 

DOE’s proposed definition of STBs is different from the definition specified in section 4 

of the draft CEA-2043 standard. That standard defines a STB as “a device that receives video 

content which is then delivered to a display device, recording device, or client”. DOE did not 

adopt CEA’s definition in the NOPR because DOE believes the definition is vague and can 

include such devices in the scope of this rulemaking that are not, in fact, STBs. According to the 

definition specified in the draft CEA-2043 standard, any device that can receive video content 

and can deliver it to display device, recording device, or client is a STB. Under this definition, 

devices such as a smartphone could potentially be included under the scope. DOE believes these 

devices should not be included because the scope of today’s rulemaking is to capture the energy 

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use for those devices that primarily receive and output video content. Because the primary use of 

a device such as a smartphone or gaming console is not to output video content, today’s test 

procedure would not make adequate energy representations of these products. DOE believes that 

smartphones do not meet the definition of a STB under today’s proposed definition. 

DOE does not propose to use the definition specified in the draft CEA-2043 standard. 

Instead, DOE developed a definition for STBs that includes specific detail about the types of 

networks the device can receive video content from and the allowable output connections for 

delivering the video content. The types of networks from which content could be received – 

terrestrial, cable, satellite, broadband, or local networks – are all networks that are commonly 

used for STBs. In fact, STBs are often defined by their base type functionality, which generally 

includes the network type used. This information was also included in the definition for STBs in 

an older draft of the CEA-2043 standard and DOE proposes to include it to add specificity to the 

STB definition. Additionally, DOE’s proposed definition refers to a device that is manufactured 

when both the hardware components and the software is loaded on the device such that its 

primary purpose is receiving and outputting video. DOE believes it is important for the 

definition of a STB to include both software and hardware because the underlying hardware for a 

STB could look much like a general purpose computer, but the software added to such hardware 

distinguishes the unit allowing it to function as a STB. Further, the proposed DOE definition 

does not include specific devices to which the content is delivered, while the draft CEA-2043 

definition specifies that the content is delivered to a display device, recording device, or client. In 

lieu of specifying the types of devices to which the content may be delivered, DOE’s proposal 

specifies the types of video connections that may be used, since, at a minimum, a STB must 

deliver content to a video device. Including detail about the direct video connections that are 

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permissible ensures that devices that do not primarily deliver content to a video device do not 

meet the proposed definition. For example, devices that receive and transmit information solely 

through a network interface and do not have a video output would not be considered a STB 

under DOE’s proposed regulatory definition, but would be considered a STB if the draft CEA2043 standard’s definition were adopted. DOE believes that today’s proposed test procedure 

would not make appropriate representations of energy consumption for devices that do not 

provide a direct video output, and therefore, has proposed this definition to narrow the scope 

compared to the CEA-2043 standard. 

Finally, to further aid in defining the scope of coverage of this rulemaking, DOE 

proposes to include definitions for Component Video, Composite Video, HDMI, and S-Video in 

the test procedure. These terms are all used in the definition for direct video connection, which is 

used to define STBs. DOE proposes to define these terms in section 430.2 of subpart A of 10 

CFR part 430 as follows: 

Component Video: Component Video is a video display interface that meets the 

specification in CEA-770.3-D. 

Composite Video: Composite Video is a video display interface that uses a Radio 

Corporation of America (RCA) connection to transmit National Television System 

Committee (NTSC) analog video. 

HDMI: High-Definition Multimedia Interface or HDMI is an audio/video interface that 

meets the specification in HDMI Specification Version 1.0. 

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S-Video: S-Video is a video display interface that transmits analog video over two 

channels: luminance and color. 

For the definitions of Component Video and HDMI,DOE proposes to incorporate by 

reference two industry standards that are used to define these terms. Specifically, DOE proposes 

to define Component Video as a connection that meets the requirements found in CEA-770.3-

D12. For HDMI, DOE is proposing to define it as a connection that meets the requirements found 

in the HDMI Specification Version 1.013. DOE believes these industry standards provide the 

appropriate information for defining the Component Video and HDMI connections and has 

therefore incorporated these standards by reference in section 430.3 of Subpart A of 10 CFR 

Part 430. 

In the 2011 proposed determination, DOE proposed a definition for STBs and network 

equipment as “a device whose principal function(s) are to receive television signals (including, 

but not limited to, over-the-air, cable distribution system, and satellite signals) and deliver them 

to another consumer device, or to pass Internet Protocol traffic among various network 

interfaces.” 76 FR at 34915 (June 15, 2011). DOE received several comments about this 

definition from stakeholders. The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) suggested a 

new definition for STBs that accounts for the fact that these devices serve a broader function 

than to simply relay TV signals. (EERE-2010-BT-DET-0040, NEEA, No. 0006 at p. 2) AT&T 

and the California Investor Owned Utilities (CA IOUs) commented that DOE should adopt the 

12 CEA Standard. “High Definition TV Analog Component Video Interface.” CEA-770.3-D. Approved February 

2008. 13 “High-Definition Multimedia Interface Specification.” Informational Version 1.0. Approved September 4, 2003.
	

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definition of STB that has been developed by the ENERGY STAR program because it is well 

known by industry. (EERE-2010-BT-DET-0040, AT&T, No. 0008 at p. 9) (EERE-2010-BTDET-0040, CA IOUs, No. 0011 at p. 2) Further, the Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships 

(NEEP) commented that STBs and network equipment should have a single definition because 

they perform similar functions. (EERE-2010-BT-DET-0040, NEEP, No. 0010 at p. 2) In 

contrast, the CA IOUs commented that separated definitions should be adopted for STBs and 

network equipment to explicitly describe the products covered. (EERE-2010-BT-DET-0040, CA 

IOUs, No. 0011 at p. 2) NCTA commented that STBs and network equipment vary too much to 

fit under one definition and that network equipment should be dropped from the rulemaking. 

(EERE-2010-BT-DET-0040, NCTA, No. 0017 at p. 8, 22) NRDC commented that the part of the 

definition that states “the principal function(s) are to receive TV signals” should be expanded 

because STBs receive more types of signals than TV signals. (EERE-2010-BT-DET-0040, 

NRDC, No. 0012 at p. 5) CEA commented that DOE should adopt the definition that will be 

specified in the new CEA standard and should compare the proposed STB definition to the 

Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) definition of “navigation device” to avoid 

defining the same product category differently. (EERE-2010-BT-DET-0040, CEA, No. 0014 at 

p. 3) CEA also commented that the definition of STBs should not include a device with gateway 

functionality, such as devices that terminate the service provider or IP network for multiple 

devices in a home, because such a definition would combine video and non-video related devices 

and would include many different products such as networking switch, hub, Wireless-Fidelity 

(Wi-Fi) 14 access point, Ethernet extending devices, and possibly the entire category of home 

automation, security and smart grid products. (EERE-2010-BT-DET-0040, CEA, No. 0014 at p. 

14 Wi-Fi technology allows electronic devices to use radio waves to exchange data wirelessly over a computer 

network using the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards. 

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4) Finally, CEA, Verizon, and the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) commented 

that the phrase “to pass Internet Protocol traffic among various network interfaces” should be 

excluded from the proposed definition as they believe the scope of the rulemaking is to only 

cover video related devices. (EERE-2010-BT-DET-0040, Verizon, No. 0015 at p. 4) (EERE2010-BT-DET-0040, TIA, No. 0040 at p. 4) 

DOE reviewed the comments it received on the 2011 proposed determination and 

preliminarily concluded that it will not continue with the definition proposed for STBs and 

network equipment in the 2011 proposed determination, for the following reasons. First, the 

intent of the proposed definition in the 2011 proposed determination was that it be broad enough 

so that it covered both STBs and network equipment. However, as discussed in section III.B, 

today’s proposed rule narrows the scope of the rulemaking to cover only STBs and not network 

equipment. Second, DOE believes that the definition in the 2011 proposed determination may be 

too broad for the purposes of the STB test procedure rulemaking. The definition of “principal 

function” could be ambiguous; it is not explicit whether the principal function is based on how 

the device is used by the consumer or how the manufacturer intends the device to be used. 

Further, the definition in the 2011 proposed determination does not explicitly state that video 

content should be delivered using a direct video connection, which is included in the definition 

proposed in today’s NOPR. As discussed previously, specifying that the device should deliver 

video content using a direct video connection ensures that devices that do not use this connection 

are excluded from the proposed definition of STB. Therefore, DOE has proposed a new 

definition solely for STBs as discussed in the above paragraph. 

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DOE also considered defining a STB using the base types included in the ENERGY 

STAR specification. However, the ENERGY STAR definition is more suited to differentiating 

product types for the purposes of efficiency levels, which is not necessary when it comes to 

defining scope of coverage for DOE’s regulatory program. 

In conclusion, DOE proposes to define STBs as “a device combining hardware 

components with software programming designed for the primary purpose of receiving television 

and related services from terrestrial, cable, satellite, broadband, or local networks, providing 

video output using at least one direct video connection.” DOE invites comment on this proposed 

definition of STBs. In particular, DOE requests comment about whether the proposed definition 

is specific enough to exclude non-STB devices such as gaming consoles and smartphones, yet 

broad enough to cover traditional STBs as well as newer STBs. DOE also requests comment on 

the proposed definitions for direct video connection, Component Video, Composite Video, 

HDMI, and S-Video. 

2. Basic Model of an STB 

In March 2011, DOE published a final rule for ‘Certification, Compliance, and 

Enforcement for Consumer Products and Commercial and Industrial Equipment’. 76 FR at 

12422 (March 7, 2011). In this rule, DOE codified a definition for basic model in 10 CFR Part 

430.2 as follows: 

“Basic model means all units of a given type of covered product (or class thereof) 

manufactured by one manufacturer, having the same primary energy source, and which have 

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essentially identical electrical, physical, and functional (or hydraulic) characteristics that affect 

energy consumption, energy efficiency, water consumption, or water efficiency; and 

(1) With respect to general service fluorescent lamps, general service incandescent lamps, 

and incandescent reflector lamps: Lamps that have essentially identical light output and electrical 

characteristics—including lumens per watt (lm/W) and color rendering index (CRI). 

(2) With respect to faucets and showerheads: Have the identical flow control mechanism 

attached to or installed within the fixture fittings, or the identical water-passage design features 

that use the same path of water in the highest flow mode.” 

For today’s NOPR, DOE reviewed this definition of a basic model and has determined 

that the definition of basic model codified in 10 CFR Part 430.2 is applicable to STBs. For STBs, 

the ‘identical electrical, physical, and functional characteristics’ that identify two units as being 

the same basic model would also cover software download or hardware integration. This is 

because hardware components and software programming can change the functional or physical 

characteristics of the box that affect energy consumption and/or energy efficiency. Thus, in 

order for multiple STBs to be in the same basic model they must have essentially the same 

software downloads and hardware integration. Additionally, for today’s proposed rule, DOE also 

believes that two STB units are considered to be the same basic model if they have the same 

multi-streaming and DVR functionality as described in section III.D.4. 

DOE invites comment on the discussion of basic model as it pertains to the STB 

rulemaking. 

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3. Manufacturer of a Set-top Box 

DOE considers today’s proposed test procedure applicable to any person that meets the 

definition of manufacturer under EPCA as it relates to STBs. EPCA defines the term 

“manufacture” as “to manufacture, produce, assemble, or import.” (42 U.S.C. 6291(10)) The 

proposed definition of a STB itself is discussed in section III.D.1 of the NOPR. 

4. Other Definitions 

For the STB test procedure NOPR, DOE proposes to define terms that are relevant for the 

test procedure based on the definitions specified in section 4 of the draft CEA-2043 standard. Of 

these definitions, DOE proposes clarifying information, beyond what is provided in the draft 

CEA-2043 standard, for the definitions of DVR, display device, and home network interface 

(HNI). Additionally, DOE is including new definitions for content provider and multi-stream. 

The proposed definitions are included in section 2 (Definitions) of the proposed Appendix AA to 

Subpart B of 10 CFR Part 430. All proposed definitions are listed below, followed by a 

discussion of any differences from the draft CEA-2043 standard. 

Auto power down (APD): A STB feature that monitors parameters correlated with user 

activity or viewing. If the parameters collectively indicate that no user activity or viewing is 

occurring, the APD feature enables the STB to transition to sleep or off mode. 

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Client: Any device (example: STB, thin-client STB, smart TV15, mobile phone, tablet, or 

personal computer) that can receive content over a home network interface (HNI). 

Content provider: An entity that provides video programming content. 

Crest factor: The ratio of the peak current to the root-mean-square (rms)16 current. 

Digital video recorder (DVR): A STB feature that records TV signals on a hard disk drive 

(HDD) or other non-volatile storage device integrated into the STB. A DVR often includes 

features such as: Play, Record, Pause, Fast Forward (FF), and Fast Rewind (FR). STBs that 

support a service provider delivery network based “DVR” service are not considered DVR STBs 

for the purposes of this test procedure. The presence of DVR functionality does not mean the 

device is defined to be a STB. 

Display device: A device (example: TV, Computer Monitor, or Portable TV) that 

receives its content directly from a STB through a video interface (example: HDMI, Component 

Video, Composite Video, or S-Video), not through a home network interface (HNI), and displays 

it for viewing. 

Harmonic: A component of order n of the Fourier series17 that describes the periodic 

current or voltage (where n is an integer greater than 1). 

15 A smart TV is a hybrid TV that combines internet features into modern TVs and STBs. 16 Rms current is a statistical measure of the magnitude of a current signal. Rms current is equal to the square root of 

the mean of all squared instantaneous currents over one complete cycle of the current signal. 

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High definition test stream (HD): Video content delivered to the STB by the content 

provider to produce a minimum output resolution of 1280 × 720 pixels in progressive scan 

mode18 at a minimum frame rate of 59.94 frames per second (fps) (abbreviated 720p60) or a 

minimum output resolution of 1920 × 1080 pixels in interlaced scan mode at 29.97 fps 

(abbreviated 1080i30). 

Home network interface (HNI): An interface with external devices over a local area 

network (example: IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA)19, HomePNA 

20 21 22 Alliance (HPNA) , IEEE 802.3 , or HomePlug AV ) that is capable of transmitting video 

content. 

Low noise block-downconverter (LNB): A combination of low-noise amplifier, blockdownconverter and intermediate frequencies (IF) amplifier. It takes the received microwave 

transmission, amplifies it, down-converts the block of frequencies to a lower block of IF where 

the signal can be amplified and fed to the indoor satellite TV STB using coaxial cable. 

17 A Fourier series decomposes period functions or period signals in terms of an infinite sum of simple oscillating 

functions, such as sines and cosines. 

18 Progressive scan mode is a method of displaying, storing, or transmitting moving images such that all lines in 

each frame are drawn in sequence. 

19 MoCA is a trade group that promotes a standard that uses coaxial cables to connect consumer electronic products 

and home networking devices. The connection allows both data communication and the transfer of audio and video 

streams. It is the only home entertainment networking standard used by all three pay TV segments, such as, cable, 

satellite, and IPTV. 

20 HPNA is an incorporated non-profit industry association of companies that develops home networking 

specifications for distributing entertainment and data over existing coaxial cables and telephone wiring within 

homes. 

21 IEEE 802.3 is a working group that develops standards for Ethernet based local area networks. 22 HomePlug is an industry alliance that provides specifications that support networking over existing home 

electrical wiring. HomePlug AV is a specification that provides sufficient bandwidth for applications such as high 

definition TV (HDTV) and voice over IP (VoIP). 

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Multi-stream: A STB feature that may provide independent video content to one or more 

clients, one or more directly connected TVs, or a DVR. 

Outdoor unit (ODU): Satellite signal reception components including: a receiving dish, 

one or more LNBs, and imbedded or independent radio frequency (RF) switches, used to 

distribute a satellite service provider network to consumer satellite STBs. 

Point of deployment (POD) module: A plug-in card that complies with the ANSI/SCTE23 

2824 interface and is inserted into a digital-cable-ready device to enable the decryption of 

services and provide other network control functions. 

Power mode: A condition or state of a device that broadly characterizes its capabilities, 

power consumption, power indicator coding, and responsiveness to input. 

Principal STB function: Functions necessary for selecting, receiving, decoding, 

decompressing, or delivering video content to a display device, DVR, or client. Monitoring for 

user or network requests is not considered a principal STB function. 

Satellite STB: a STB that receives and decodes video content as delivered from a service 

provider satellite network. 

23 The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers, Inc. 24 Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers. Engineering Committee. Digital Video Subcommittee. “HOSTPOD Interface Standard.” American National Standard.
	

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Service provider: A business entity that provides video content, a delivery network, and 

associated installation and support services to subscribers with whom it has an ongoing 

contractual relationship. 

Smart Card: A plug-in card that complies with ISO25/IEC 7816-1226 and is inserted into a 

satellite STB to enable the decryption of services and provide other network control functions. 

Standard definition test stream (SD): Video content delivered to the STB by the content 

provider to produce an output resolution of 640 × 480 pixels in interlaced scan mode at minimum 

frame rate of 29.97 fps (abbreviated 480i30). 

Thin-client STB: A STB that can receive content over an HNI from another STB, but is 

unable to interface directly to the service provider network. 

DOE proposes to incorporate by reference the industry standards that are used in the 

definitions of POD and smart card. These standards are: ANSI/SCTE 28 for the definition of 

POD and ISO/IEC 7816-12 for the definition of Smart Card. These industry standards are part of 

the definition provided in the draft CEA-2043 standard, and DOE believes the standards provide 

necessary information to define the POD and Smart Card plug-in cards. 

The definition of DVR in the draft CEA-2043 standard is, “a STB feature that records TV 

signals on a hard disk drive (HDD) or other non-volatile storage device. A DVR often includes 

25 International Organization for Standardization. 26 International Standard. “Identification cards – Integrated circuit cards – Part 12: Cards with contacts – USB 

electrical interface and operating procedures.”
	

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features such as: Play, Record, Pause, Fast Forward (FF), and Fast Rewind (FR). STBs that 

support a service provider delivery network based “DVR” service are not considered DVR STBs 

for the purposes of this test procedure. The presence of DVR functionality does not mean the 

device is defined to be a STB.” The definition of DVR in the draft CEA-2043 standard does not 

explicitly state that the HDD should be integrated into the STB, while DOE’s proposed 

definition adds the specification that the HDD or other non-volatile storage device shall be 

integrated into the STB. DOE has included this information to explicitly state that this proposed 

rule does not consider STBs with an external HDD as STBs with DVR capability. This 

requirement is similar to the ENERGY STAR specification and has been included in today’s 

proposed DVR definition because external storage devices are usually optional, and existing test 

procedures do not address how to test STBs with the external HDD attached. 

In today's NOPR, DOE is proposing only to test STBs with integrated storage as a DVR. 

For STBs that support DVR only through an external storage device, DOE is proposing to test 

these basic models as a STB without DVR. There are currently a wide selection of external 

storage devices that can be paired with a STB to support DVR functionality, and DOE believes 

the choice of external storage device paired with the unit could impact the energy consumption 

of the STB itself. While DOE's preferred approach is to test the STB without DVR capabilities if 

they use an external storage device, DOE did consider an alternative that would capture this use. 

For testing purposes, DOE could specify the external storage device such as the storage device 

that is shipped with the STB or specifying a standard storage device that is for testing all 

applicable STBs across the board. DOE requests comment on the proposed approach of not 

testing STBs with external storage as a DVR. If DOE does consider testing the STB with an 

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external storage device as a DVR in response to comments, DOE specifically requests comments 

on the proper external storage device to use. 

The definition of display device in the draft CEA-2043 standard is, “a display device 

(example: TV, Computer Monitor, or Portable TV) receives its content directly from a STB 

through a video interface (example: HDMI, Component Video, Composite Video, or S-Video), 

and not through a home network interface (HNI).” DOE’s proposed definition of a display 

device adds clarification that the content that is received from the STB through a video interface 

is displayed for viewing. DOE proposes to include this clarification to the definition of display 

device, because the definition specified in the draft CEA-2043 standard explains the 

functionality of a display device but does not explicitly define the device itself. 

The definition of HNI in the draft CEA-2043 standard is, “the interface with external 

devices over a local area network (example: IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), MoCA, HPNA, IEEE 802.3, 

or HomePlug AV).” DOE proposes to include clarifying information in the definition of HNI to 

explain that the interface is capable of transmitting video content. DOE believes that the 

definition in the draft CEA-2043 standard, which specifies that HNI is the interface with external 

devices over a local area network, is vague and could potentially include other interfaces that 

may not be capable of transmitting video content, and therefore, not applicable for connecting 

with a STB. Therefore, DOE is proposing to clarify that the HNI connection should be such that 

is capable of transmitting video content. 

Finally, DOE proposes to include a definition for content provider and multi-stream that 

is not included in the draft CEA-2043 standard. DOE is proposing a definition for content 

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provider because the term is used in today’s proposed test procedure to explain the type of 

content that should be streamed to a connected display device or client. DOE’s proposed 

definition for multi-stream was adopted from an older version of the draft CEA standard, which 

included this definition. While CEA has removed the definition for multi-stream from the most 

recent version of the draft, DOE proposes to include it in this NOPR because DOE uses the 

definition to describe STBs that have multi-streaming capability and also proposes a multistream test to determine the power consumption of such STBs (section III.G.5.b). 

In addition to the definitions adopted from the draft CEA-2043 standard, DOE proposes 

to include the terms ANSI, IEC, ISO, and SCTE in the definition section of the proposed 

Appendix AA to Subpart B of 10 CFR Part 430. These terms are used in the definitions of POD 

and Smart Card and therefore, DOE has included the full forms of these terms. 

DOE invites interested parties to comment on the proposed definitions for the STB test 

procedure NOPR, and, in particular, the clarifying information included for the definitions of 

DVR, display device, HNI, and the definitions included for content provider and multi-stream. 

5. Definitions of Power Modes 

While power mode is defined in section III.D.4 above, DOE proposes to define the 

different modes of operation for the STB in further detail similar to those provided in section 6 

of the draft CEA-2043 standard. The draft CEA-2043 standard describes the on, sleep, and off 

modes of STB operation, which are defined and discussed below. The proposed power mode 

definitions would be included in section 2.25 (Definition of Power Modes) of the proposed 

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Appendix AA to Subpart B of 10 CFR Part 430. DOE invites interested parties to comment on 

the proposed definitions for each mode of operation of the STB. 

On mode: The STB is connected to a mains power source. At least one principal STB 

function is activated and all principal STB functions are provisioned for use. The power 

consumption in on mode may vary based on specific use and configuration. 

DOE’s view is that a STB has “all principal STB functions provisioned for use” if all 

principal STB functions are prepared or equipped for use by the consumer. This description of on 

mode aligns with the consumer’s expectation of what a STB should do when it is turned on, or 

when it is “in-use”. The proposed definition also aligns with the definition in the ENERGY 

STAR specification for on mode operation. 

Sleep mode: A range of reduced power states where the STB is connected to a mains 

power source and is not providing any principal STB function. The STB may transition to on or 

off mode due to user action, internal signal, or external signal. The power consumed in this mode 

may vary based on specific use or configuration. If any principal STB function is activated while 

operating in this mode, the STB is assumed to transition to on mode. Monitoring for user or 

network requests is not considered a principal STB function. The STB shall be able to transition 

from this mode to on mode within 30 seconds, to be considered in sleep mode. 

The proposed definition for sleep mode is similar to the definition for sleep mode in the 

draft CEA-2043 standard with one key addition. The proposal that the STB should transition to 

on mode within 30 seconds has been included to ensure that a valid sleep mode includes the 

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ability to resume full functionality in a timely manner. DOE received a comment from AT&T in 

response to the 2011 RFI that referenced consumer studies to indicate strong consumer resistance 

to any recovery time from “minimum power” mode longer than 1 minute. (AT&T, No. 0032 at p. 

16) AT&T further indicated that this was true even when the consumer was prompted that longer 

recovery times would have environmental and energy saving benefits. (AT&T, No. 0032 at p. 

16) Additionally, CA IOUs indicated that long wake times are a significant barrier to consumer 

adoption. (CA IOUs, No. 0033 at p. 6) NCTA also commented that a STB could take much 

longer than 2 to 5 minutes if the STB were to shut off power completely, which would negatively 

impact the user’s experience. (NCTA, No. 0034 at p.14) 

Because the overall energy consumption of a STB is dependent on consumer adoption of 

sleep modes that can resume functionality quickly, DOE proposes to set a maximum allowable 

transition time of 30 seconds from sleep mode to on mode, which is half the acceptable duration 

referenced in AT&T’s studies. If the STB cannot transition from sleep mode to on mode in 30 

seconds or less, it is not considered to have sleep mode capability and shall not be tested for the 

energy consumption in sleep mode, which is discussed in section III.G.6. That is, if the STB does 

not transition from sleep mode to on mode within 30 seconds, the value of the power 

consumption in sleep mode for the AEC metric (discussed in detail in section III.I of the NOPR) 

would be set equal to the power consumption in on (watch TV) mode for such STBs. It is DOE’s 

view that market forces will drive STBs to utilize a shorter transition period; however, DOE adds 

this limit as an upper bound to facilitate consumer adoption of sleep mode. If a STB takes very 

long to resume functionality from sleep mode, it is DOE’s assumption that consumers are less 

likely to place the STB in sleep mode. The 30 second upper limit may mitigate some of these 

consumer concerns of resuming functionality quickly from sleep mode. DOE also considered 

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other allowable transition times less than 30 seconds or more than 30 seconds. However, its view 

is that a transition time shorter than 30 seconds may be too restrictive for certain STB designs. 

Conversely, DOE believes a transition time greater than 30 seconds may discourage consumers 

from using sleep mode and would affect DOE’s estimated usage profile for the calculation of 

AEC as discussed in section III.I. 

DOE recognizes that imposing the 30 second requirement would not measure any sleep 

power saving techniques that may take longer than 30 seconds to resume functionality and may 

subsequently discourage power saving techniques in that area. On the other hand, excluding this 

requirement would essentially treat all low power sleep modes the same for the purposes of 

power measurement, regardless of whether or not the STB resumed functionality quickly. STBs 

that resume functionality more quickly could have higher consumer adoption and thus, more 

overall energy savings, which would not be captured if there were no requirement for resuming 

functionality. This is because, as indicated by AT&T’s consumer studies and other public 

commenters, consumers are less likely to use the various sleep modes if it takes too long to 

resume functionality, , which would result in more STBs staying in on mode all day. Therefore, 

DOE is proposing the requirement that the STB shall transition to on mode within 30 seconds 

and requests stakeholders to comment on the proposed requirement. 

DOE invites interested parties to comment, and provide data if available, on the proposed 

requirement of transitioning from sleep mode to on mode within 30 seconds or whether a 

different maximum allowable transition time should be considered. 

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Off mode: The STB is connected to a mains power source, has been de-activated, and is 

not providing any function. The STB requires a user action to transition from this mode to on or 

sleep mode. 

The proposed definition for off mode is exactly as specified in the draft CEA-2043 

standard. A STB that is de-activated does not provide any functions and a user action is required 

for the STB to provide any function. A user action means an action that would require the 

consumer to interact with the STB using either a single or a series of keystrokes or button 

presses, either on a remote control or on the STB unit. DOE understands that this is the generally 

accepted definition by industry for off mode. 

E. Test Conditions 

1. Set-top Box Settings 

DOE received comments regarding the configuration in which the STB should be setup 

for testing. NCTA stated that STBs should be tested in “as-shipped” condition and as normally 

installed for an end-user. (NCTA, No. 0034 at p. 19) AT&T and CEA commented that in order 

to reduce the risk of stifling innovation, the STB test procedure rulemaking should require that 

newly introduced features be turned off to the extent possible. CEA commented similarly but 

further stated that turning off newly introduced features during testing could reduce the accuracy 

and utility of the test procedure. (AT&T, No. 0032 at p. 22) (CEA, No. 0031 at p. 5) 

DOE proposes the following requirements for setting up the STB for testing. There are 

different requirements depending on whether the STB can be installed by the consumer using the 

user manual shipped with the unit or whether a technician is required to install the STB per the 

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manufacturer’s instructions. These proposed requirements are included in section 3.1 (Set-top 

Box Settings) of the proposed Appendix AA to Subpart B of 10 CFR Part 430. 

For all STBs that require subscription to a service, the simplest available video 

subscription that supports all functionality proposed in today’s test procedure shall be selected 

for operating the STB. That is, subscriptions with TV services only shall be selected and 

packages with non-video capability, such as telephony, shall not be selected. 

If the STB can be installed by the consumer per the manufacturer’s instructions without 

the service of a technician, then it shall be installed and setup according to the user manual 

shipped with the unit. Only those instructions in the user manual should be used for setting up 

the STB and setup should be considered complete once they are followed. 

If the STB must be installed by a technician per the manufacturer’s instructions, then the 

unit shall be setup as installed by the technician for testing. All steps that a technician would 

follow when installing a STB for use in a consumer residence should be followed. DOE 

recognizes that for testing a STB in the setup in which it is installed in a consumer’s home, a 

third-party test lab would require this setup information. Therefore, information about each of 

the steps that were performed to setup the STB by a technician shall be recorded and maintained 

by the manufacturer pursuant to 10 CFR Part 429.71 as part of the test data underlying the 

ratings. 

The goal of DOE’s proposed requirements for the STB settings is to ensure that the STB 

is tested under the same settings as it would be when installed in a consumer’s home. This 

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proposal is similar to an older draft version of the CEA-2043 standard, which required STBs to 

be tested in the configuration in which it is supplied to consumers. DOE proposes to use the 

simplest available video subscription that supports all functionality proposed in today’s test 

procedure for testing because, at a minimum, all STBs will provide these services. Testing all 

STBs with the simplest subscription ensures consistency across testing of the different STB 

models. Further, DOE believes that setting up the STB in the same configuration that the 

consumer would use the STB, ensures that the test is representative. 

DOE requests comment on the proposed requirements for setting up the STB as installed 

in a consumer’s home for testing. 

In regards to comments made by AT&T and CEA about newly introduced features on 

STBs, DOE disagrees with commenters and is not proposing to turn off or disable any such 

features. DOE believes that turning off newly introduced features that are enabled as part of the 

typical set-up process would not be representative of the energy use the consumer would see 

once installed. Instead, it is more representative of the consumer’s use to keep these features in 

the setting in which they are when first installed in a consumer’s home per the manufacturer’s 

instructions. DOE expects that most consumers typically do not change the settings of the STB 

after it is installed. That is, DOE believes the configuration in which the STB is installed by a 

technician is the configuration in which the STB is operated most commonly and, therefore, 

keeping non-tested features in these initial settings would capture the most representative energy 

consumption of the STB. This proposed requirement is consistent with requirement specified in 

section 8.1.9 of the draft CEA-2043 standard, which optionally specifies that non-tested product 

features may be left in the default condition. 

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2. Test Room 

DOE proposes to specify ambient conditions for testing STBs that are similar to the 

requirements specified in section 7.3 of the draft CEA-2043 standard. DOE recognizes that the 

power consumption of the STB could vary with the ambient conditions of the room in which the 

STB is tested. Therefore, the ambient conditions shall be controlled to ensure that the power 

measurements are repeatable and reproducible. The test conditions specified in the draft CEA2043 standard, proposed in this NOPR, ensure that the test results are repeatable, reliable, and 

consistent without significant test burden. These conditions are discussed in further detail below 

and are included in section 3.2 (Test Room) of the proposed Appendix AA to Subpart B of 10 

CFR Part 430. 

DOE proposes that testing shall be carried out in a test room where the ambient 

temperature is maintained at 23 degrees Celsius (°C) ± 5 °C. DOE’s believes that 23 °C 

represents the temperature of a typical room in which a STB may be used; it is DOE’s 

understanding that this is the temperature range in which most household appliances are typically 

tested. Further, a tolerance of 5 °C for the ambient temperature is achievable because temperature 

measurement instruments generally provide for a greater accuracy than 5 °C and DOE expects it 

would not be burdensome for test labs to climate control the test room to meet these 

requirements. Finally, the temperature requirement of 23 °C ± 5 °C is the same as that specified 

in the ENERGY STAR specification, which requires that the ambient temperature should remain 

between 18 °C and 28 °C, inclusive, throughout testing. 

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DOE further proposes that the test room shall be such that the air movement surrounding 

the STB shall be less than or equal to 0.5 meters per second (m/s), as required in the draft CEA2043 standard. However, DOE understands that it may be difficult to maintain the required 

ambient temperature range at such a low air speed. This is because the heat generated from the 

STB may heat up the surrounding air, and at such a low air speed, the ambient temperature may 

exceed the required range. Since it is likely that the power consumption of a STB does not 

change significantly at moderately higher air speeds, the requirement specified in the draft CEA2043 standard may be stringent in conjunction with the temperature requirements. DOE therefore 

requests comments and data, if available, on the proposed 0.5 m/s air movement requirement and 

whether this value should be relaxed to a higher value or removed altogether. 

Finally, DOE proposes that the STB shall be tested on a thermally non-conductive 

surface, which is a requirement specified in the draft CEA-2043 standard. This requirement 

ensures that the internal temperature of the STB is maintained at a level consistent with a typical 

consumer setup, which usually does not have a thermally conductive surface. DOE requests 

comment on the proposed test room conditions for testing STBs, including the air temperature, 

air speed, and thermally non-conductive test surface requirements. 

F. Test Setup 

1. Test Voltage 

DOE proposes that the input power requirements for testing STBs shall be as specified in 

section 7.4 of the draft CEA-2043 standard and are included in section 4.1 (Test Voltage) of the 

proposed Appendix AA to Subpart B of 10 CFR Part 430. These requirements state that an 

alternating current (AC) power source shall be used to power the STB with an input voltage of 

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115 volts (V) ± 1 percent. Further, the frequency of the power source shall be 60 hertz (Hz) ± 

1 percent. The total harmonic distortion of the supply voltage when supplying power to the STB 

in the specified mode shall not exceed 2 percent, up to and including the 13th harmonic. Finally, 

the peak value of the test voltage shall be between 1.34 and 1.49 times its rms value; that is, the 

value of the crest factor shall be between 1.34 and 1.49. DOE’s understanding is that the 

proposed requirements for input power are typical for testing consumer electronics and notes that 

this aligns with the requirements specified in the ENERGY STAR specification for qualifying 

STBs in the North American market. DOE invites interested parties to comment on the proposed 

input power requirements. 

2. Measurement Accuracy 

DOE proposes to specify the accuracy of power measurements similar to those required 

in section 7.2 of the draft CEA-2043 standard. These requirements are included in section 4.2 

(Measurement Accuracy) of the proposed Appendix AA to Subpart B of 10 CFR Part 430. The 

draft CEA-2043 standard specifies that power measurements of 0.5 watt (W) or greater shall be 

made such that the uncertainty of the measurement is less than or equal to 2 percent at the 95 

percent confidence level. For power measurements of less than 0.5 W, the uncertainty of the 

measurement shall be less than or equal to 0.01 W at the 95 percent confidence level. The 

resolution of the instrument used to measure power shall be 0.01 W or better for power 

measurements of 10 W or less, 0.1 W or better for power measurements greater than 10 W and 

up to 100 W, and 1 W or better for power measurements greater than 100 W. For equipment 

connected to more than one phase, the power measurement instrument shall be equipped to 

measure the total power of all phases that are connected. DOE’s view is that these requirements 

are reasonable and generally accepted by industry for the accuracy of power measurements. The 

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uncertainty requirements are specified in IEC-6230127, which is referenced by IEC-62087, and 

also match the requirements listed in the ENERGY STAR specification for testing STBs. DOE 

invites interested parties to comment on the proposed requirements for measurement accuracy. 

3. Test Equipment 

Section 7.5 of the draft CEA-2043 standard provides recommendations for equipment 

that may be used to monitor AC line current, voltage, and frequency. DOE proposes to include 

this recommended equipment that is optional for testing. The following recommended equipment 

are included in section 4.3 (Test Equipment) of the proposed Appendix AA to Subpart B of 10 

CFR Part 430: 

1)	 An oscilloscope with a current probe to monitor the AC line current waveform, 

amplitude, and frequency. 

2)	 A true rms voltmeter to verify the voltage at the input of the STB; and 

3)	 A frequency counter to verify the frequency at the input of the STB. 

DOE’s view is that these instruments would be appropriate to ensure that the current, 

voltage, and frequency measurements are accurate. DOE invites interested parties to comment on 

the recommended test equipment to measure the AC line current, voltage, and frequency. 

4. True Power Wattmeter 

27 International Standard. “Household electrical appliances – Measurement of standby power.” Edition 2.0 2011-01. 

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DOE proposes that the power meter attributes shall be as specified in section 7.5.2 of the 

draft CEA-2043 standard, which provides the crest factor, bandwidth, frequency response, and 

sampling interval requirements for the power wattmeter. Each of these attributes is discussed in 

section III.F.4.a through III.F.4.d below and are included in section 4.4 (True Power Wattmeter) 

of the proposed Appendix AA to Subpart B of 10 CFR Part 430. These requirements are 

necessary because electronic equipment can cause harmonics that lead to inaccurate power 

measurements. The proposed requirements are standard specifications for measuring power 

using a power wattmeter and are listed as the characteristics of approved meters in IEC-62301. 

Additionally, these requirements are specified in the ENERGY STAR specification for testing 

STBs. Due to widespread industry acceptance, DOE’s view is that these requirements are 

reasonable and it should not be burdensome for stakeholders to meet these conditions. DOE 

invites interested parties to comment on the proposed power meter instrumentation requirements, 

such as the crest factor, bandwidth, frequency response requirements, and sampling interval. 

a. Crest Factor 

DOE proposes that the crest factor attributes shall be as specified in the draft CEA-2043 

standard, which requires that the power wattmeter shall have an accuracy and resolution in 

accordance with that proposed in section III.F.2 of this NOPR and sufficient bandwidth. 

Additionally, the crest factor rating shall be appropriate for the waveforms that are measured, 

and it shall be capable of reading the available current waveform without clipping the waveform. 

Consistent with the draft CEA-2043 standard, DOE also proposes that the peak of the current 

waveform that is measured during the on and sleep modes of the STB shall be used to determine 

the crest factor rating and the current range setting. The full-scale value of the selected current 

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range multiplied by the crest factor for that range shall be at least 15 percent greater than the 

peak current to prevent measurement error. 

b. Bandwidth 

DOE proposes the following requirements as specified in the draft CEA-2043 standard. 

The current and voltage signal shall be analyzed to determine the highest frequency component 

(that is, harmonic) with a magnitude greater than 1 percent of the fundamental frequency under 

the test conditions. Additionally the minimum bandwidth of the test instruments shall be 

determined by the highest frequency component of the signal. 

c. Frequency Response 

As specified in the draft CEA-2043 standard, DOE proposes that a wattmeter with a 

frequency response of at least 3 kilo-hertz (kHz) shall be used in order to account for harmonics 

up to the 50th harmonic. 

d. Sampling Interval 

DOE proposes to adopt the sampling interval requirement as specified in the draft CEA2043 standard. This requirement specifies that the wattmeter shall be capable of sampling at 

intervals less than or equal to 1 second. 

5. Calibration 

DOE proposes to specify test instrument calibration requirements that are identical to 

those required in section 7.5.1 the draft CEA-2043 standard. The draft CEA-2043 standard 

specifies that the testing equipment shall be calibrated annually to traceable national standards to 

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ensure that the limits of error in measurement are not greater than ± 0.5 percent of the measured 

value over the required bandwidth of the output. The annual calibration requirement proposed by 

DOE is typical for the equipment required for testing of all electrical products. The proposed 

calibration requirements are included in section 4.5 (Calibration) of the proposed Appendix AA 

to Subpart B of 10 CFR Part 430. DOE invites interested parties to comment on the proposed 

calibration requirements for testing STBs. 

6. Network Setup 

a. Home Network Connection 

As specified in section 8.1.4 of the draft CEA-2043 standard, DOE proposes that for 

STBs that require the use of a home network, such as thin-client STBs, an HNI connection shall 

be used. Further, DOE proposes that the HNI connection shall be used in the following order of 

preference: MoCA, HPNA, Wi-Fi, or any other HNI connection. That is, if MoCA connection is 

available, the STB shall be tested using MoCA. If MoCA is not available, HPNA shall be used 

followed by Wi-Fi as the last option. These proposed requirements are consistent with the 

requirements listed in the ENERGY STAR specification and are sequenced based on most 

commonly used HNI connections to least commonly used HNI connections. These requirements 

are included in section 4.6.1 (Home Network Connection) of the proposed Appendix AA to 

Subpart B of 10 CFR Part 430. DOE invites interested parties to comment on the proposed 

requirements for testing STBs that require an HNI connection. DOE also requests comment 

about whether there are any additional HNI connections that should be included and the order of 

preference in which they should be included. 

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b. Broadband Service 

DOE proposes to specify setup requirements for STBs requiring broadband service 

connections that are similar to the requirements stated in section 8.1.5 of the draft CEA-2043 

standard. These requirements are included in section 4.6.2 (Broadband Service) of the proposed 

Appendix AA to Subpart B of 10 CFR Part 430. The draft CEA-2043 standard specifies that if 

the STB includes an HNI and the HNI shall be connected to broadband service for operation of a 

principal STB function, then it shall be tested while connected to a broadband network. 

Broadband performance criteria, such as download speed, upload speed, and latency shall meet 

the specific requirements of the STB to fulfill the principal STB functions. DOE understands that 

certain STBs, such as IPTV STBs, require a broadband connection to provide the principal STB 

functions and is therefore proposing this requirement. DOE also proposes to include clarification 

that for STBs designed to operate both with a broadband connection and service provider 

network connection (as discussed in section III.F.6.e), the service provider connection takes 

precedence, and a broadband connection shall only be made if the STB requires it for operating a 

principal STB function. This clarification has been included because there may be some STBs 

that are able to provide service on both a broadband network as well as a service provider 

network. DOE’s understanding is that STBs typically operate on the service provider network 

connection rather than the broadband connection, and thus, proposes to test with only the service 

provider connection unless a broadband connection is required. DOE requests comment on the 

proposed setup requirements for STBs requiring broadband service as well as the clarification 

that a service provider network connection takes precedence over a broadband connection for 

STBs that are designed to operate on either connection. 

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c. Service Provider Network Distribution Equipment 

As specified in section 8.1.6 of the draft CEA-2043 standard, DOE proposes that for 

STBs that require the use of external equipment to connect the service provider network to the 

STB, the power consumption of the external equipment shall not be included with the power 

consumption of the STB itself. If such equipment is integrated into the STB in the future, the 

power consumption of the equipment shall be included in the power consumption of the STB. 

Such external equipment may include network gateways, network routers, network bridges, 

ONTs, wireless access points, media extenders, or any other device that is required for the 

distribution of a service provider network to the STB. DOE is excluding the power consumption 

of the external equipment because network distribution equipment does not meet the proposed 

definition of the STB. As discussed in section III.B of this NOPR, if DOE initiates a rulemaking 

for network equipment in the future, the external equipment required to connect the service 

provider network to the STB would likely be under the scope of that rulemaking. DOE invites 

interested parties to comment on the proposed exclusion of external equipment power 

consumption from the power consumption of the STB itself. These requirements are included in 

section 4.6.3 (Service Provider Network Distribution Equipment) of the proposed Appendix AA 

to Subpart B of 10 CFR Part 430. If stakeholders indicate that the power consumption of such 

external equipment should be included with the power consumption of the STB, DOE requests 

input on the test method and standard configuration that could be used to measure the power 

consumed. 

d. Input Signal Equipment 

As discussed in section III.B of this NOPR, DOE received several comments from 

stakeholders regarding the inclusion of specific types of input signal equipment, such as LNB 

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equipment, in the scope of this proposed rule. However, as explained in section III.B, DOE does 

not believe input signal equipment meets the definition of STB as proposed in this NOPR 

because of significant operational differences from STBs. There is no standard configuration for 

the number of STBs that can be connected to any single input signal equipment. For example, for 

a certain household an LNB may be connected to three STBs and a different household may 

require two LNBs to connect three STBs. This lack of standardization does not allow a direct 

comparison between the different STBs that are connected to these equipment and therefore 

DOE does not propose to test input signal equipment while testing STBs. 

Instead, DOE proposes to adopt the specifications stated in section 8.1.7 of the draft 

CEA-2043 standard with some modification. DOE proposes that when an ODU, over the air 

(OTA) antenna amplifier, cable TV (CATV) distribution amplifier, or similar signal equipment is 

required to operate the STB, the measurement shall not include the power consumption of this 

equipment, if it can be powered from a source other than the STB. If the signal equipment cannot 

be powered from a different source, then the power for these equipment shall be included in the 

STB power consumption measurement, and the signal equipment should be configured in its 

lowest power consuming mode. However, if the equipment is powered from a source other than 

the STB, it shall be powered from another source, and the signal equipment shall not deliver any 

power to the connected STB. 

DOE’s proposed specification is slightly different from that in the draft CEA-2043 

standard. DOE proposes to include the requirement that if the input signal equipment cannot be 

powered from a source other than the STB, then it shall be powered from the STB and the power 

supplied to these equipment shall be included in the STB power consumption measurement. 

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Further, DOE proposes to include the additional clarification that the signal equipment should 

not deliver any power to the STB, if the equipment is powered from a different source, to avoid 

the possibility of circumvention. This would occur if the power consumption of the STB is rated 

lower than the actual consumption of the STB because a separately powered device, the input 

signal equipment, provides the additional power required to operate the STB. DOE also 

considered requiring the use of a direct current (DC) block in order to prevent power transfer to 

and from any such input signal equipment; however, DOE has not proposed this requirement 

because the DC block could potentially impact the functionality of such input signal equipment. 

These requirements are included in section 4.6.4 (Input Signal Equipment) of the proposed 

Appendix AA to Subpart B of 10 CFR Part 430. 

DOE requests comment on the proposed exclusion of the power consumption of the input 

signal equipment from the power consumption of the STB and the additional clarification that 

such equipment should not supply power to the STB. DOE also requests feedback on the 

potential use of a DC block to prevent power transfer to and from any input signal equipment. 

Further, if stakeholders indicate that such equipment should be tested and the power 

consumption be measured as part of this proposed rule, DOE requests comment on the test 

method and standard configuration that could be used to test this equipment. 

e. Service Provider Network Connection 

DOE received some comments from NRDC and CA IOUs about testing STBs on a live 

network or closed network. NRDC commented that STBs should be tested as they are deployed 

in the field with “live” head-end equipment. (NRDC, No. 0017 at p. 4) Further the CA IOUs 

commented that while testing performed on a live network would result in real power 

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consumption, it also may be impractical. They further stated that if testing was performed during 

a period of a large software update, the power consumption of the STB may be elevated and 

atypical. Additionally, it may take longer measurement periods to yield repeatable results on the 

live network. (CA IOUs, No. 0033 at p. 7) Finally, DISH, EchoStar, and DIRECTV commented 

that the energy consumption of a satellite STB on a live network is generally not affected by 

geography, location, time of day, or subscription package, which are possible sources of 

variation when using a live network. (DISH, EchoStar, DIRECTV, No. 0030 at p. 11) 

Based on its review of the comments received, the practicality of testing a STB on a live 

network compared to a closed network, and a review of CEA’s requirements in the draft CEA2043 standard, DOE proposes to adopt the same requirements listed in section 8.1.8 of the draft 

CEA-2043 standard. These requirements allow either a live network or closed network to be 

used for testing and provide specific requirements for both. The draft CEA-2043 standard 

specifies that the STB shall be tested with a specific service provider network or a simulated 

environment that is verified by the service provider, and the STB shall be configured to simulate 

a subscriber operating environment. This shall include the ability to access the full services of the 

service provider network required by the STB. These services include content, program guides, 

software updates, and other STB features that require network services to function completely. If 

the STB requires a POD or Smart Card, then it shall be connected, authorized, and operational. 

Essential peripheral devices that are required for the normal operation of the STB, such as a 

Universal Serial Bus (USB) powered external HDD, a USB powered Wi-Fi dongle, or a USB 

powered OTA receiver, shall be connected and operational during testing. Optional peripheral 

devices shall not be connected to the STB. 

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For testing the STB in a laboratory environment, DOE proposes to adopt the specification 

in the draft CEA-2043 standard, which states that the STB may be tested in a laboratory 

environment containing control equipment comparable to a live service provider system. For a 

cable STB, this would require a laboratory that contains a conditional access system, the 

appropriate equipment to communicate with the STB (such as ANSI/SCTE 55-128 or 

ANSI/SCTE 55-229 forward and reverse data channel hardware or data-over-cable service 

interface specification (DOCSIS) infrastructure), and the appropriate interconnections (such as 

diplexers, splitters, and coaxial cables). DOE proposes to incorporate by reference, in 10 CFR 

Part 430.3, the industry standards ANSI/SCTE 55-1 and ANSI/SCTE 55-2 to describe the 

equipment required to communicate with the STB when testing in a laboratory environment. 

These requirements are included in section 4.6.5 (Service Provider Network Connection) 

of the proposed Appendix AA to Subpart B of 10 CFR Part 430. DOE invites interested parties 

to comment on the proposed requirements for service provider network connection. Particularly, 

DOE requests comment and data, if available, about whether the power consumption of a given 

STB is similar when it is operated on a live network versus a closed network. 

G. Test Method and Measurements 

1. Set-top Box Warm-up 

The first step in measuring the power consumption of the STB after setting up the test 

room and equipment is to connect the STB and operate it for a certain period of time until it 

28 Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers. Engineering Committee. Digital Video Subcommittee. “Digital 

Broadband Delivery System: Out of Band Transport Part 1: Mode A.” American National Standard. 29 Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers. Engineering Committee. Digital Video Subcommittee. “Digital 

Broadband Delivery System: Out of Band Transport Part 2: Mode B.” American National Standard. 

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reaches a stable condition. It is important to warm-up, or stabilize, the STB so that the measured 

values of power consumption are not fluctuating dramatically, and a repeatable measurement can 

be taken. To stabilize the STB, DOE proposes to adopt the requirement specified in section 

8.1.1(e) of the draft CEA-2043 standard. The standard requires the STB be operated in on mode 

(as discussed in section III.G.5 of this NOPR) while receiving and decoding video for at least 15 

minutes for the STB to achieve stable condition. DOE expects that 15 minutes should be 

sufficient to warm-up the STB. This warm-up is also consistent with the ENERGY STAR test 

method. The STB warm-up requirements are specified in section 5.1 (Set-top Box Warm-up) of 

the proposed Appendix AA to Subpart B of 10 CFR Part 430. DOE invites interested parties to 

comment on the proposed warm-up time for stabilizing the STB. 

2. Test Configuration Information 

To test the STB in on, sleep, and off modes, DOE proposes to specify the configuration 

in which the STB shall be connected with one or more display devices and clients. This 

information is not specified in the draft CEA-2043 standard; instead section 8.1.11 of the 

standard states that the entity specifying the use of the CEA standard is expected to provide this 

information. Because DOE is proposing to adopt the requirements specified in the draft CEA2043 standard, DOE qualifies as the entity specifying the use of the CEA standard. Accordingly, 

DOE proposes to specify this information, as discussed in the following paragraphs. The 

proposed test configuration information is included in section 5.2 (Test Configuration 

Information) of the proposed Appendix AA to Subpart B of 10 CFR Part 430. 

The draft CEA-2043 standard requires the following information to be specified: a 

configuration diagram of the STBs, clients, display devices, and any other devices required for 

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testing; the specific network technology to be used for each test, if applicable; the maximum 

number of connected display devices and clients for each test, if applicable; devices in the 

network configuration that cannot be tested; required tests to be run on each device; and, test 

parameters for each required test. 

Accordingly, DOE proposes to specify that the test configuration described in Table 1 

shall be used to configure all STBs and connected devices. Because it is possible to configure 

STBs in several different ways, DOE is proposing a table that lists the priority in which STBs 

shall be configured rather than providing several different configuration diagrams to cover the 

various possibilities. For multi-streaming STBs, the proposed configuration in Table 1 describes 

the number of display devices and clients that shall be connected to the STB depending on its 

capabilities. If a STB is not capable of multi-streaming, that is, if the STB cannot connect to 

multiple display devices and does not support DVR and clients, then it shall be connected to only 

one display device according to the proposed configuration in the last row of Table 1. Each STB 

type is expected to fall in one of the rows of Table 1 only. For example, a STB with DVR 

capability that supports connections to multiple display devices and clients shall be connected to 

one display device and one client according to the configuration proposed in the first row of 

Table 1. DOE developed the proposed configuration table such that a maximum of three 

different content streams are enabled for multi-streaming STBs for the multi-stream test, which 

is discussed in section III.G.5.b. 

Table 1: Display Device and Client Connection Setup. 

Supports Multiple 

Display Devices? 

Supports 

DVR? 

Supports 

Clients? 

Number of 

Connected Display 

Devices 

Number of 

Connected 

Clients 

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X X X 1 1 

X X 2 0 

X X 2 1 

X X 1 1 

X 2 or 3* 0 

X 1 0 

X 1 1 or 2* 

1 0 

* The highest number of connections supported by the STB shall be used. 

DOE further proposes that the same test configuration shall be used throughout testing in 

the on, sleep, and off modes of operation for all STBs. The draft CEA-2043 standard also 

requires DOE to propose the maximum number of display devices and clients that shall be 

connected to the STB. Because the number of connections depends on the configuration that is 

feasible from Table 1, DOE is not proposing the maximum number of connections. Instead, DOE 

proposes to use as many connections as required for the configuration that is feasible from Table 

1. For example, a STB that can be connected to multiple display devices and a client, but does 

not have DVR capability, shall be connected to two display devices and one client throughout 

testing. 

DOE proposes that the connection type that is used to connect the display device to the 

STB shall be selected in the following order of preference. The first preference shall be to 

connect a display device to the STB using an HDMI connection, followed by Component Video, 

S-Video, and Composite Video, respectively. If none of these connections are available or 

feasible, then any other video interface that is feasible shall be used. The order of preference for 

connecting display devices to the STB is adopted from the comments received from stakeholders 

in response to the TVs test procedure rulemaking. 77 FR 2830, 2839-2840 (January 19, 2012). 

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Sharp commented that video input to a TV should be selected in the following order: HDMI, 

Component Video, S-Video, and Composite Video. (EERE-2010-BT-TP-0026, Sharp, No. 45 at 

p. 6) Mitsubishi Electric Visual Solutions America (MEVSA) suggested the following input 

hierarchy definition: "Testing shall be performed using a HDMI input. If the TV does not have 

an HDMI input, the following inputs shall be used in the following order: component, S-Video, 

and composite. If the TV has none of these inputs, an appropriate interface shall be used.” 

(EERE-2010-BT-TP-0026, MEVSA, No. 44 at p. 3) 

Additionally, DOE proposes that the connection type that is used to connect the client to 

the STB shall be an HNI connection. The order of preference in which an HNI connection shall 

be selected is discussed in section III.F.6.a of this NOPR. 

Finally, the draft CEA-2043 standard provides that the entity specifying the use of the 

CEA-2043 standard (which is DOE in this case) is expected to specify the required tests to be 

run on each device and the test parameters for each required test. DOE proposes these test 

specifications in the on, sleep, and off modes in sections III.G.5 to III.G.7 of the NOPR. 

DOE invites interested parties to comment on all aspects of the proposed configuration 

for testing STBs in the on, sleep, and off modes of operation. DOE is especially interested in 

receiving comments on the proposed connections for the test configuration. DOE also invites 

comments on the proposed order of preference for connecting a display device to the STB. 

3. Test Conduct 

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DOE proposes to specify the type of content that shall be streamed to each device that is 

connected to the STB according to the configuration discussed in section III.G.2 above. The 

information about the streaming content is included in section 5.3 (Test Conduct) of the 

proposed Appendix AA to Subpart B of 10 CFR Part 430. While the connections required for the 

STB configuration during testing shall remain the same throughout testing, the number and type 

of test streams that shall be enabled for the various tests are proposed to be different. This is 

similar to the usage expected in a typical household that has all display devices and clients 

connected to the STB at all times, but the number of streams enabled to each connected device is 

different depending on the number of active viewers on different display devices at a given point 

of time. When multiple streams are enabled to output connect to a display device, record on a 

DVR that is integrated into the STB, or stream content to a connected client, DOE proposes that 

the content streamed to each shall be different. That is, the content outputted to a display device 

for viewing a channel shall be different from the content recorded on a DVR, which shall also be 

different from the content streamed to a connected client. DOE is proposing this requirement 

because DOE believes consumers generally view and record different content simultaneously. 

Further, DOE proposes the following specifications for the content stream that is used for 

streaming to a display device, DVR, and client. 

a. Output to a Display Device 

For tests requiring output to be sent to a display device(s), DOE proposes that a channel 

shall be selected and viewed on the connected display device(s) as required by the test 

configuration. If the STB does not support channels, an appropriate SD or HD test stream shall 

be selected and viewed on the display device(s). If more than one display device is connected to 

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the STB based on the test configuration that is feasible, then the content outputted on each 

display device shall be different. 

DOE’s proposed requirements for providing video output to a display device have been 

adopted from the draft CEA-2043 standard, which specifies that a channel, if supported, or other 

appropriate content, shall be sent to a connected display device. DOE additionally proposes that 

if multiple display devices are connected to the STB, then the content on each display device 

shall be different. This requirement has been specified because DOE believes it mirrors typical 

user operation wherein if two TVs are operating in a household at the same time, most of the 

time the content being viewed would be different. DOE requests comment on the proposed 

requirements for providing video output to a display device. 

b. Recording for a STB with DVR capability 

For tests that require recording on a STB with DVR capability, DOE proposes that a 

channel shall be selected using a connected display device or a client and the program shall be 

recorded. If more than one recording is required on a DVR that is integrated into the STB, the 

content for each recording shall be different. 

DOE is proposing to test the record functionality of STBs with DVR capability because it 

believes that this is one of the most commonly used features of such a STB. The proposed 

method to record the content on a DVR that is integrated into the STB is adopted from the draft 

CEA-2043 standard’s on (record) – DVR STB test. Similar to its proposal in section III.G.3.a 

above for outputting content to a display device, DOE is proposing that different content be 

recorded on a DVR integrated into the STB if more than one recording is enabled. This is 

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because it is unlikely that users would record the same programming simultaneously. DOE 

invites comment on the proposed requirements to record on a DVR integrated into the STB. 

c. Streaming to a Connected Client 

DOE proposes that the content streamed to a client shall be selected in the following 

order of preference depending on the number of streams enabled. The first available stream that 

is supported by each connected client shall be enabled and the content on each stream shall be 

different. The first preference shall be to use a stream with recorded content to stream to the 

client. That is, content that has been recorded previously shall be streamed to the client and 

viewed on a display device connected to the client. If the client does not support streaming of 

recorded content, then a stream with channel content shall be used. That is, a channel shall be 

viewed on the display device connected to the client. An SD test stream shall be viewed if it is an 

SD client and an HD test stream shall be viewed if it is an HD client. For clients that do not 

support channels, an appropriate SD or HD test stream shall be selected and viewed. Finally, if 

the client does not support either a recorded stream or a channel stream, then any other stream 

that is supported by the client shall be used. 

DOE believes that by proposing a hierarchy for the selection of streams for the connected 

client(s), there will be consistency and repeatability between tests without imposing an undue 

burden on manufacturers. DOE selected the proposed hierarchy based on the most power 

consumptive option to the least power consumption option. The power consumed by a STB 

when streaming recorded content, which requires the HDD to operate as well, is expected to be 

higher compared to when streaming a channel. This proposed hierarchy would ensure 

consistency in the results by accounting for the power differences. 

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DOE’s proposed specification for playing back recorded content or streaming a channel 

to the connected client is adopted from the requirements specified in the draft CEA-2043 

standard’s on (play) – DVR STB test and on (watch TV) test, respectively. DOE requests 

comment on the proposed requirements to stream to a connected client. Specifically, DOE 

requests comment on the proposed hierarchy of content to stream to a connected client. 

4. Calculation of Average Power Consumption 

For all tests in the on, sleep, and off modes (NOPR sections III.G.5, III.G.6, and III.G.7, 

respectively), DOE proposes that the average power consumption shall be calculated using one 

of two methods. The two proposed methods are included in section 5.4 (Calculation of Average 

and Rated Power Consumption) of the proposed Appendix AA to Subpart B of 10 CFR Part 430. 

The first method is as specified in section 8.2.1 and 8.3.1 of the draft CEA-2043 standard. 

The standard specifies that the accumulated energy (Ei) in kWh consumed over a period of time 

(Ti) shall be recorded and the average power consumption (Pi) is calculated as the quotient of the 

accumulated energy over the time period, that is, Pi = Ei/Ti. DOE proposes to adopt this 

specification from the draft CEA-2043 standard to determine the average power consumption 

and, in addition, proposes a second method to calculate average power. 

The second method proposed by DOE allows for the average of multiple power samples 

at a rate of at least 1 sample per second. The average power value is calculated by taking the 

arithmetic mean of all the power samples over a period of time. This type of measurement is 

typical of many laboratory setups that perform AC power measurements and therefore DOE is 

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proposing to allow this method in addition to the accumulated energy consumption method 

above. 

For both methods, DOE is proposing an average power measurement rather than an 

instantaneous measurement. This is consistent with comments from CA IOUs, who are in favor 

of using an average power consumption value rather than an instantaneous one. Specifically, the 

CA IOUs commented that if testing is performed during a period of a large software update, the 

power consumption of the STB could be elevated and atypical. (CA IOUs, No. 0033 at p. 7) 

DOE believes an average measurement would average out any elevated power consumption. 

DOE is proposing an average measurement of power consumption based on comments 

received from CA IOUs and DOE’s internal testing results. DOE tested eight STB models during 

internal testing using both HD and SD test streams, for a total of 16 tests in the on, sleep, and off 

modes of operation. The STBs that were tested included two STBs with DVR functionality, two 

STBs without DVR functionality, and four over-the-top (OTT) STBs. DOE also performed one 

repeatability test each on three STBs using the HD test stream. The power meter that was used 

during internal testing provided the accumulated energy consumption over time (the first 

proposed method) as well as the average power consumption values sampled over time (the 

second proposed method). The average power consumption using both methods was the same. 

DOE sampled the power consumption values over a duration of 10 minutes at the rate of one 

sample per second. That is, DOE collected data that provided the instantaneous power 

consumption at any point of time over the 10 minute duration as well as the average power 

consumption over different time periods (example: 2 minutes, 5 minutes, etc.). Figure 1 below 

compares the instantaneous power versus the 2 minute and 5 minute average power in the on 

65 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

mode for a STB that DOE tested internally. The power consumption values have been 

normalized to the total average power over the 10 minute test duration. 

Figure 1: Data from DOE's Internal Testing for Average versus Instantaneous 

Power Consumption for a STB 

0.95

0.96

0.97

0.98

0.99

1

1.01

1.02

1.03

1.04

1.05

0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00 8.00 9.00 10.00

Power (Normalized)

Time (minutes)

Instantaneous Power Average Power (over 2 minutes) Average Power (over 5 minutes)

Figure 1 indicates that an average value over 2 minutes and 5 minutes for the on mode 

test provided a more stable and repeatable measurement compared to the instantaneous 

measurement. This result is expected for STBs given the different activities that are performed 

from time to time, such as maintenance or software updates. If the power is measured at a 

particular instant, there is a possibility that the recorded value may be too high or too low 

depending on the content being streamed at that time. Further, for the sleep mode tests which 

require the power consumption to be determined over 4 to 8 hours, an average measurement 

could capture the potential decrease in power consumption if the STB powered down into lower 

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power modes, depending on the time when the measurement is taken. DOE’s proposed average 

power measurement is consistent with the requirements specified in section 8.6.5 of the IEC 

62087 standard as well. 

DOE requests comment on the proposed methods to determine the average power 

consumption of the STB in each mode of operation. 

5. On Mode Power Measurement 

For on mode testing, DOE proposes two tests: an on (watch TV) test and a multi-stream 

test, which combines the multiple principal STB functions into a single test. Rather than testing 

each individual principal STB function separately, which may be burdensome to test, DOE is 

proposing to use these two tests to best represent typical STB usage. This would simplify testing 

as well as allow for different STBs to be operated under different conditions. The on (watch TV) 

test evaluates the power consumption of the STB when utilizing the most basic function that all 

STBs share in common, watching a channel outputted on a display device from a STB. The 

multi-stream test evaluates the power consumption of the STB when multiple principal STB 

functions are used simultaneously. 

DOE further proposes that the time period for each test in the on mode, TON, shall be 2 

minutes. The draft CEA-2043 standard from which DOE’s proposed on mode test procedure is 

derived, does not specify the duration of time the STB shall be operated for the on mode test; 

instead, in section 8.1.11 it states that the entity specifying the use of the CEA-2043 standard 

(which is DOE in this case) shall specify the time period. Therefore, DOE is proposing that the 

duration of the test shall be 2 minutes, which is consistent with the time period specified in 

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section 8.6.5 of IEC 62087 for the on mode tests. Additionally, as shown in Figure 1 in section 

III.G.4 of the NOPR, results from internal testing conducted by DOE indicated that the average 

power consumption over 2 minutes was sufficient to provide repeatable results. That is, the 2 

minute moving average over a 10 minute test duration showed less variability compared to the 

instantaneous power measurements. Additionally, the average power consumption of the STB 

over 2 minutes was similar to the average power consumption of the STB over 5 minutes during 

internal testing as seen in Figure 1 in section III.G.4 of the NOPR. 

DOE invites comment on all aspects of the proposed approach for testing the STB in the 

on mode of operation. 

a. On (Watch TV) Testing 

DOE proposes to adopt the on (watch TV) test procedure specified in section 8.2.2.1 of 

the draft CEA-2043 standard with some modification. First, the STB shall be configured as 

proposed in Table 1 in section III.G.2 of the NOPR. The STB shall be configured such that all 

devices for the feasible configuration are connected to the STB. Of all the connections to the 

STB, only one stream shall be enabled and shall stream to a connected display device. All other 

connected display devices and clients shall not have any content streamed to them. Next, an SD 

channel shall be selected and viewed on the connected display device. If the STB uses a content 

provider that does not support channels, an appropriate SD test stream shall be selected and 

viewed on the display device. Finally, the power consumption measurement shall be started and 

the average power consumption shall be recorded for 2 minutes as PWATCH_SD. For STBs that 

support HD streaming, the test shall be repeated using HD content and the average power shall 

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be recorded for 2 minutes as PWATCH_HD. The average power consumed in the on (watch TV) 

mode, PWATCH, shall be calculated using the following equation: 

DOE’s proposed method for testing in the on (watch TV) mode is included in section 

5.5.2 (On (Watch TV)) of the proposed Appendix AA to Subpart B of 10 CFR Part 430. DOE’s 

proposed test method is different from that specified in the draft CEA-2043 standard in one key 

area. The draft CEA-2043 standard tests an HD STB using an HD test stream only; DOE’s 

proposed approach tests an HD STB for 2 minutes using an SD test stream, followed by 2 

minutes of testing using an HD test stream. DOE proposes to use both the SD and HD test 

streams to test HD STBs because it does not expect all content to be available on an HD stream 

in the near future. That is, DOE’s expectation is that HD STBs may continue to stream some 

content using an SD stream because the content would not be available in an HD broadcast 

stream. Therefore, testing an HD STB using both an SD and HD test stream would represent the 

typical use of an HD STB better than testing it on an HD stream only. This requirement is also 

specified in the ENERGY STAR specification, and it allows stakeholders the opportunity to 

represent energy savings if a STB can be designed to consume less energy while streaming SD 

content compared to streaming HD content. DOE expects this additional test will have minimal 

impact on testing burden. 

Further, DOE proposes that for HD enabled STBs, the average power in on (watch TV) 

mode shall be the average of the average power consumed using an SD stream and HD stream. 

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DOE also considered whether different weights, other than the average, should be used to 

combine the power consumption using SD and HD streams for an HD STB that is representative 

of consumers’ usage of each of these streams. However, DOE does not have any data that 

indicates the percentage of streams that are available only in SD for HD STBs. 

DOE requests comment on the proposed method to test the on (watch TV) principal STB 

function. DOE also requests interested parties to comment, and provide data if available, on the 

percentage of streams that are available in SD and HD for HD STBs, and whether the proposed 

equation for calculating PWATCH should be changed. 

b. Multi-stream Testing 

To test other principal STB functions that are capable of multi-streaming as defined in 

section III.D.4 of the NOPR, DOE proposes a multi-stream test that simultaneously tests the 

most common STB functions such as, viewing a channel, recording, and playback. The proposed 

multi-stream test is included in section 5.5.3 (Multi-stream) of the proposed Appendix AA to 

Subpart B of 10 CFR Part 430. DOE proposes to test the power consumption of STBs that are 

capable of multi-streaming as follows: First, the STB shall be configured as proposed in Table 1 

in section III.G.2 of the NOPR. The STB shall be configured such that all devices required for 

the feasible configuration are connected to the STB. Next, the number of streams that shall be 

enabled and the type of content that shall be streamed using the STB shall be as specified in 

Table 2 of the NOPR. The highest priority (smallest number in column 1 of Table 2) of 

streaming content that is supported by the STB shall be selected. All streams required for the 

supported priority shall be enabled using appropriate content as described in section III.G.3 of 

the NOPR. As an example, if the STB does not have DVR capability but can connect to multiple 

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display devices and clients, priority 3 shall be selected and the STB shall output different content 

to two display devices and shall playback previously recorded content on a connected client. 

Table 2: Priority List for the Multi-stream Test. 

Priority for Enabling Multi-streaming Number of Streams Enabled: 

- 1 is highest priority 

- 9 is lowest priority 

To Display 

Devices 

To Record on 

DVR 

To Connect to 

Clients 

1 1 1 1 

2 2 1 -

3 2 - 1 

4 1 2 -

5 1 - 2 

6 3 - -

7 1 1 -

8 1 - 1 

9 2 - -

If the STB or connected client supports HD streaming, an HD test stream shall be used, 

otherwise an SD stream shall be used. Finally, the multi-stream mode power consumption 

measurement shall be started and the average power consumed by the STB shall be recorded for 

2 minutes as PMULTI_STREAM. 

The multi-stream test proposed by DOE to test multiple functionalities of the STB 

simultaneously, is not explicitly specified in the draft CEA-2043 standard, but the standard 

contains most of the information that DOE has combined for the multi-stream test. The standard 

specifies the methods to test the play (section 8.2.2.2 of the standard) and record (section 8.2.2.3 

of the standard) functionality of STBs with DVR capability, it provides recommendations for 

concurrent testing of networked STBs, and the different tests that may be performed on different 

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types of STBs. However, the draft CEA-2043 standard does not require any of these tests and 

states that the entity specifying the use of the draft CEA-2043 standard (which is DOE in this 

case) shall provide the specific configuration and type of tests to be performed. Therefore, DOE 

is proposing the multi-stream test, which specifies that: (1) the STB shall be setup according to 

the configuration in Table 1 in section III.G.2 of the NOPR; and, (2) different functionalities that 

are to be tested shall be enabled using the priority listed in Table 2. Once the STB is setup and 

the different functionalities are enabled, the power consumption of the STB in multi-stream shall 

be measured. To develop this proposed multi-stream test for power consumption measurement, 

DOE has adopted the draft CEA-2043 standard’s play and record tests. 

DOE’s view is that the proposed multi-stream test is representative of typical consumer 

usage of a STB compared to individually testing the different STB features. That is, DOE 

expects that users would operate multiple, different functions of the STB at the same time rather 

than operate each function in sequence. 

Further, for STBs that are capable of multi-streaming, DOE is proposing that a maximum 

of three streams shall be enabled, if feasible. If the STB supports only two streams, then two 

streams shall be enabled. DOE is proposing to enable a maximum of three streams because, 

according to data published by The Nielsen Company in January 2011, the average number of 

TVs per US household is 2.5.30 Based on this data, DOE approximated that a typical household 

in the US has up to three TVs and DOE assumed that a STB would typically be performing up to 

three functions at a time. Therefore, DOE is proposing that a maximum of three streams are 

30 Nielsen Wire. “Factsheet: The U.S. Media Universe”. 

<http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/factsheet-the-u-s-media-universe/> 

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enabled. While there may be STBs that are capable of streaming more than three different 

content streams at a time, attempting to test all available streams would result in testing the STB 

at an extreme condition and would not be representative of typical STB usage. DOE, however, is 

considering implementing a maximum power test in which the STB is tested at maximum 

functionality where the maximum number of streams is exercised simultaneously. DOE is not 

currently proposing such a test, but requests feedback on including a maximum streaming test, 

and if included, also requests comment on the weightings that should be applied to the AEC 

calculation (discussed in further detail in section III.I). 

DOE invites interested parties to comment on the proposed test procedure for testing 

STBs with multi-streaming capability. DOE is especially interested in receiving comments on 

the proposed priority list for enabling streams for testing STBs with multi-streaming capability. 

DOE also seeks feedback on whether the number of additional streams that should be enabled 

should be other than three and the reasons for enabling a different number of streams. DOE 

requests comment on the possibility of including a maximum power test, which would test the 

STB such that the maximum number streams are enabled. If included, DOE requests comment 

on the weighting that should be applied for the maximum streaming test in the calculation of the 

AEC. 

6. Sleep Mode Power Measurement 

For sleep mode testing, DOE proposes two tests only for those STBs that are capable of 

transitioning from sleep mode to on mode within 30 seconds as defined in section III.D.5 of this 

NOPR. If the STB cannot be placed in sleep mode, DOE proposes that this test be skipped. For 

manufacturers that wish to determine whether a given basic model contains a sleep mode that 

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meets the 30 second transition time requirement, DOE is proposing that the sleep to on mode 

transition time test should be performed as described in section III.G.8 of the NOPR. While this 

test is not necessary for determining the power consumption values in the three modes, DOE 

would perform this tests to determine how the sleep mode consumption should be determined. 

The two sleep mode tests are: a manual sleep test in which the STB enters sleep mode 

through a user action, and an APD test in which the STB automatically enters sleep mode after a 

period of user inaction. The proposed sleep mode test is included in section 5.6 (Sleep Mode 

Power Measurement) of the proposed Appendix AA to Subpart B of 10 CFR Part 430. 

DOE further proposes that the time period for each test in the sleep mode, TSLEEP, shall be 

at least 4 hours and up to a maximum of 8 hours. The time period shall be extended beyond 8 

hours if a network initiated action occurs which requires the sleep mode test to be performed for 

a longer duration (discussed below in further detail). Similar to the on mode test, section 8.1.11 

of the draft CEA-2043 standard specifies that the entity specifying the use of the CEA-2043 

standard (which is DOE in this case) shall provide the time period. Therefore, DOE is proposing 

that the power consumption be determined over 4 to 8 hours. The proposed time duration for the 

sleep mode tests is much longer than the 2 minutes proposed for the on mode tests because DOE 

expects that many STBs may transition to lower power consumption modes after being in sleep 

mode for a couple of hours. Testing over a duration of 4 to 8 hours shall capture the decreased 

power consumption if it occurs within the 4 to 8 hour time period. 

DOE considered other options for the time period over which the average power of the 

STB in sleep mode should be measured, such as more than 8 hours, only 8 hours, only 4 hours, 

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or less than 4 hours. DOE did not pursue the option of testing sleep mode over a period greater 

than 8 hours because of the large testing burden associated with such a long duration. DOE also 

considered a value less than 4 hours but is concerned that a STB may not power down to the 

lowest possible energy consumption mode in less than 4 hours. DOE is proposing between 4 to 8 

hours for testing the STB because it is the half (4 hours) to full (8 hours) duration of an expected 

over-night sleep mode of a STB, assuming an 8 hour over-night duration during which most 

consumers are not using the STB. Further, DOE expects that if a STB has the capability to power 

down to lower sleep modes, it would do so within 4 to 8 hours. 

For both, the manual sleep test and APD test, DOE proposes that certain conditions be 

ensured while the STB is in sleep mode. That is, it shall be ensured that no recording events are 

scheduled over the entire duration of the test, including the time the STB is in on mode prior to 

transitioning to sleep mode. Further, if a STB is capable of scheduling a recording, a recording 

shall be scheduled 24 or more hours into the future. 

Next, no service provider network initiated action (such as, content downloads or 

software updates) requiring a transition to on mode shall occur over the 4 to 8 hours that the STB 

is in sleep mode. If a service provider network initiated activity cannot be disabled, then this 

requirement shall be monitored by sampling the power consumption at a rate of at least 1 sample 

per second over the entire duration of the test and observing the changes to the power 

consumption over time. If the input power is less than or equal to 1 W, then a linear regression 

through all power readings shall have a slope of less than 10 mill-watts per hour (mW/h). If the 

slope of the linear regression is equal to or greater than 10 mW/h, it is assumed that a network 

activity has occurred and the test shall either be restarted or extended until the slope is less than 

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10 mW/h. For input powers greater than 1 W, a linear regression through all power readings shall 

have a slope of less than 1 percent of the measured input power per hour. If the slope is equal to 

or greater than 1 percent, it is assumed a network activity has occurred and the test shall either be 

restarted or extended until the slope is less than 1 percent. In addition, if the test is extended 

beyond 8 hours to meet the required conditions, the average power consumption over the entire 

test duration shall be used to calculated the rated power consumption in sleep mode. 

Finally, no local area network initiated actions requiring a transition to on mode shall be 

scheduled over the 4 to 8 hours that the STB is in sleep mode (example: mobile applications or 

other network devices requesting service). 

The above requirements for sleep mode testing have been adopted from the draft CEA2043 specification with some differences. For example, section 8.3.1 of the draft CEA-2043 

standard specifies that no recording shall be scheduled while the STB is in sleep mode. However, 

DOE proposes that no recording shall be scheduled for the entire duration that the STB is tested 

for the sleep mode test, including the time the STB is in on mode prior to transitioning to sleep 

mode. For the manual sleep test, the time period in on mode is 5 minutes (as discussed in section 

III.G.6.a of the NOPR) and for the APD test, this time period is a maximum of 4 hours (as 

discussed in section III.G.6.b of the NOPR). This proposed requirement enables the STB to 

transition to sleep mode as desired, without any scheduled recordings keeping the STB in on 

mode. 

DOE is also proposing, for sleep mode testing, that a recording be scheduled 24 or more 

hours into the future on STBs that are capable of scheduling a recording. This proposed 

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requirement is not part of the draft CEA-2043 standard. DOE has included the recording 

requirement because it understands that the power consumption of the STB may be different 

when a recording is scheduled compared to when it is not. When a recording is scheduled, the 

STB performs some non-primary functions in the background to keep track of time and ensure 

that it transitions to on mode once it is time to initiate recording. On the other hand, if the STB 

does not have any recording or other functions scheduled for the future, it may not perform any 

function until the user transitions it back to the on mode using a remote control. DOE expects 

that a STB in a consumer’s home typically keeps track of some command that requires it to 

initiate an action in the future while it is still in sleep mode. For example, while the STB is in 

sleep mode it may have to transition to on mode because the user had scheduled a recording prior 

to placing it in sleep mode. Therefore, DOE proposes that a recording shall be initiated 24 or 

more hours into the future from test time. 

Another difference between DOE’s proposed test method and the requirements specified 

in the draft CEA-2043 standard is that section 8.3.1 of the standard specifies that it shall be 

ensured that no service provider network initiated actions occur while the STB is in sleep mode. 

However, for STBs that may not be tested by a manufacturer and are tested at a third-party 

laboratory, it might not be possible to know when a service provider network initiated action 

occurs. Because it is not possible to control the initiation of this activity, DOE is proposing that 

the power readings recorded at a rate of at least 1 sample per second shall be observed for 

changes in power consumption and a linear regression shall be performed to determine whether a 

service provider initiated activity has occurred. As discussed above, if the slope of the linear 

regression is greater than 1 percent, for input powers greater than 1 W, then it is assumed a 

network initiated action occurs and the test shall be restarted or extended until the slope is less 

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than 1 percent. The proposed requirements for analyzing the power consumption readings have 

been adopted from the IEC 62301 standard with some modification. IEC 62301 specifies similar 

requirements for determining the power consumption within a mode that is not cyclic. A 

potential drawback of DOE’s proposed method to check for a network initiated action is that if 

the slope of the linear regression is analyzed and used to gauge for network initiated activities, it 

is possible that the slope may vary even when the STB transitions to lower power consumption 

modes through the sleep mode. That is, if a STB enters sleep mode when the “Power” button on 

the remote is pressed, and then continues to transition to lower power consumption modes over 

the 4 to 8 hour time period of the sleep mode test, then the slope of the linear regression may not 

be less than 1 percent of the measured input power per hour as specified in the requirements. In 

such a scenario, the test duration for the sleep mode may be extended until the power 

consumption of the STB stabilizes around a particular value. While this would increase the test 

burden for manufacturers and third-party laboratory testing, an advantage would be that the 

lowest power consumption modes of the STB would be captured and included in the sleep mode 

power consumption measurements. Alternatively, DOE is concerned that if the time period of the 

sleep mode test is extended to be much longer than 8 hours, the test may increase test burden. 

DOE also considered other options to monitor for network initiated activities, which it 

has not proposed in today’s rulemaking. One of these options would be to sample the power 

consumption at a rate of at least 1 sample per second and determine if the power samples 

continuously exceed the median power consumption by more than 10 percent of the median 

power for more than 15 minutes over the 4 to 8 hour sleep mode duration. However, DOE did 

not propose this approach for several reasons. First, any value that is selected for comparing the 

power samples to the median power (such as 10 percent in the setup discussed here) as well as 

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the duration of time (15 minutes) may not encompass all possible scenarios of a transition from 

sleep to on mode during the sleep mode test. For example, if a network event increases power by 

5 percent over a duration of 2 hours, this approach would not capture the transition from sleep to 

on mode even though the increase in power consumption would be significant. Another 

disadvantage of this approach is that periodic events that may be intended to occur during sleep 

mode would be falsely captured as a network initiated activity. For example, if a STB wakes up 

for 15 minutes every 2 hours while in sleep mode, this approach would capture it as a network 

event, while in fact it is a scheduled activity that should be part of the sleep mode power 

consumption measurement. 

Another approach that DOE considered but has not proposed would be to test the STB in 

sleep mode for a very long period of time, such as 24 hours, so that the effect of a network 

initiated activity is mitigated over the long time period. However, DOE determined not to 

propose this approach because of the significant test burden to testing laboratories. 

Finally, once all the conditions for performing the sleep mode test are met, DOE proposes 

that the STB shall be configured as proposed in Table 1 in section III.G.2 of the NOPR. The STB 

shall be configured such that all devices required for the feasible configuration are connected to 

the STB. Once the STB is configured it shall be placed into sleep mode as described in section 

III.G.6.a for the manual sleep test and as described in section III.G.6.b for the APD test. 

DOE invites comment on all aspects of the proposed specification for setting up STBs for 

testing in the sleep mode of operation. In particular, DOE is interested in receiving comments on 

the proposed time duration of 4 to 8 hours over which the power consumption shall be measured 

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and whether this duration should be increased or decreased to better represent STB power 

consumption in sleep mode. DOE also requests comment on the proposed scheduled recording 

requirement prior to placing the STB in sleep mode to measure its power consumption. DOE 

requests interested parties to provide data, if available, on the variation in power consumption of 

a STB when a recording is scheduled versus when it is not. Finally, DOE invites interested 

parties to comment on all aspects of the proposed method to address network initiated actions. 

DOE requests comment and data, if available, on the approach proposed in today’s NOPR, the 

approaches that were considered but have not been proposed, as well as any other approach that 

stakeholders believe would best capture the transition of the STB from sleep mode to on mode 

due to network initiated activities. 

a. Manual Sleep Testing 

DOE proposes to measure the STB power consumption in the manual sleep mode only 

for STBs that can transition from sleep mode to on mode within 30 seconds as defined in section 

III.D.5 of the NOPR. For STBs that cannot support sleep mode, DOE proposes that the power 

consumption in manual sleep mode, PSLEEP_MANUAL, shall be set equal to PWATCH. For STBs that 

support sleep mode, DOE proposes to measure the STB power consumption in manual sleep 

mode as follows. Once the STB is configured it shall be operated in the multi-stream test 

configuration (section III.G.5.b of the NOPR) for at least 5 minutes, if the STB supports multistreaming. If the STB does not support multi-streaming, it shall be operated in the on (watch TV) 

configuration (section III.G.5.a of the NOPR) for at least 5 minutes. Next, the “Power” button on 

the remote for the STB and each locally connected display device and client shall be pressed 

momentarily (for less than 1 second) to place the STB and each locally connected display device 

and client into sleep mode, as defined in section III.D.5 of the NOPR. The STB remote control 

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shall not be used (or moved) after the STB has been placed in sleep mode. It must be ensured 

that the STB and each locally connected client has entered sleep mode. This shall be done by 

ensuring no channel viewing or recording is supported on the STB and clients. That is, there 

shall be no video output on the connected display device(s) from the STB and any locally 

connected clients. The manual sleep mode power consumption measurement shall be started and 

the average power consumed by the STB shall be recorded as PSLEEP_MANUAL over the time period 

as determined in section III.G.6 of the NOPR. DOE’s proposed test for the manual sleep mode is 

included in section 5.6.7 (Manual Sleep Test) of the proposed Appendix AA to Subpart B of 10 

CFR Part 430. 

DOE is proposing to set PSLEEP_MANUAL equal to PWATCH for STBs that may not 

necessarily support the manual sleep mode test. This is because assigning a value of 0 kWh for 

the power consumption in manual sleep mode for such STBs would be misleading. A 0 kWh 

power consumption value in manual sleep mode may indicate that the STB does not consume 

any energy when it is placed in sleep mode, which is inaccurate. Further, for the purposes of the 

calculation of the AEC metric (discussed in detail in section III.I of the NOPR), setting 

PSLEEP_MANUAL equal to PWATCH would count the STB as being in the on mode if it does not 

support the manual sleep mode test. This would ensure that the AEC metric is a representation of 

STB operation that is consistent with the definition of sleep mode proposed in this NOPR. 

DOE’s proposed test procedure for determining the average power consumed by the STB 

in manual sleep mode is similar to the requirements specified in section 8.3.4 of the draft CEA2043 standard for the sleep mode test procedure, with some minor differences. While DOE 

proposes that the STB shall operate in on mode for at least 5 minutes prior to placing the STB in 

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sleep mode, the draft CEA-2043 standard does not specify any time requirement. DOE is 

proposing this requirement to ensure that all STBs that are tested are operated for the same 

duration of time prior to transitioning to sleep mode. DOE selected 5 minutes as the minimum 

proposed duration to operate the STB in on mode prior to placing it in sleep mode to ensure that 

the STB is fully functional before sleep mode is initiated, without increasing the test burden 

significantly. During internal testing (described in section III.G.4 of the NOPR), DOE observed 

that none of the tested STBs took longer than 5 minutes to turn on and enable functionality. DOE 

believes this requirement will ensure that there is consistency and repeatability between tests 

without imposing an undue burden on manufacturers. 

Another difference between DOE’s proposed test and the draft CEA-2043 standard is that 

the standard provides three different methods to verify that the STB has entered sleep mode and 

specifies that any of the three methods can be used for verification. These are: ensuring that no 

channel viewing or recording is supported on the STB; observing a sleep mode indicator on the 

STB, which may be found from the user manual; or, waiting for a predetermined period of time 

that is provided by the entity specifying the use of the CEA-2043 standard. Of these methods, 

DOE is proposing to use the first approach, which requires ensuring that no channel viewing or 

recording is supported on the STB. DOE expects this method to be the most common way for 

determining whether or not a STB has entered sleep mode. Not all STBs have a sleep mode 

indicator on the box and a standard predetermined wait time for all STBs could potentially be 

long or short for at least some of the STBs. An individual check on each STB guarantees that the 

STB has transitioned to sleep and that the measurement may be taken. 

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DOE invites interested parties to comment on the proposed requirements for testing STBs 

in manual sleep mode. 

b. Auto Power Down Testing 

DOE proposes to perform an APD test as a second sleep mode test. The APD test is 

included in section 5.6.8 (Auto Power Down (APD) Test) of the proposed Appendix AA to 

Subpart B of 10 CFR Part 430. To measure the power consumption of a STB that is capable of 

APD, DOE proposes the following test. Similar to the manual sleep test, once the STB is 

configured it shall be operated in the multi-stream test configuration (section III.G.5.b of the 

NOPR) for at least 5 minutes, if the STB supports multi-streaming. If the STB does not support 

multi-streaming, it shall be operated in the on (watch TV) configuration (section III.G.5.a of the 

NPR) for at least 5 minutes. Next, the “Power” button on the remote shall be pressed 

momentarily (for less than 1 second) only for any locally connected clients to place the 

connected clients into sleep mode, as defined in section III.D.5 of the NOPR. Additionally, if 

more than one display device is locally connected to the STB, the “Power” button on the remote 

for the additional locally connected display devices shall be pressed and the STB shall stream 

content to one connected display device only. Once all but one connected display device are 

“off”, the STB remote control shall not be used. The STB shall be operated until it enters sleep 

mode or until 4 hours elapse, whichever occurs first. If the STB does not transition into sleep 

mode at the end of 4 hours, then the STB is not considered to support APD and PSLEEP_APD shall 

be set equal to PWATCH. Once the STB is in APD, the power consumption measurement in APD 

shall be started and the average power shall be recorded as PSLEEP_APD over the time period as 

determined in section III.G.6 of the NOPR. 

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DOE’s proposed test is similar to the manual sleep test discussed in section III.G.6.a of 

the NOPR; the only difference is that in the manual sleep mode test the STB is placed into sleep 

mode manually, while in the APD test the STB transitions to sleep mode because no user activity 

occurs over a certain time period. DOE’s proposed test for APD also has some differences from 

the power mode transition – “on to APD” transition test described in section 8.5.1 of the draft 

CEA-2043 standard. First, the test specified in the draft CEA-2043 standard records both the 

power consumption to transition from on mode to APD and the time it takes to transition from on 

mode to APD. In DOE’s proposed test procedure, however, DOE proposes a maximum time of 4 

hours for the STB to transition to sleep mode through APD. DOE proposes that the STB should 

transition to sleep mode within 4 hours, or else the STB is not considered to support APD. 

DOE’s proposed 4 hour time limit to transition to APD is adopted from the ENERGY STAR 

specification, which states that products that offer the APD feature should be shipped with APD 

enabled by default and with the APD timing set to engage after a period of inactivity less than or 

equal to 4 hours. 

DOE considers the 4 hour time limit to be reasonable because it assumes that TV 

programming typically does not exceed 4 hours in duration. Therefore, if a viewer is watching 

such programming without sending any other commands to the STB over the duration of the 

program, the STB may transition to APD at the end of 4 hours without shutting off the viewer’s 

program of interest. DOE also considered allowing the STB configuration to be changed from its 

default APD behavior to a shorter period for the purposes of testing APD as long as the default 

behavior was to power down within 4 hours. This would shorten the test time for the APD test; 

however, DOE does not propose this approach at this time as it may not be clear as to whether or 

not the default behavior meets the required 4 hour limit without exercising the test. DOE also 

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considered a period less than 4 hours for the APD test, but preliminarily determined that any 

mandated time period that is shorter may have a negative impact on the consumer, because it 

may transition the STB to sleep mode while the consumer may still be viewing the programming. 

DOE also considered scaling the APD, wherein the power consumption in APD would be 

dependent on the duration required for the STB to transition from on mode to sleep mode using 

the APD feature. For example, DOE currently proposes to assign 7 hours to the APD power 

consumption value while calculating the AEC metric as discussed in detail in section III.I of the 

NOPR. The proposed method to calculate AEC allocates these 7 hours to APD assuming it 

would require 4 hours to transition from on mode to sleep mode using the APD feature. DOE 

also considered allowing for a higher daily hour allocation for STBs that entered APD within 1 

or 2 hours. However, DOE is concerned that proposing scaling of power consumption in APD in 

the test procedure may encourage manufacturers to use a very short default APD time period that 

might be intrusive to the consumer experience. This would hamper consumer adoption of APD 

because the STB may transition to sleep mode while a consumer is still viewing content. In such 

a situation, if the consumer disables the APD feature, the potential energy savings for APD 

enabled STBs may not be realized in the field. While DOE is not proposing a scaled APD power 

consumption value in today’s NOPR, it requests stakeholders to comment on potential methods 

to scale APD and the advantages and disadvantages of scaling the power consumption in APD. 

DOE also requests comment on the impact of a scaling APD power consumption value on the 

proposed AEC metric (discussed in section III.I of the NOPR) and potential methods to account 

for a scaling APD value in the AEC metric. 

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Another difference between DOE’s proposed test for APD and the test specified in the 

draft CEA-2043 standard is that DOE proposes the same configuration of connections for the 

STB as is used for all other tests. In contrast, the test specified in the draft CEA-2043 standard 

tests on an individual STB only. As discussed in section III.G.3 of the NOPR, DOE’s proposed 

method matches the usage expected in a typical household. That is, all connected devices will be 

connected to the STB at all times, but the STB will be performing different functions at different 

times. Therefore, DOE has not changed the configuration in which the STB is tested for the APD 

test. 

DOE invites interested parties to comment on the proposed test for determining the STB 

power consumption in APD. Particularly, DOE requests comment and data, if available, on the 

time required to transition to sleep mode and whether this time period should be set at a default 

value of 4 hours or adjusted during testing. 

7. Off Mode Power Measurement 

DOE’s proposed test procedure for determining the power consumption of a STB in off 

mode is similar to the test procedure specified in section 8.4.1 of the draft CEA-2043 standard. 

The proposed off mode test is included in section 5.7 (Off Mode Power Measurement) of the 

proposed Appendix AA to Subpart B of 10 CFR Part 430. DOE proposes the following test to 

determine the off mode power consumption of the STB. If the STB supports off mode as defined 

in section III.D.5 of the NOPR, it shall be placed in off mode. If it does not support off mode as 

defined in section III.D.5, this test shall be skipped. Next, wait until the STB enters off mode and 

record the average power consumed by the STB for 2 minutes as POFF. 

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DOE invites interested parties to comment on the proposed requirements for testing STBs 

in off mode. 

8. Sleep to On Mode Transition Time Measurement 

DOE proposes to include a test to verify the time required to transition from sleep mode 

to on mode to help manufacturers to determine if the basic model contains a sleep mode per 

DOE’s proposed regulatory definition (discussed in section III.D.5 of the NOPR). According to 

the definition proposed for sleep mode in section III.D.5 of the NOPR, a STB is considered to be 

in sleep mode only if it can transition from sleep mode to on mode within 30 seconds. While 

STB manufacturers may know the time it takes for the STB to transition, DOE is including this 

test in today’s proposed test procedure in the event there is any uncertainty if the STB meets the 

sleep mode requirements. The proposed test procedure for determining the transition time from 

sleep mode to on mode is described below and has been adopted from section 8.5.5 of the draft 

CEA-2043 standard’s Power Mode Transition – “Sleep to On” Transition test method. The 

proposed sleep to on mode transition time measurement test is included in section 5.8 (Sleep to 

On Mode Transition Time Measurement) of the proposed Appendix AA to Subpart B of 10 CFR 

Part 430. 

DOE proposes the following test to determine the sleep to on mode transition time. The 

test shall be used to verify two different cases. First, to determine the transition time from sleep 

to on mode for the manual sleep test, and second, to determine the transition time from sleep to 

on mode for the APD test. For the manual sleep test, the STB shall be placed into sleep mode 

according to the steps specified in the manual sleep mode test (described in section III.G.6.a of 

the NOPR). For the APD test, the STB shall be allowed to transition to sleep mode from on 

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mode automatically, according to the steps specified in the APD test (described in section 

III.G.6.b of the NOPR). For both sleep mode tests, once the STB enters sleep mode, wait until 

the STB power consumption (PSLEEP, which is generic for PSLEEP_MANUAL or PSLEEP_APD) is 

between PSLEEP and PSLEEP + 0.5W. That is, the power consumption should be less than PSLEEP + 

0.5 W and greater than PSLEEP. After the power consumption reaches the desired value, wait for 

at least 5 minutes before pressing the “Power” button on the remote or front panel of the STB. 

Once the STB is powered, elapsed time measurement shall be started and the duration shall be 

measured until the STB enters on mode. It shall be ensured that the STB has entered on mode 

when it supports channel viewing on the connected display device or client. The duration to 

transition from sleep mode to on mode shall be recorded as TSLEEP_TO_ON. If TSLEEP_TO_ON is 

greater than 30 seconds then PSLEEP_MANUAL and/or PSLEEP_APD shall be set equal to PWATCH. 

DOE’s proposed test to determine the transition time from sleep mode to on mode is 

similar to the sleep to on mode transition test specified in the draft CEA-2043 standard, with 

some additional specifications. First, DOE’s proposed test specifies that the STB shall be placed 

into sleep mode in two different ways; manually using the STB remote for the manual sleep test, 

and automatically for the APD test as described in section III.G.6.b of the NOPR. DOE has 

included this requirement to ensure that the STB is placed into sleep mode according to both 

sleep mode tests proposed in this NOPR. Next, the draft CEA-2043 standard does not explicitly 

specify the amount of time a STB should be kept in sleep mode, but states that it should be for 

the predetermined stabilization time. Therefore, DOE is proposing that the STB shall remain in 

sleep mode for at least 5 minutes to stabilize the STB in sleep mode. DOE believes that 5 

minutes is a sufficient period of time to ensure the STB has completed any remaining operations. 

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For the sleep to on mode transition time measurement test, DOE also proposes that if 

TSLEEP_TO_ON is greater than 30 seconds, then PSLEEP_MANUAL shall be set equal to PWATCH and 

PSLEEP_APD shall also be set equal to PWATCH. DOE has included this requirement because if the 

transition time is greater than 30 seconds, then the STB will not meet the sleep mode definition 

described in section III.D.5 of the NOPR and will therefore, not be considered in sleep mode. 

DOE requests comment on the proposed sleep to on mode transition time measurement 

test. 

H. Sampling Plan 

DOE is proposing the following sampling plan and rounding requirements for STBs to 

enable manufacturers to make representations of power consumption in the on, sleep, and off 

modes of operation. The represented power consumption values shall be used to calculate the 

AEC metric (discussed in section III.I of the NOPR), which shall be rounded according to the 

requirements proposed below. The sampling requirements are included in the proposed section 

429.55 of Subpart B of 10 CFR Part 429. 

DOE is proposing to keep the minimum sample size of STBs that shall be tested to 

determine rated power consumption at two, as defined in 10 CFR Part 429.11. However, 

manufacturers may choose to test a greater number of samples of a given basic model, if desired. 

Additionally, DOE is proposing that the rated value of power consumption in the on, sleep, and 

off modes of operation of a basic STB model for which consumers would favor lower power 

consumption values shall be greater than or equal to the higher of the mean of the sample or the 

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95 percent UCL of the true mean divided by 1.05. The equations below show the calculation of 

the mean and the UCL, respectively. 

The mean of the sample is calculated as follows: 

Where: 

= the sample mean, 

n = the number of samples, and 

= the ith sample. 

The UCL is calculated as follows: 

Where: 

= the sample mean, 

s = the sample standard deviation, 

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n = the number of samples, and 

= the t statistic for a 95 percent one-tailed confidence interval with n-1 degrees of 

freedom. 

Based on internal testing DOE conducted on STBs (described in section III.G.4 of the 

NOPR), DOE expects that the proposed test procedure can provide repeatability within 2 

percent. Thus, DOE proposes to divide the UCL value by 1.05. In the case where the two 

samples differ by 2 percent, the UCL value will be 6 percent greater than the mean, and dividing 

by 1.05 would result in a value that is only 1 percent greater than the mean. Larger variances in 

samples would result in greater UCL values as dictated by the 95 percent confidence interval. 

DOE invites interested parties to comment on the proposed sampling plan. 

DOE proposes that only the mean and the UCL of the samples tested shall be rounded, 

while all calculations to determine the mean and UCL shall be performed with unrounded values. 

For making representations using the power consumption values in each mode of operation, 

DOE proposes that the accuracy requirements discussed in section III.F.2 of the NOPR shall be 

used as rounding requirements. The proposed rounding requirements for the rated power 

consumption values are included in section 5.4 (Calculation of Average and Rated Power 

Consumption) of the proposed Appendix AA to Subpart B of 10 CFR Part 430. 

Once the rated power consumption values for the on, sleep, and off modes are calculated 

and rounded, DOE proposes that these rated values shall be used to calculate the AEC metric, 

which is discussed in section III.I of the NOPR. For the rounding requirements of the AEC 

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metric from the rated power consumption values, DOE proposes the following: if the AEC is 100 

kWh or less, the value shall be rounded to the nearest tenth of a kWh. If the AEC is greater than 

100 kWh, the value shall be rounded to the nearest kWh. The proposed rounding requirements 

for the AEC metric are also based on the accuracy requirements discussed in section III.F.2 of 

the NOPR. The proposed rounding requirements for the AEC metric are included in section 6 

(Calculation of the Annual Energy Consumption of the Set-top Box) of the proposed Appendix 

AA to Subpart B of 10 CFR Part 430. 

DOE requests comment on the proposed rounding requirements for representing the 

power consumption in each mode of operation and the rounding requirements for the AEC 

metric, which is calculated from the rated power consumption values. 

I. Method to Calculate the Energy Consumption of a Set-top Box 

DOE received several comments about the metric that should be used to determine the 

annual energy consumption of a STB. CA IOUs commented that while typical energy 

consumption (TEC) calculation is common practice for rulemakings, it would not work for STBs 

because these products do not fit the mold for typically regulated products. (CA IOUs, No. 0033 

at p. 3) Instead, they suggested a metric that would focus on sleep power levels. In contrast, 

AT&T commented that consistency with the ENERGY STAR testing methodology was 

desirable, particularly because regulation is being layered onto an already-existing voluntary 

program. (AT&T, No. 0032 at p. 28) AT&T further commented that the user profile should 

reasonably reflect the current usage patterns of their customers. (Id.) Finally, Cisco commented 

that the user profiles cannot be the only metrics considered by DOE for establishing STB testing 

and standards. Cisco commented that STBs are not manufactured based on the average usage 

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profile, but on outlier consumer usage and worst case scenarios addressing decoding, multiple 

streams, maximal DVR usage, etc. (Cisco Systems, Inc., No. 0027 at p. 31) 

Based on the comments received and analyzing the current STB market, DOE proposes 

that individual power consumption values in each mode of operation and an annualized energy 

metric, the AEC metric, shall be the metrics from today’s proposed test procedure. That is, the 

power consumption in on mode (PWATCH and PMULTI_STREAM), sleep mode (PSLEEP_MANUAL and 

PSLEEP_APD), and off mode (POFF), and the AEC metric are the results of the proposed test 

procedure. 

The average power consumption in each mode of operation is determined as described in 

sections III.G.5 through III.G.7 of the NOPR. Once the individual average power consumption 

values are determined, the rated power consumption in each mode of operation is calculated 

using the sampling plan and statistics discussed in section III.H. The rated power consumption in 

each mode of operation is then rounded according to the rounding requirements which are also 

discussed in section III.H. Finally, the AEC metric shall be calculated as a weighted average of 

the rounded, rated power consumption values, based on the expected time spent by the STB in 

the respective mode. DOE believes including both the individual power consumption metrics and 

an annualized metric provides both voluntary and State programs with the flexibility they may 

wish to run their respective programs. However, DOE reiterates that all representations of STB 

energy use must be made in accordance with one of these four metrics resulting from the DOE 

test procedure and sampling plan and as required by applicable State and federal law. 

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While the draft CEA-2043 standard describes how to measure the power in each mode of 

operation for a STB, it does not offer a way to combine the values into a single AEC metric. 

Therefore, to create a metric, DOE studied the ENERGY STAR test method for STBs. DOE 

believes the TEC metric used by ENERGY STAR is conceptually similar to the AEC metric that 

DOE is proposing in today’s NOPR. 

TEC is defined by ENERGY STAR as, “a means for evaluating energy efficiency 

through a calculation of expected energy consumption for a typical user over a 1 year period, 

expressed in units of kilo-watt hours per year (kWh/year)”. The TEC metric uses a table of time 

coefficients to weight individual power measurements that are obtained under the proposed test 

procedure. DOE proposes to use the same approach, and to name the metric AEC. Like TEC, the 

AEC metric will produce values measured in kWh/year. The equation below presents this 

approach mathematically. Power values (Pi) are the rated values obtained from the proposed 

measurement tests for each mode of STB operation as discussed in sections III.G.5 through 

III.G.7 of the NOPR and calculated using the sampling plan and rounding requirements 

discussed in section III.H of the NOPR. Further, DOE proposes that the time coefficients (Hi) 

shall be obtained from a table according to the type of STB being tested, and the mode of STB 

operation. 

Where: 

i = the mode of operation. 

The main modes of operation measured by the proposed measurement tests are: 

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PWATCH = the rated power consumption (in W) in on (watch TV) mode, 

PMULTI_STREAM = the rated power consumption (in W) in the multi-stream test in on mode, 

PSLEEP_MANUAL = the rated power consumption (in W) in the manual sleep test in sleep 

mode, 

PSLEEP_APD = the rated power consumption (in W) in the APD test in sleep mode, for 

STB’s with APD capability, and 

POFF = the rated power consumption (in W) in off mode. 

Inserting each of these modes into the above equation, results in the equation below for 

AEC. 

To determine the time coefficients, DOE evaluated the ENERGY STAR specification 

time coefficients as a possible source for the usage weightings. Table 3 below lists the ENERGY 

STAR usage weightings. For the sake of simplicity, the table excludes the ENERGY STAR 

weightings for deep sleep, which DOE is not proposing to adopt. DOE does not propose to adopt 

the ENERGY STAR deep sleep weightings because it believes that the proposed power 

consumption in sleep mode would capture the STB’s deep sleep power as well, for any STBs 

that have deep sleep capabilities. This is because DOE’s proposed time period for the sleep mode 

test is 4 to 8 hours, compared to ENERGY STAR’s time period of 5 minutes. 

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Table 3: ENERGY STAR Weightings. 

APD 

Enabled 

by Default 

DVR? TTV TSLEEP TAPD HRECORD HPLAYBACK 

NO NO 14 10 0 0 0 

YES NO 7 10 7 0 0 

NO YES 9 10 0 3 2 

YES YES 2 10 7 3 2 

The values in the ENERGY STAR specification do not directly map to the modes DOE is 

proposing to test. In particular, there are no separate record and playback tests in DOE’s 

proposed test procedure because these are bundled into a single multi-stream test as discussed in 

section III.G.5.b of this NOPR. However, DOE is proposing to adopt the ENERGY STAR 

weightings with the following changes: the 3 hour record time is combined with the 2 hour 

playback time into a single 5 hour multi-stream test. Further, the ENERGY STAR specification 

does not test the STB in off mode, and therefore does not assign any weighting to the STB power 

consumption in off mode. While DOE is proposing a test procedure to test the STB in off mode, 

it is not proposing any weighting to the STB power consumption in off mode because consumers 

typically do not turn off STBs. This is because often a STB cannot be turned off. Further, for 

STBs that can be turned off, the time required to start up a STB from off mode is lengthy and 

this discourages consumer adoption to turn-off the STB. Table 4 describes the weightings DOE 

is proposing to use, which have been developed from the ENERGY STAR weightings. 

Table 4: DOE Proposed Hour Weightings. 

APD 

Enabled 

by 

Default? 

Multistream? HWATCH HMULTI_STR 

EAM 

HSLEEP_MA 

NUAL 

HSLEEP_APD HOFF 

NO NO 14 0 10 0 0 

YES NO 7 0 10 7 0 

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NO YES 9 5 10 0 0 

YES YES 2 5 10 7 0 

While DOE is proposing the hour weightings listed in Table 4 above, it also considered 

an alternative approach to estimate the time coefficients for each mode by researching STB 

usage profiles. The time coefficients from STB usage profiles is discussed in the following 

paragraphs and presented in Table 5, but is not proposed in today’s NOPR. DOE is including this 

discussion to obtain stakeholders’ feedback on the different possibilities to determine the hour 

weightings and the preferred approach that should be used for the calculation of AEC. 

To determine STB usage profiles, DOE researched publically available usage data. 

According to the most recent publically available data from the Nielson Company, Americans 

spent 146.75 hours per month, or approximately 5 hours per day, watching TV in the home. 31 

DOE interpreted this to mean that the average STB spends 5 hours per day in the on (watch TV) 

mode. DOE determined the number of hours a STB may be in sleep mode by referring to survey 

data from Fraunhofer USA developed for CEA. The survey indicates that 60 percent of STBs are 

turned “off” in tandem with the TV, while 40 percent are left on and run continuously.32 Because 

a STB enters sleep mode when the power button on the remote is pressed to turn it “off”, DOE 

assumes that the 60 percent value refers to the number of STBs that are placed in sleep mode. 

DOE estimates that the average STB spends virtually no time in off mode. 

31 State of the Media: U.S. Digital Consumer Report, Q3-Q4 2011, The Nielson Company, p. 5. 32 Energy Consumption of Consumer Electronics in U.S. Homes in 2010, Fraunhofer USA, December 2011, p. 88. 

DOE’s understanding is that survey respondents interpreted the words “off” as a colloquialism for sleep mode. 

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Using these data, DOE assumed that for STBs without APD or multi-streaming 

capability, 40 percent remain in the on mode 24 hours per day. The remaining 60 percent spend 5 

hours in on mode, and 19 hours in sleep mode. Time spent in APD and multi-streaming is zero. 

Therefore, the average STB that does not have APD or multi-streaming capability, is in on 

(watch TV) mode approximately 13 hours per day (40 percent x 24 hours + 60 percent x 5 hours) 

and sleep mode 11 hours per day (40 percent x 0 hours + 60 percent x 19 hours). 

DOE researched market data from The Nielson Company and found that STBs with DVR 

capability spend approximately 5 hours viewing live programming and approximately 2 hours 

recording content and playing it back. For STBs with multi-streaming functionality, DOE 

assumed that of the 5 hours that are spent viewing live programming, at least 3 hours are viewed 

on a display device that is connected to a client. That is, at least 3 hours of TV programming is 

viewed through the multi-streaming functionality of the STB. While DOE does not have any 

market data that describes the number of hours a STB streams content to a client because multistreaming is new functionality, it assumed that an increasing amount of content shall be viewed 

through a client as the technology progresses. Summing the 2 hours for recording and playing 

back content with the 3 hours for viewing a channel through a client, DOE assumed that the 

multi-streaming functionality of a STB is exercised approximately 5 hours per day and the on 

(watch TV) functionality is exercised approximately 2 hours per day. Therefore, for STBs with 

multi-streaming functionality, but no APD functionality, DOE assumed that an average STB 

spends approximately 9 hours per day in on (watch TV) mode (40 percent x 19 hours per day + 

60 percent x 2 hours per day); 5 hours per day in multi-streaming functionality; and 10 hours per 

day in sleep mode (40 percent x 0 hours per day + 60 percent x 17 hours per day). 

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To determine the number of hours a STB with APD functionality would spend in APD, 

DOE assumed that users that place their STB into sleep mode manually when not being used do 

not get any benefit from APD. APD functionality is only triggered if the STB is left in on mode 

for a long period of time. DOE has assumed that, for STBs that would otherwise be left in on 

mode all day, the presence of APD implied that the STB enters sleep mode via APD for 12 hours 

per day. DOE does not have data on the actual amount of time a STB is in sleep mode via APD 

and requests stakeholders to submit data, if available. The assumption of 12 hours per day is an 

estimate based on the expectation that the STB is likely to enter sleep mode via APD during 

times of light TV use, such as overnight and/or during mid-day. Based on these assumptions, the 

average STB that has APD but not multi-streaming capabilities is in APD approximately 5 hours 

per day (40 percent x 12 hours + 60 percent x 0 hours). Thus, DOE expects that STBs that enable 

APD by default would be in sleep via APD 5 hours per day instead of being in the on (watch TV) 

mode. 

Finally, for STBs that are capable of both multi-streaming and APD functionality and are 

placed into sleep mode, DOE again assumed that the STB spends 5 hours per day in multistreaming functionality and 2 hours per day in on (watch TV) mode. For STBs that always 

remain in on mode, DOE assumed that the total time spent in APD is 10 hours. This assumption 

is made based on the previous assumption that a STB that is not capable of multi-streaming 

spends a total of 12 hours per day in APD. That is, for STBs that are not placed into sleep mode 

manually, the viewer watches content on a TV for approximately 5 hours per day and of the 

remaining 19 hours, the STB spends approximately 12 hours per day in APD. Therefore, for a 

STB that has multi-streaming functionality, the viewer watches, records, or plays back content 

for approximately 7 hours per day and of the remaining 17 hours, the STB spends approximately 

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10 hours per day in APD. For STBs that are not placed into sleep mode, the remaining 9 hours 

per day are spent in on (watch TV) mode. That is, DOE assumed that an average STB spends 

approximately 5 hours per day in on (watch TV) mode (40 percent x 9 hours per day + 60 

percent x 2 hours per day); approximately 10 hours per day in sleep mode (40 percent x 0 hours 

per day + 60 percent x 17 hours per day); approximately 5 hours in multi-streaming 

functionality; and, approximately 4 hours per day in APD (40 percent x 10 hours per day + 60 

percent x 0 hours per day). 

The resulting estimates for time coefficients are presented in Table 5 below as alternative 

weightings to the proposed AEC metric. 

Table 5: Alternative Hour Weightings. 

APD 

Enabled 

by 

Default? 

Multistream? HWATCH HMULTI_STR 

EAM 

HSLEEP_MA 

NUAL 

HSLEEP_APD HOFF 

NO NO 13 0 11 0 0 

YES NO 8 0 11 5 0 

NO YES 9 5 10 0 0 

YES YES 5 5 10 4 0 

DOE has proposed the hour weightings based on the ENERGY STAR specification 

(Table 4) in today’s NOPR and requests comment on the proposed weightings and calculation of 

AEC. DOE also requests comment on the alternative hour weightings (Table 5) that were 

developed by researching STB usage profiles. In particular, DOE seeks feedback on the time 

coefficients for AEC and whether one approach is preferred over the other. The proposed AEC 

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calculation is included in section 6 (Calculation of the Annual Energy Consumption of the Settop Box) of the proposed Appendix AA to Subpart B of 10 CFR Part 430). 

IV. Procedural Issues and Regulatory Review 

A. Review Under Executive Order 12866 

The Office of Management and Budget has determined that test procedure rulemakings 

do not constitute “significant regulatory actions” under section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866, 

Regulatory Planning and Review, 58 FR 51735 (Oct. 4, 1993). Accordingly, this action was not 

subject to review under the Executive Order by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs 

(OIRA) in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). 

B. Review under the Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) requires preparation of an initial 

regulatory flexibility analysis (IFRA) for any rule that by law must be proposed for public 

comment, unless the agency certifies that the rule, if promulgated, will not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. As required by Executive Order 

13272, “Proper Consideration of Small Entities in Agency Rulemaking,” 67 FR 53461 (August 

16, 2002), DOE published procedures and policies on February 19, 2003, to ensure that the 

potential impacts of its rules on small entities are properly considered during the DOE 

rulemaking process. 68 FR 7990. DOE has made its procedures and policies available on the 

Office of the General Counsel’s website: http://energy.gov/gc/office-general-counsel. 

DOE reviewed today’s proposed rule under the provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act (RFA) and the policies and procedures published on February 19, 2003. The proposed rule 

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prescribes the test procedure to measure the power consumption of STBs in the on, sleep, and off 

modes of operation and the calculation of an annualized energy metric, AEC, as a weighted 

average of the individual power consumption values. The initial regulatory flexibility analysis 

(IRFA) below discusses the potential impacts of the test procedure on small businesses and 

alternatives that would minimize the impact on small businesses consistent with statutory 

objectives. 

(1) Description of the reasons why action by the agency is being considered. 

A description of the reasons why DOE is considering this test procedure are stated 

elsewhere in the preamble and not repeated here. 

(2) Succinct statement of the objectives of, and legal basis for, the proposed rule. 

The objectives of and legal basis for the proposed rule are stated elsewhere in the preamble 

and not repeated here. 

(3) Description of and, where feasible, an estimate of the number of small entities to which the 

proposed rule will apply. 

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has set a size threshold for manufacturers of 

STBs that defines those entities classified as “small businesses” for the purposes of the RFA. 

DOE used the SBA’s small business size standards to determine whether any small 

manufacturers of STBs would be subject to the requirements of the rule. 65 FR 30836, 30849 

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(May 15, 2000), as amended at 65 FR 53533, 53545 (Sept. 5, 2000) and codified at 13 CFR part 

121. The size standards are listed by North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 

code and industry description and are available at 

http://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/files/Size_Standards_Table.pdf. DOE identified three 

NAICS codes that apply to the manufacturers of STBs. The reasons for selecting the following 

NAICS codes are discussed in further detail below. 

Radio and Television Broadcasting and Wireless Communications Equipment Manufacturing are 

classified under NAICS 334220. SBA sets a threshold of 750 employees or less for an entity to 

be considered a small business for this category. 

Audio and Video Equipment Manufacturing are classified under NAICS 334310. SBA sets a 

threshold of 750 employees or less for an entity to be considered a small business for this 

category. 

Cable and Other Subscription Programming are classified under NAICS 515210. The SBA 

threshold to qualify as a small business for this category requires that the average annual receipts 

should be $15,000,000 or less. 

NAICS code 334220 – Radio and Television Broadcasting and Wireless Communications 

Equipment Manufacturing covers manufacturers of all products except OTT STBs. Because 

some manufacturers of OTT STBs were not listed under NAICS code 334220, DOE added 

consideration of small business manufacturers listed under NAICS code 334310 – Audio and 

Video Equipment Manufacturing. Additionally, DOE included a search for small businesses 

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listed under NAICS code 515210 – Cable and Other Subscription Programming as some 

businesses in this category would also be subject to today’s rulemaking based on the definition 

of manufacturer discussed in section III.D.3 of the NOPR. 

To determine the number of small business manufacturers of STBs in each NAICS code 

category, DOE compiled a preliminary list of potential small business manufacturers of STBs by 

searching the Hoovers33 and SBA databases. DOE confirmed if the companies were indeed small 

businesses by reviewing the company website and/or calling the company. Through this process, 

DOE identified five small business manufacturers of STBs that manufacture STBs as defined in 

section III.D.1. Of these five small business manufacturers, DOE identified two small business 

manufacturers each under NAICS codes 334220 and 334310 and one small business 

manufacturer under NAICS code 515210. DOE invites interested parties to comment on the 

expected number of small business manufacturers of STBs. 

(4) Description of the projected reporting, recordkeeping and other compliance requirements of 

the proposed rule. 

To determine the costs of the proposed test procedure on small STB manufacturers, DOE 

estimated the cost of testing two STBs, the minimum required sample size as discussed in section 

III.H of this NOPR. DOE estimated a one time setup cost and a labor cost for performing the 

tests. The labor cost of testing was then multiplied over the estimated number of basic models 

33 Hoovers, Inc. (2012). Search of domestic records matching NAICS codes 334220, 334310, and 515210. Retrieved 

June 22, 2012, from Hoover's Company Records database. Available by subscription at www.hoovers.com. 

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produced by a small manufacturer. The estimated cost of testing is discussed in further detail 

below. 

For the initial setup for testing STBs, manufacturers require power supply, power meter, 

cables to connect equipment, and hardware and software instrumentation to measure the power 

consumption of the STB. DOE estimated an approximate cost of $4,000 for the power supply 

and $3,000 for the power meter. Further, the equipment cost for cables, monitors, and software 

was estimated at approximately $3,100 for a total initial setup cost of approximately $10,100. 

DOE then estimated the time required to test each basic model of STB based on 

conservative estimates of the duration proposed for each test in the on, sleep, and off modes of 

operation. DOE’s estimates assume the longest proposed duration for the tests in sleep mode 

(that is, 8 hours) and are as follows: 1 hour to setup and warm-up the STB; half an hour each to 

perform the on (watch TV) test and multi-stream test of the STB in on mode; 8 hours for the 

manual sleep test; 12 hours to test the STB in APD; and, half an hour to test the STB in off 

mode. The total number of hours required to test one STB would be 22.5 hours. For testing two 

STBs by an electronics engineer whose rate is $40.98 per hour34, the labor cost would be 

approximately $1,850 for each STB model. Estimates for the labor cost associated with testing 

are based on feedback received during manufacturer interviews and Bureau of Labor Statistics 

regarding average salaries for engineering staff. For the five small business manufacturers of 

STBs that DOE identified, the average number of models produced per manufacturer is four. 

34 Obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (National Compensation Survey: Occupational Earnings in the 

United States 2008, U.S. Department of Labor (August 2009), Bulletin 2720, Table 3 (‘‘Full-time civilian workers,’’ 

mean and median hourly wages) < http://bls.gov/ncs/ocs/sp/nctb0717.pdf> 

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Therefore, for testing an average of four STB models, the testing cost in the first year would be 

approximately $7,400. DOE expects this cost to be lower in subsequent years because only new 

or redesigned STB models would need to be tested. 

DOE used company reports from Dunn & Bradstreet to estimate the revenue for the five 

small business manufacturers identified. DOE then applied an industry weighted average 

research and development estimate to determine the budget for research and development for 

each small business. The average revenue of the five small business manufacturers is 

approximately $21.8M and the average budget for research and development is approximately 

$2.02M, or 9.4 percent of revenues. Relative to the average revenue and average research and 

development budget per small business manufacturer, the total testing cost in the first year is 

approximately $17,100. This cost is less than 0.1 percent of the average revenue and 

approximately 0.1 percent of the average research and development budget; that is, DOE 

believes the cost of testing STBs is relatively small. Therefore, DOE has tentatively concluded 

that testing costs would not be significant enough to pose a substantial burden on small 

manufacturers. DOE requests comments on its analysis of burden to small businesses for testing 

STBs according to the proposed test procedure. 

(5) Relevant Federal rules which may duplicate, overlap or conflict with the proposed rule. 

This proposed rule would, if adopted, establish a test procedure for STBs. DOE is not 

aware of any other Federal rules that establish such a procedure or would otherwise duplicate, 

overlap or conflict with this test procedure. 

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(6) Description of any significant alternatives to the proposed rule. 

DOE considered a number of existing and under-development industry standards that 

measure the energy consumption of STBs to develop the proposed test procedure in today’s 

rulemaking as discussed in section III.C of the NOPR. Of the standards reviewed, today’s 

proposed rule is primarily based on the draft CEA-2043 standard because DOE believes it 

provides most of the information required for testing STBs and expects this standard to be 

adopted across industry to test the power consumption of STBs. DOE seeks comment and 

information on the need, if any, for alternative test methods that, consistent with the statutory 

requirements, would reduce the economic impact of the rule on small entities. DOE will consider 

any comments received regarding alternative methods of testing that would reduce economic 

impact of the rule on small entities. DOE will consider the feasibility of such alternatives and 

determine whether they should be incorporated into the final rule. 

C.Review Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

There is currently no information collection requirement related to the test procedure for 

STBs. In the event that DOE proposes to require the collection of information derived from the 

testing of STBs according to this test procedure, DOE will seek OMB approval of such 

information collection requirement. 

DOE established regulations for the certification and recordkeeping requirements for 

certain covered consumer products and commercial equipment. 76 FR 12422 (March 7, 2011). 

The collection-of-information requirement for the certification and recordkeeping was subject to 

review and approval by OMB under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). This requirement was 

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approved by OMB under OMB Control Number 1910-1400. Public reporting burden for the 

certification was estimated to average 20 hours per response, including the time for reviewing 

instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and 

completing and reviewing the collection of information. 

As stated above, in the event DOE proposes to require the collection of information 

derived from the testing of STBs according to this test procedure, DOE will seek OMB approval 

of the associated information collection requirement. DOE will seek approval either through a 

proposed amendment to the information collection requirement approved under OMB control 

number 1910-1400 or as a separate proposed information collection requirement. 

Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, no person is required to respond to, nor 

shall any person be subject to a penalty for failure to comply with, a collection of information 

subject to the requirements of the PRA, unless that collection of information displays a currently 

valid OMB Control Number. 

D. Review Under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

In this proposed rule, DOE proposes a test procedure for STBs that it expects will be used 

to develop and implement any future energy conservation standard. DOE has determined that 

this rule falls into a class of actions that are categorically excluded from review under the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and DOE’s implementing 

regulations at 10 CFR part 1021. Specifically, this proposed rule would propose a test procedure 

without affecting the amount, quality or distribution of energy usage, and, therefore, would not 

result in any environmental impacts. Thus, this rulemaking is covered by Categorical Exclusion 

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A5 under 10 CFR part 1021, subpart D, which applies to any rulemaking that does not result in 

any environmental impacts. Accordingly, neither an environmental assessment nor an 

environmental impact statement is required. 

E. Review Under Executive Order 13132 

Executive Order 13132, “Federalism,” 64 FR 43255 (August 4, 1999) imposes certain 

requirements on agencies formulating and implementing policies or regulations that preempt 

State law or that have Federalism implications. The Executive Order requires agencies to 

examine the constitutional and statutory authority supporting any action that would limit the 

policymaking discretion of the States and to carefully assess the necessity for such actions. The 

Executive Order also requires agencies to have an accountable process to ensure meaningful and 

timely input by State and local officials in the development of regulatory policies that have 

Federalism implications. On March 14, 2000, DOE published a statement of policy describing 

the intergovernmental consultation process it will follow in the development of such regulations. 

65 FR 13735. DOE has examined this proposed rule and has determined that it would not have a 

substantial direct effect on the States, on the relationship between the national government and 

the States, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels of 

government. EPCA governs and prescribes Federal preemption of State regulations as to energy 

conservation for the products that are the subject of today’s proposed rule. States can petition 

DOE for exemption from such preemption to the extent, and based on criteria, set forth in EPCA. 

(42 U.S.C. 6297(d)) No further action is required by Executive Order 13132. 

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F. Review Under Executive Order 12988 

Regarding the review of existing regulations and the promulgation of new regulations, 

section 3(a) of Executive Order 12988, “Civil Justice Reform,” 61 FR 4729 (Feb. 7, 1996), 

imposes on Federal agencies the general duty to adhere to the following requirements: (1) 

eliminate drafting errors and ambiguity; (2) write regulations to minimize litigation; (3) provide 

a clear legal standard for affected conduct rather than a general standard; and (4) promote 

simplification and burden reduction. Section 3(b) of Executive Order 12988 specifically requires 

that Executive agencies make every reasonable effort to ensure that the regulation: (1) clearly 

specifies the preemptive effect, if any; (2) clearly specifies any effect on existing Federal law or 

regulation; (3) provides a clear legal standard for affected conduct while promoting 

simplification and burden reduction; (4) specifies the retroactive effect, if any; (5) adequately 

defines key terms; and (6) addresses other important issues affecting clarity and general 

draftsmanship under any guidelines issued by the Attorney General. Section 3(c) of Executive 

Order 12988 requires Executive agencies to review regulations in light of applicable standards in 

sections 3(a) and 3(b) to determine whether they are met or it is unreasonable to meet one or 

more of them. DOE has completed the required review and determined that, to the extent 

permitted by law, the proposed rule meets the relevant standards of Executive Order 12988. 

G. Review Under the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 

Title II of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA) requires each Federal 

agency to assess the effects of Federal regulatory actions on State, local, and Tribal governments 

and the private sector. Pub. L. No. 104-4, sec. 201 (codified at 2 U.S.C. 1531). For a proposed 

regulatory action likely to result in a rule that may cause the expenditure by State, local, and 

Tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the private sector of $100 million or more in any one 

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year (adjusted annually for inflation), section 202 of UMRA requires a Federal agency to publish 

a written statement that estimates the resulting costs, benefits, and other effects on the national 

economy. (2 U.S.C. 1532(a), (b)) The UMRA also requires a Federal agency to develop an 

effective process to permit timely input by elected officers of State, local, and Tribal 

governments on a proposed “significant intergovernmental mandate,” and requires an agency 

plan for giving notice and opportunity for timely input to potentially affected small governments 

before establishing any requirements that might significantly or uniquely affect small 

governments. On March 18, 1997, DOE published a statement of policy on its process for 

intergovernmental consultation under UMRA. 62 FR 12820; also available at 

http://energy.gov/gc/office-general-counsel. DOE examined today’s proposed rule according to 

UMRA and its statement of policy and determined that the rule contains neither an 

intergovernmental mandate, nor a mandate that may result in the expenditure of $100 million or 

more in any year, so these requirements do not apply. 

H. Review Under the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 1999 

Section 654 of the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 1999 (Pub. L. 

105-277) requires Federal agencies to issue a Family Policymaking Assessment for any rule that 

may affect family well-being. This rule would not have any impact on the autonomy or integrity 

of the family as an institution. Accordingly, DOE has concluded that it is not necessary to 

prepare a Family Policymaking Assessment. 

I. Review Under Executive Order 12630 

DOE has determined, under Executive Order 12630, “Governmental Actions and 

Interference with Constitutionally Protected Property Rights” 53 FR 8859 (March 18, 1988), that 

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this regulation would not result in any takings that might require compensation under the Fifth 

Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. 

J. Review Under Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 2001 

Section 515 of the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 2001 (44 

U.S.C. 3516 note) provides for agencies to review most disseminations of information to the 

public under guidelines established by each agency pursuant to general guidelines issued by 

OMB. OMB’s guidelines were published at 67 FR 8452 (Feb. 22, 2002), and DOE’s guidelines 

were published at 67 FR 62446 (Oct. 7, 2002). DOE has reviewed today’s proposed rule under 

the OMB and DOE guidelines and has concluded that it is consistent with applicable policies in 

those guidelines. 

K. Review Under Executive Order 13211 

Executive Order 13211, “Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect 

Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use,” 66 FR 28355 (May 22, 2001), requires Federal agencies to 

prepare and submit to OMB, a Statement of Energy Effects for any proposed significant energy 

action. A “significant energy action” is defined as any action by an agency that promulgated or is 

expected to lead to promulgation of a final rule, and that: (1) is a significant regulatory action 

under Executive Order 12866, or any successor order; and (2) is likely to have a significant 

adverse effect on the supply, distribution, or use of energy; or (3) is designated by the 

Administrator of OIRA as a significant energy action. For any proposed significant energy 

action, the agency must give a detailed statement of any adverse effects on energy supply, 

distribution, or use should the proposal be implemented, and of reasonable alternatives to the 

action and their expected benefits on energy supply, distribution, and use. 

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Today’s regulatory action to establish a test procedure for measuring the energy 

consumption of STBs is not a significant regulatory action under Executive Order 12866. 

Moreover, it would not have a significant adverse effect on the supply, distribution, or use of 

energy, nor has it been designated as a significant energy action by the Administrator of OIRA. 

Therefore, it is not a significant energy action, and, accordingly, DOE has not prepared a 

Statement of Energy Effects. 

L. Review Under Section 32 of the Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974 

Under section 301 of the Department of Energy Organization Act (Pub. L. 95–91; 42 

U.S.C. 7101), DOE must comply with section 32 of the Federal Energy Administration Act of 

1974, as amended by the Federal Energy Administration Authorization Act of 1977. (15 U.S.C. 

788; FEAA) Section 32 essentially provides in relevant part that, where a proposed rule 

authorizes or requires use of commercial standards, the notice of proposed rulemaking must 

inform the public of the use and background of such standards. In addition, section 32(c) requires 

DOE to consult with the Attorney General and the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission 

(FTC) concerning the impact of the commercial or industry standards on competition. 

The proposed rule incorporates the following commercial standards: CEA-770.3-D, 

“High Definition TV Analog Component Video Interface;” HDMI Specification Version 1.0, 

“High-Definition Multimedia Interface Specification;” ISO/IEC 7816-12, “Identification cards – 

Integrated circuit cards – Part 12: Cards with contacts – USB electrical interface and operating 

procedures;” ANSI/SCTE 28 2007, “HOST-POD Interface Standard;” ANSI/SCTE 55-1 2009, 

“Digital Broadband Delivery System: Out of Band Transport Part 1: Mode A;” and ANSI/SCTE 

55-2 2008, “Digital Broadband Delivery System: Out of Band Transport Part 2: Mode B”. These 

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standards would be incorporated by reference in 10 CFR 430.3 (Materials incorporated by 

reference). The incorporated standards are respectively used to describe Component Video, 

HDMI, POD, smart card, and equipment that communicate with the STB. The Department has 

evaluated these standards and is unable to conclude whether these industry standards fully 

comply with the requirements of section 32(b) of the FEAA, (i.e., that they were developed in a 

manner that fully provides for public participation, comment, and review). DOE will consult 

with the Attorney General and the Chairman of the FTC concerning the impact of these test 

procedures on competition, prior to prescribing a final rule. 

V. Public Participation 

A. Attendance at Public Meeting 

The time, date and location of the public meeting are listed in the DATES and 

ADDRESSES sections at the beginning of this document. If you plan to attend the public 

meeting, please notify Ms. Brenda Edwards at (202) 586-2945 or Brenda.Edwards@ee.doe.gov. 

As explained in the ADDRESSES section, foreign nationals visiting DOE Headquarters are 

subject to advance security screening procedures. 

In addition, you can attend the public meeting via webinar. Webinar registration 

information, participant instructions, and information about the capabilities available to webinar 

participants will be published on DOE’s website 

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/residential/set_top_boxes.html. 

Participants are responsible for ensuring their systems are compatible with the webinar software. 

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B. Procedure for Submitting Prepared General Statements For Distribution 

Any person who has plans to present a prepared general statement may request that 

copies of his or her statement be made available at the public meeting. Such persons may submit 

requests, along with an advance electronic copy of their statement in PDF (preferred), Microsoft 

Word or Excel, WordPerfect, or text (ASCII) file format, to the appropriate address shown in the 

ADDRESSES section at the beginning of this notice. The request and advance copy of 

statements must be received at least one week before the public meeting and may be emailed, 

hand-delivered, or sent by mail. DOE prefers to receive requests and advance copies via email. 

Please include a telephone number to enable DOE staff to make a follow-up contact, if needed. 

C. Conduct of Public Meeting 

DOE will designate a DOE official to preside at the public meeting and may also use a 

professional facilitator to aid discussion. The meeting will not be a judicial or evidentiary-type 

public hearing, but DOE will conduct it in accordance with section 336 of EPCA (42 U.S.C. 

6306). A court reporter will be present to record the proceedings and prepare a transcript. DOE 

reserves the right to schedule the order of presentations and to establish the procedures governing 

the conduct of the public meeting. After the public meeting, interested parties may submit further 

comments on the proceedings as well as on any aspect of the rulemaking until the end of the 

comment period. 

The public meeting will be conducted in an informal, conference style. DOE will present 

summaries of comments received before the public meeting, allow time for prepared general 

statements by participants, and encourage all interested parties to share their views on issues 

affecting this rulemaking. Each participant will be allowed to make a general statement (within 

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time limits determined by DOE), before the discussion of specific topics. DOE will allow, as 

time permits, other participants to comment briefly on any general statements. 

At the end of all prepared statements on a topic, DOE will permit participants to clarify 

their statements briefly and comment on statements made by others. Participants should be 

prepared to answer questions by DOE and by other participants concerning these issues. DOE 

representatives may also ask questions of participants concerning other matters relevant to this 

rulemaking. The official conducting the public meeting will accept additional comments or 

questions from those attending, as time permits. The presiding official will announce any further 

procedural rules or modification of the above procedures that may be needed for the proper 

conduct of the public meeting. 

A transcript of the public meeting will be included in the docket, which can be viewed as 

described in the Docket section at the beginning of this notice. In addition, any person may buy a 

copy of the transcript from the transcribing reporter. 

D. Submission of Comments 

DOE will accept comments, data, and information regarding this proposed rule before or 

after the public meeting, but no later than the date provided in the DATES section at the 

beginning of this proposed rule. Interested parties may submit comments using any of the 

methods described in the ADDRESSES section at the beginning of this notice. 

Submitting comments via regulations.gov. The regulations.gov web page will require you 

to provide your name and contact information. Your contact information will be viewable to 

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DOE Building Technologies staff only. Your contact information will not be publicly viewable 

except for your first and last names, organization name (if any), and submitter representative 

name (if any). If your comment is not processed properly because of technical difficulties, DOE 

will use this information to contact you. If DOE cannot read your comment due to technical 

difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, DOE may not be able to consider your 

comment. 

However, your contact information will be publicly viewable if you include it in the 

comment or in any documents attached to your comment. Any information that you do not want 

to be publicly viewable should not be included in your comment, nor in any document attached 

to your comment. Persons viewing comments will see only first and last names, organization 

names, correspondence containing comments, and any documents submitted with the comments. 

Do not submit to regulations.gov information for which disclosure is restricted by statute, 

such as trade secrets and commercial or financial information (hereinafter referred to as 

Confidential Business Information (CBI)). Comments submitted through regulations.gov cannot 

be claimed as CBI. Comments received through the website will waive any CBI claims for the 

information submitted. For information on submitting CBI, see the Confidential Business 

Information section. 

DOE processes submissions made through regulations.gov before posting. Normally, 

comments will be posted within a few days of being submitted. However, if large volumes of 

comments are being processed simultaneously, your comment may not be viewable for up to 

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several weeks. Please keep the comment tracking number that regulations.gov provides after you 

have successfully uploaded your comment. 

Submitting comments via email, hand delivery, or mail. Comments and documents 

submitted via email, hand delivery, or mail also will be posted to regulations.gov. If you do not 

want your personal contact information to be publicly viewable, do not include it in your 

comment or any accompanying documents. Instead, provide your contact information on a cover 

letter. Include your first and last names, email address, telephone number, and optional mailing 

address. The cover letter will not be publicly viewable as long as it does not include any 

comments 

Include contact information each time you submit comments, data, documents, and other 

information to DOE. If you submit via mail or hand delivery, please provide all items on a CD, if 

feasible. It is not necessary to submit printed copies. No facsimiles (faxes) will be accepted. 

Comments, data, and other information submitted to DOE electronically should be 

provided in PDF (preferred), Microsoft Word or Excel, WordPerfect, or text (ASCII) file format. 

Provide documents that are not secured, written in English and are free of any defects or viruses. 

Documents should not contain special characters or any form of encryption and, if possible, they 

should carry the electronic signature of the author. 

Campaign form letters. Please submit campaign form letters by the originating 

organization in batches of between 50 to 500 form letters per PDF or as one form letter with a 

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list of supporters’ names compiled into one or more PDFs. This reduces comment processing and 

posting time. 

Confidential Business Information. According to 10 CFR 1004.11, any person submitting 

information that he or she believes to be confidential and exempt by law from public disclosure 

should submit via email, postal mail, or hand delivery two well-marked copies: one copy of the 

document marked confidential including all the information believed to be confidential, and one 

copy of the document marked non-confidential with the information believed to be confidential 

deleted. Submit these documents via email or on a CD, if feasible. DOE will make its own 

determination about the confidential status of the information and treat it according to its 

determination. 

Factors of interest to DOE when evaluating requests to treat submitted information as 

confidential include: (1) A description of the items; (2) whether and why such items are 

customarily treated as confidential within the industry; (3) whether the information is generally 

known by or available from other sources; (4) whether the information has previously been made 

available to others without obligation concerning its confidentiality; (5) an explanation of the 

competitive injury to the submitting person which would result from public disclosure; (6) when 

such information might lose its confidential character due to the passage of time; and (7) why 

disclosure of the information would be contrary to the public interest. 

It is DOE’s policy that all comments may be included in the public docket, without 

change and as received, including any personal information provided in the comments (except 

information deemed to be exempt from public disclosure). 

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E. Issues on Which DOE Seeks Comment 

Although DOE welcomes comments on any aspect of this proposal, DOE is particularly 

interested in receiving comments and views of interested parties concerning the following issues: 

1. DOE requests comment on narrowing the scope of today’s rulemaking to STBs 

and excluding network equipment. See section III.B for further detail. 

2. DOE requests comment on using the draft CEA-2043 standard as the basis for 

today’s proposed test procedure for STBs. See section III.C for further detail. 

3. DOE requests comment on the proposed definition of STBs. In particular, DOE 

requests comment about whether the proposed definition is specific enough to exclude nonSTB devices such as gaming consoles and smartphones, yet broad enough to cover traditional 

STBs and newer boxes. DOE also requests comment on the proposed definitions for direct 

video connection, HDMI, Component Video, S-Video, and Composite Video. See section 

III.D.1 for further detail. 

4. DOE invites comment on the discussion of basic model as it pertains to the STB 

rulemaking. See section III.D.2 for further detail. 

5. DOE invites interested parties to comment on the proposed definitions for the 

STB test procedure NOPR including the definitions for content provider and multi-stream 

and clarifying information included for the definitions of DVR, display device, and HNI. For 

the definition of DVR, DOE requests comment on the proposed approach of not testing STBs 

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with external storage as a DVR. If DOE does consider testing the STB with an external 

storage device as DVR in response to comments, DOE specifically requests comments on the 

proper external storage device to use. See section III.D.4 for further detail. 

6. DOE invites interested parties to comment on the proposed definitions of on, 

sleep, and off modes of operation of a STB. In particular, DOE requests comment, and data, 

if available, on the proposed requirement to transition from sleep mode to on mode within 30 

seconds, or whether a different maximum allowable transition time should be considered. See 

section III.D.5 for further detail. 

7. DOE requests comment on the proposed requirements for setting up the STB as 

installed in a consumer’s home for testing. See section III.E.1 for further detail. 

8. DOE requests comment on the proposed test room conditions for testing STBs, 

including air temperature, air speed, and thermally non-conductive test surface requirements. 

In particular, DOE invites interested parties to comment on the proposed air speed 

requirement of 0.5 m/s and whether this requirement should be relaxed to a higher value or 

removed altogether. See section III.E.2 for further detail. 

9. DOE invites interested parties to comment on the proposed input power 

requirements for testing STBs. See section III.F.1 for further detail. 

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10. DOE requests comment on the proposed requirements for the accuracy of 

measuring the power consumption of STBs. See section III.F.2 for further detail. 

11. DOE invites interested parties to comment on the recommended test equipment to 

measure the AC line current, voltage, and frequency. See section III.F.3 for further detail. 

12. DOE requests comment on the proposed power meter instrumentation 

requirements such as, crest factor, bandwidth, frequency response, and sampling interval 

requirements. See section III.F.4 for further detail. 

13. DOE requests comment on the proposed calibration requirements for testing 

STBs. See section III.F.5 for further detail. 

14. DOE requests comment on the proposed requirements for testing STBs that 

require an HNI connection. Particularly, DOE requests comment on the proposed order in 

which HNI connections shall be used, that is, MoCA, followed by HPNA, followed by WiFi, and finally any other connection. DOE also requests comment about whether there are 

any additional HNI connections that should be included and the order of preference in which 

they should be included. See section III.F.6.a for further detail. 

15. DOE invites interested parties to comment on the proposed setup requirements for 

STBs requiring broadband service. Particularly, DOE requests comment on the clarification 

that a service provider network connection should take precedence over a broadband 

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connection for STBs that are designed to operate on either connection. See section III.F.6.b 

for further detail. 

16. DOE requests comment on the proposed exclusion of external equipment power 

consumption from the power consumption of the STB itself. Further, if stakeholders suggest 

that the power consumption of external equipment be tested and measured, DOE requests 

comment on the test method and standard configuration that should be used to test the 

external equipment. See section III.F.6.c for further detail. 

17. DOE requests comment on the proposed exclusion of power consumption of the 

input signal equipment from the power consumption of the STB. Further, DOE requests 

comment on the clarification that such equipment should not supply any power to the STB. 

DOE also requests feedback on the potential use of a DC block to prevent power transfer to 

and from any input signal equipment. Finally, if stakeholders indicate that this equipment 

should be tested and the power consumption be measured, DOE requests comment on the test 

method and standard configuration that should be used to test this equipment. See section 

III.F.6.d for further detail. 

18. DOE invites interested parties to comment on the proposed requirements for 

service provider network connection. In particular, DOE requests comment and data, if 

available, about whether the power consumption of a STB is similar on a live network versus 

a closed network. See section III.F.6.e for further detail. 

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19. DOE requests comment on the proposed warm-up time for stabilizing the STB. 

See section III.G.1 for further detail. 

20. DOE invites interested parties to comment on all aspects of the proposed 

configuration for testing STBs in the on, sleep, and off modes of operation. DOE is 

especially interested in receiving comments on the proposed connections for the test 

configuration. DOE also invites comments on the proposed order of preference for 

connecting a display device to the STB. See section III.G.2 for further information. 

21. DOE requests comment on the proposed requirements for streaming an 

appropriate SD or HD stream to a display device. DOE also invites comment on the proposed 

requirement to record content on a DVR integrated into the STB. Finally, DOE requests 

comment on the proposed requirements to stream content to a connected client. Specifically, 

DOE requests comment on the proposed hierarchy of content to stream to a connected client, 

which is a recorded stream followed by a channel. See section III.G.3 for further detail. 

22. DOE requests comment on the proposed methods to determine the average power 

consumption of the STB in each mode of operation. See section III.G.4 for further detail. 

23. DOE invites comment on all aspects of the proposed approach for testing the STB 

in the on mode including the proposed time period of 2 minutes for all tests in the on mode. 

The on mode measurement test includes the on (watch TV) test and multi-stream test. See 

section III.G.5 for further detail. 

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24. DOE requests comment on the proposed method for the on (watch TV) test. In 

particular, DOE requests comment on the approach of using both, an SD and HD stream for 

testing HD STBs. DOE also requests interested parties to comment, and provide data if 

available, on the percentage of streams that are available in SD and HD for HD STBs, and 

whether the proposed equation for calculating PWATCH should be changed. See section 

III.G.5.a for further detail. 

25. DOE requests comment on the approach of using a single multi-stream test as 

well as the test procedure to test STBs with multi-streaming capability. DOE is especially 

interested in receiving comments on the proposed priority list for enabling streams for testing 

STBs with multi-streaming capability. DOE also seeks feedback on whether the number of 

additional streams that should be enabled should be other than three and the reasons for 

enabling a different number of streams. DOE requests comment on the possibility of 

including a maximum power test, which would test the STB such that the maximum number 

of streams is enabled. If included, DOE requests comment on the weighting that should be 

applied for the maximum streaming test in the calculation of the AEC. See section III.G.5.b 

for further detail. 

26. DOE requests comment on all aspects of the proposed specification for setting up 

STBs for testing in sleep mode. In particular, DOE invites comment on the proposed duration 

(4 to 8 hours unless network activities prompt a longer time period) over which the power 

consumption of the STB shall be measured and averaged, and whether this duration should 

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be increased or decreased to better represent the STB power consumption in sleep mode. See 

section III.G.6 for further detail. 

27. DOE also requests comment on the proposed scheduled recording requirement 

prior to placing the STB in sleep mode to measure its power consumption. DOE requests 

interested parties to provide data, if available, on the variation in power consumption of a 

STB when a recording is scheduled versus when it is not scheduled. See section III.G.6 for 

further detail. 

28. DOE invites interested parties to comment on all aspects of the proposed method 

to address network initiated actions. DOE requests comment and data, if available, on the 

approach proposed in today’s NOPR, the approaches that were considered but have not been 

proposed, as well as any other approach that stakeholders believe would best capture the 

transition of the STB from sleep mode to on mode due to network initiated activities. See 

section III.G.6 for further detail. 

29. DOE invites comments on the proposed requirements for testing STBs in manual 

sleep mode. See section III.G.6.a for further detail. 

30. DOE requests comment on the proposed test for determining the STB power 

consumption in APD. In particular, DOE requests comment and data, if available, on the time 

required to transition to sleep mode from on mode and whether this time period should be set 

at a default value of 4 hours or adjusted during testing. DOE also requests comment on 

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potential methods to scale APD and the advantages and disadvantages of scaling the power 

consumption in APD. Finally, DOE requests comment on potential methods to account for a 

scaling APD value in the AEC metric. See section III.G.6.b for further detail. 

31. DOE invites interested parties to comment on the proposed requirements for 

testing STBs in off mode. See section III.G.7 for further detail. 

32. DOE requests comment on the proposed sleep to on mode transition time 

measurement test. See section III.G.8 for further detail. 

33. DOE requests comment on the proposed sampling plan and rounding 

requirements for making representations of the STB power consumption in each mode of 

operation. DOE also requests comment on proposed rounding requirements for AEC, which 

is calculated from the rated power consumption values. See section III.H for further detail. 

34. DOE requests comment on the proposed calculation of the AEC metric for 

determining the annual energy consumption of the STB. DOE requests comment on the 

proposed hour weightings that were developed based on the ENERGY STAR specification or 

whether the alternate hour weightings should be considered instead. DOE also invites 

comment and data, if available, on the time coefficients for each mode of operation to 

calculate the AEC. See section III.I for further detail. 

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35. DOE requests comment on the analysis of the burden to small businesses for 

testing STBs according to the proposed test procedure. DOE also requests comment on the 

expected number of small business manufacturers of STBs. See section IV.B for further 

detail. 

36. DOE requests additional information and comment for the development of a test 

procedure for LNBs, ONTs, ODUs, or other infrastructure devices and the standard 

configuration in which these devices should be tested, if stakeholders support developing a 

test procedure for them. See section III.B for further detail. 

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For the reasons stated in the preamble, DOE is proposing to amend parts 429 and 430 of 

Chapter II of Title 10, Subchapter D of the Code of Federal Regulations to read as set forth 

below: 

PART 429—CERTIFICATION, COMPLIANCE, AND ENFORCEMENT FOR 

CONSUMER PRODUCTS AND COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT 

1.	 The authority citation for part 429 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6291-6317. 

§429.11 [Amended] 

2.	 Section 429.11 is amended in paragraphs (a) and (b) by removing “429.54” and adding in its 

place “429.55”. 

3.	 Section 429.55 is added to read as follows: 

§429.55 Set-top boxes. 

(a) Sampling plan for selection of units for testing. (1) The requirements of §429.11 are 

applicable to set-top boxes; and 

(2) For each basic model of set-top box, samples shall be randomly selected and tested to ensure 

that— 

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(i)	 The represented value of power consumption in the on, sleep, and off modes of 

operation of a basic model for which consumers would favor lower values shall be 

greater than or equal to the higher of: 

(A) The mean of the sample, where: 

and, is the sample mean; n is the number of samples; and xi is the ith sample; 

Or, 

(B) The upper 95 percent confidence limit (UCL) of the true mean divided by 

1.05, where: 

And is the sample mean; s is the sample standard deviation; n is the number of 

samples; and t0.95 is the t statistic for a 95 percent one-tailed confidence interval 

with n-1 degrees of freedom (from Appendix A of this subpart). 

and 

(ii) Reserved 

(3) The represented value of the annual energy consumption shall be calculated from the rated 

power consumption in the on, sleep, and off modes of operation according to the calculation 

provided in section 6 of Appendix AA of Subpart B of 10 CFR Part 430. 

(b) Reserved. 

PART 430—ENERGY CONSERVATION PROGRAM FOR CONSUMER PRODUCTS 

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4.	 The authority citation for part 430 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 6291–6309; 28 U.S.C. 2461 note. 

5.	 Section 430.2 is amended by adding in alphabetical order the definitions of “Component 

Video”, “Composite Video, “Direct video connection”, “HDMI”, “Set-top box”, and “SVideo” to read as follows: 

§ 430.2 Definitions. 

* * * * * 

Component Video means a video display interface that meets the specification in CEA-770.3-D 

(incorporated by reference; see §430.3). 

Composite Video means a video display interface that uses a Radio Corporation of America 

(RCA) connection to transmit National Television System Committee (NTSC) analog video. 

* * * * * 

Direct video connection means any connection type that is one of the following: High-Definition 

Multimedia Interface (HDMI), Component Video, S-Video, Composite Video, or any other 

video interface that may be used to output video content. 

* * * * * 

High-Definition Multimedia Interface or HDMI means an audio/video interface that meets the 

specification in HDMI Specification Version 1.0 (incorporated by reference; see §430.3). 

* * * * * 

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Set-top box means a device combining hardware components with software programming 

designed for the primary purpose of receiving television and related services from terrestrial, 

cable, satellite, broadband, or local networks, providing video output using at least one direct 

video connection. 

* * * * * 

S-Video means a video display interface that transmits analog video over two channels: 

luminance and color. 

* * * * * 

6.	 Section 430.3 is amended by: 

a.	 Redesignating paragraphs (i) through (k) as paragraphs (j) through (l) and adding 

a new paragraph (i). 

b.	 Redesignating paragraph (l) as paragraph (n) and adding a new paragraph (m). 

c.	 Redesignating paragraph (m) as paragraph (o) and adding paragraph (o)(3). 

d.	 Redesignating paragraphs (n) and (o) as paragraphs (p) and (q). 

e. Redesignating paragraph (p) as paragraph (s) and adding a new paragraph (r). 

The additions read as follows: 

§ 430.3 Materials incorporated by reference. 

* * * * * 

(i) CEA. Consumer Electronics Association, Technology & Standards Department, 1919 S. Eads 

Street, Arlington, VA 22202, 703-907-7600, or go to www.CE.org. 

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(1) CEA-770.3-D, High Definition TV Analog Component Video Interface, approved February 

2008; IBR approved for § 430.2. 

(2) [Reserved] 

* * * * * 

(m) HDMI. High-Definition Multimedia Interface Licensing, LLC, 1140 East Arques Avenue, 

Suite 100, Sunnyvale, CA 94085, 408-616-1542, or go to www.hdmi.org. 

(1) HDMI Specification Version 1.0, High-Definition Multimedia Interface Specification, 

Informational Version 1.0, approved September 4, 2003; IBR approved for § 430.2. 

(2) [Reserved] 

* * * * * 

(o) IEC. * * * 

(3) ISO/IEC 7816-12, Identification cards – Integrated circuit cards – Part 12: Cards with 

contacts – USB electrical interface and operating procedures, approved October 1, 2005; IBR 

approved for appendix AA to subpart B. 

* * * * * 

(r) SCTE. Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers, 140 Philips Road, Exton, PA 19341, 

610-363-6888, or go to www.scte.org/standards. 

(1) ANSI/SCTE 28 2007 (“ANSI/SCTE 28”), American National Standard, HOST-POD 

Interface Standard; IBR approved for Appendix AA to Subpart B. 

(2) ANSI/SCTE 55-1 2009 (“ANSI/SCTE 55-1”), American National Standard, Digital 

Broadband Delivery System: Out of Band Transport Part 1: Mode A; IBR approved for appendix 

AA to subpart B. 

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(3) ANSI/SCTE 55-2 2008 (“ANSI/SCTE 55-2”), American National Standard, Digital 

Broadband Delivery System: Out of Band Transport Part 2: Mode B; IBR approved for appendix 

AA to subpart B. 

* * * * * 

7.	 Appendix AA to Subpart B of Part 430 is added to read as follows: 

Appendix AA to Subpart B of Part 430—Uniform Test Method for Measuring the Energy 

Consumption of Set-top Boxes 

1.	 Scope: This appendix covers the test requirements to measure the power consumption of settop boxes (STBs) in the on, sleep, and off modes and provides the method to calculate the 

annual energy consumption (AEC) of the STB. 

2.	 Definitions 

2.1.	 ANSI means the American National Standards Institute. 

2.2.	 Auto power down (APD) means a STB feature that monitors parameters correlated with 

user activity or viewing. If the parameters collectively indicate that no user activity or 

viewing is occurring, the APD feature enables the STB to transition to sleep or off 

mode. 

2.3.	 Client means any device (example: STB, thin-client STB, smart television (TV), mobile 

phone, tablet, or personal computer) that can receive content over a home network 

interface (HNI). 

2.4.	 Content provider means an entity that provides video programming content. 

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2.5.	 Crest factor means the ratio of the peak current to the root-mean-square (rms) current. 

2.6.	 Digital video recorder (DVR) means a STB feature that records television signals on a 

hard disk drive (HDD) or other non-volatile storage device integrated into the STB. A 

DVR often includes features such as: Play, Record, Pause, Fast Forward (FF), and Fast 

Rewind (FR). STBs that support a service provider network-based “DVR” service are 

not considered DVR STBs for purposes of this test procedure. The presence of DVR 

functionality does not mean the device is defined to be a STB. 

2.7.	 Display device means a device (example: TV, Computer Monitor, or Portable TV) that 

receives its content directly from a STB through a video interface (example: HighDefinition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), Component Video, Composite Video, or SVideo), not through an HNI, and displays it for viewing. 

2.8.	 Harmonic means a component of order n of the Fourier series that describes the 

periodic current or voltage (where n is an integer greater than 1). 

2.9.	 High definition test stream (HD) means video content delivered to the STB by the 

content provider to produce a minimum output resolution of 1280 × 720 pixels in 

progressive scan mode at a minimum frame rate of 59.94 frames per second (fps) 

(abbreviated 720p60) or a minimum output resolution of 1920 × 1080 pixels in 

interlaced scan mode at 29.97 fps (abbreviated 1080i30). 

2.10. Home network interface (HNI) means an interface with external devices over a local 

area network (example: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 

(Wireless-Fidelity or Wi-Fi), Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA), HomePNA 

alliance (HPNA), IEEE 802.3, HomePlug AV) that is capable of transmitting video 

content. 

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2.11. IEC means International Electrotechnical Commission. 

2.12. ISO means the International Organization for Standardization. 

2.13. Low noise block-downconverter (LNB) means a combination of low-noise amplifier, 

block-downconverter and intermediate frequencies (IF) amplifier. It takes the received 

microwave transmission, amplifies it, down-converts the block of frequencies to a 

lower block of IF where the signal can be amplified and fed to the indoor satellite TV 

STB using coaxial cable. 

2.14. Multi-stream means a STB feature that may provide independent video content to one 

or more clients, one or more directly connected TVs, or a DVR. 

2.15. Outdoor unit (ODU) means satellite signal reception components including: a receiving 

dish, one or more LNBs, and imbedded or independent radio frequency (RF) switches, 

used to distribute a satellite service provider network to consumer satellite STBs. 

2.16. Point of deployment (POD) module means a plug-in card that complies with the 

ANSI/SCTE 28 (incorporated by reference; see §430.3) interface and is inserted into a 

digital-cable-ready device to enable the decryption of services and provide other 

network control functions. 

2.17. Power mode means a condition or state of a device that broadly characterizes its 

capabilities, power consumption, power indicator coding, and responsiveness to input. 

2.18. Principal STB Function means functions necessary for selecting, receiving, decoding, 

decompressing, or delivering video content to a display device, DVR, or client. 

Monitoring for user or network requests is not considered a principal STB function. 

2.19. Satellite STB means a STB that receives and decodes video content as delivered from a 

service provider satellite network. 

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2.20. SCTE means The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers, Inc. 

2.21. Service provider means a business entity that provides video content, a delivery 

network, and associated installation and support services to subscribers with whom it 

has an ongoing contractual relationship. 

2.22. Smart Card means a plug-in card that complies with ISO/IEC 7816-12 (incorporated by 

reference; see §430.3) and is inserted into a satellite STB to enable the decryption of 

services and provide other network control functions. 

2.23. Standard definition test stream (SD) means video content delivered to the STB by the 

content provider to produce an output resolution of 640 × 480 pixels in interlaced scan 

mode at minimum frame rate of 29.97 fps (abbreviated 480i30). 

2.24. Thin-client STB means a STB that can receive content over an HNI from another STB, 

but is unable to interface directly to the service provider network. 

2.25. Definitions of Power Modes. 

2.25.1. On mode means the STB is connected to a mains power source. At least one 

principal STB function is activated and all principal STB functions are provisioned 

for use. The power consumption in on mode may vary based on specific use and 

configuration. 

2.25.2. Sleep mode means a range of reduced power states where the STB is connected to 

a mains power source and is not providing any principal STB function. The STB 

may transition to on or off mode due to user action, internal signal, or external 

signal. The power consumed in this mode may vary based on specific use or 

configuration. If any principal STB function is activated while operating in this 

mode, the STB is assumed to transition to on mode. Monitoring for user or network 

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requests is not considered a principal STB function. The STB shall be able to 

transition from this mode to on mode within 30 seconds to be considered in sleep 

mode. 

2.25.3. Off mode means the STB is connected to a mains power source, has been deactivated, and is not providing any function. The STB requires a user action to 

transition from this mode to on or sleep mode. 

Note: Sleep and off modes may not be available on all STBs. 

3. Test Conditions 

3.1. Set-top Box Settings. 

3.1.1.	 For STBs that require subscription to a service, select the simplest available video 

subscription that supports all functionality specified in this test procedure (example: 

HD streaming, multi-stream, DVR, etc.). That is, select a subscription with TV 

services only; services with non-video capability, such as telephony, shall not be 

selected. 

3.1.2.	 If the STB can be installed by the consumer per the manufacturer’s instructions 

without the service of a technician, then install and setup the STB according to the 

instructions provided in the user manual shipped with the unit. Setup the STB using 

only those instructions in the user manual. Setup is considered complete once these 

instructions are followed. 

3.1.3.	 If the STB must be installed by a technician per the manufacturer’s instructions, 

then it shall be setup as installed by the technician using this test procedure. All 

steps that a technician would follow when installing a STB for use in a consumer 

residence should be followed. Information about each of the steps that were 

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performed to setup the STB by a technician shall be recorded and maintained by the 

manufacturer pursuant to 10 CFR Part 429.71. 

3.2. Test Room. Tests shall be carried out in a room with the following requirements: 

3.2.1.	 The air speed surrounding the STB shall be less than or equal to 0.5 meters per 

second (m/s). 

3.2.2.	 The ambient temperature shall be maintained at 23 °C ± 5 °C for the duration of 

the test. 

3.2.3. The STB shall be tested on a thermally non-conductive surface. 

4. Test Setup 

4.1. Test Voltage. STBs intended to be powered by the alternating current (AC) mains shall 

utilize a power source with the following requirements: 

4.1.1. An input voltage of 115 volts ± 1 percent. 

4.1.2. A frequency of 60 hertz ± 1 percent. 

4.1.3.	 Total harmonic distortion of the supply voltage shall not exceed 2 percent up to 

and including the 13th harmonic. 

4.1.4.	 The peak value of the test voltage shall be between 1.34 and 1.49 times its rms 

value. That is, the crest factor shall be between 1.34 and 1.49. 

4.2. Measurement Accuracy. Power measurements of 0.5 watt (W) or greater shall be made 

with an uncertainty of less than or equal to 2 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. 

Power measurements of less than 0.5 W shall be made with an uncertainty of less than or 

equal to 0.01 W at the 95 percent confidence level. The power measurement instrument 

shall have a resolution of: 

4.2.1. 0.01 W or better for power measurements of 10 W or less; 

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4.2.2.	 0.1 W or better for power measurements of greater than 10 W and up to 100 W; 

and 

4.2.3. 1 watt or better for power measurements of greater than 100 W. 

For equipment connected to more than one phase, the power measurement instrument 

shall be equipped to measure the total power of all of the phases connected. 

4.3. Test Equipment. The following should be considered when selecting test equipment: 

4.3.1.	 An oscilloscope with a current probe to monitor AC line current waveform, 

amplitude, and frequency. 

4.3.2. A true rms voltmeter to verify voltage at the input of the STB. 

4.3.3. A frequency counter to verify frequency at the input of the STB. 

4.4. True Power Wattmeter. 

4.4.1. Crest factor. A true power wattmeter shall be used and shall have: 

4.4.1.1. Accuracy and resolution in accordance with section 4.2. 

4.4.1.2. Sufficient bandwidth. 

4.4.1.3. A crest factor rating that is appropriate for the waveforms being measured 

and capable of reading the available current waveform without clipping the 

waveform. The peak of the current waveform measured during sleep and on 

modes for the STB shall be used to determine the crest factor rating and the 

current range setting. The full-scale value of the selected current range 

multiplied by the crest factor for that range shall be at least 15 percent greater 

than the peak current to prevent measurement error. 

4.4.2.	 Bandwidth. The current and voltage signal shall be analyzed to determine the 

highest frequency component (that is, harmonic) with a magnitude greater than 1 

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percent of the fundamental frequency under the test conditions. The minimum 

bandwidth of the test instruments shall be determined by the highest frequency 

component of the signal. 

4.4.3.	 Frequency response. A wattmeter with a frequency response of at least 3 kilohertz (kHz) shall be used in order to account for harmonics up to the 50th harmonic. 

4.4.4.	 Sampling Interval. The wattmeter shall be capable of sampling at intervals less 

than or equal to 1 second. 

Note: Electronic equipment can cause harmonic waveforms that lead to inaccuracies 

in power measurements. 

4.5. Calibration. Test instruments shall be calibrated annually to traceable national standards 

to ensure that the limits of error in measurement are not greater than ± 0.5 percent of the 

measured value over the required bandwidth of the output. 

4.6. Network Setup. 

4.6.1.	 Home Network Connection. STB configurations that require the use of a home 

network (example: thin-client STB) shall use the HNI option according to the 

following order of preference. The first available connection that the STB supports 

shall be used: 

1. Multimedia over Coaxial Alliance (MoCA); 

2. Home PNA Alliance (HPNA); 

3. Wi-Fi (802.11); or 

4. Other HNI connection. 

4.6.2.	 Broadband Service. If the STB includes an HNI, and the HNI shall be connected 

to broadband service for operation of a principal STB function, it shall be tested 

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while connected to a broadband network. Broadband performance criteria (that is, 

download speed, upload speed, latency, etc.) shall meet the specified requirements 

of the STB to fulfill the principal STB functions. For STBs designed to operate both 

with a broadband connection and a service provider network connection, the service 

provider connection takes precedence, and the broadband connection shall only be 

made if the STB requires it for operating a principal STB function. 

4.6.3.	 Service Provider Network Distribution Equipment. If the STB requires the use of 

external equipment to connect the service provider network to the STB, then the 

power consumption of this equipment shall not be included as part of the STB 

power measurement. This includes required service provider network distribution 

equipment such as network gateways, network routers, network bridges, optical 

network terminals (ONTs), wireless access points, media extenders, or any other 

device required for distribution of a service provider network to the STB. 

4.6.4.	 Input Signal Equipment. When an ODU, over the air (OTA) antenna amplifier, 

cable TV (CATV) distribution amplifier, or similar signal equipment is required and 

the power for that equipment is supplied from the STB, then the measurement shall 

not include the power consumption of that equipment, unless the equipment cannot 

be powered from a source other than the STB. If the signal equipment cannot be 

powered from a source other than the STB, then the power for these equipment shall 

be included in the STB power consumption measurement and the signal equipment 

should be configured in its lowest power consuming mode. However, if the signal 

equipment can be powered from a source other than the STB, then it shall be 

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powered from another source, and such equipment shall not deliver any power to the 

connected STB. 

4.6.5.	 Service Provider Network Connection. The STB shall be tested with a specific 

service provider network or a simulated environment verified by the service 

provider, and the STB shall be configured to simulate a subscriber operating 

environment. This shall include the ability to access the full services of the service 

provider network required by the STB, such as content, program guides, software 

updates, and other STB features that require network services to fully function. If 

the STB requires a POD or Smart Card, then it shall be connected, authorized, and 

operational. Essential STB peripheral devices, required for the normal operation of 

the STB, such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB) powered external HDD, a USB 

powered Wi-Fi dongle, or a USB powered OTA receiver, shall be connected and 

operational. Optional peripheral devices shall not be connected to the STB. 

The STB may be tested in a laboratory environment containing control equipment 

comparable to a live service provider system. For example, a cable STB may be 

tested in a laboratory that contains a conditional access system, the appropriate 

equipment to communicate with the STB (example: ANSI/SCTE 55-1 (incorporated 

by reference; see §430.3) or ANSI/SCTE 55-2 forward and reverse data channel 

hardware or data-over-cable service interface specification (DOCSIS) 

infrastructure), and the appropriate interconnections (example: diplexers, splitters, 

and coaxial cables). 

5.	 Test Procedure for Determining the Power Consumption of the Set-top Box in different 

Modes of Operation 

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5.1. Set-top Box Warm-up. Allow the STB to operate in on mode while receiving and 

decoding video for at least 15 minutes so the STB can achieve stable condition. 

5.2. Test Configuration Information. 

5.2.1.	 The display device and client setup is described in Table 1 of this appendix. 

Based on the capability of the STB, the appropriate number of display devices and 

clients shall be connected. 

Table 1: Display Device and Client Connection Setup. 

Supports Multiple 

Display Devices? 

Supports 

DVR? 

Supports 

Clients? 

Number of 

Connected Display 

Devices 

Number of 

Connected 

Clients 

X X X 1 1 

X X 2 0 

X X 2 1 

X X 1 1 

X 2 or 3* 0 

X 1 0 

X 1 1 or 2* 

1 0 

* The highest number of connections supported by the STB shall be used. 

5.2.2.	 Connecting to a Display Device. The STB shall be connected to the number of 

display devices required based on the setup requirements specified in Table 1. The 

following order of preference shall be used to connect each display device to the 

STB. The first available connection that the STB supports shall be used: 

1. HDMI 

2. Component Video 

3. S-Video 

4. Composite Video 

5. Other video interface 

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5.2.3.	 Connecting to a Client. The STB shall be connected to the number of clients 

required based on the setup requirements specified in Table 1. An HNI connection 

shall be used to connect the client to the STB. The order of preference in which an 

HNI connection shall be selected is specified in section 4.6.1. 

5.3. Test Conduct. 

The following section is provided as guidance when conducting the various on, sleep, 

and off mode tests. When multiple streams are enabled, different content shall be 

selected to output to a display device, record on a DVR integrated into the STB, and 

stream to a connected client. 

5.3.1.	 Output to a Display Device. For tests requiring output to a display device, a 

channel shall be selected and viewed on the connected display device(s) as required 

by the test configuration. For STBs that do not support channels, an appropriate SD 

or HD test stream shall be selected and the content shall be viewed as indicated. If 

more than one display device is connected to the STB based on the test 

configuration from Table 1, then the content outputted on each display device shall 

be different. 

5.3.2.	 Recording for a STB with DVR capability. For tests that require recording on a 

DVR, a channel shall be selected using a connected display device or a client and 

the program shall be recorded. If more than one recording is enabled on a DVR that 

is integrated into the STB, the content for each recording shall be different. 

5.3.3.	 Streaming to a Connected Client. The content streamed to a client shall be 

selected in the following order of preference depending on the number of streams 

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enabled. The first available stream that is supported by each connected client shall 

be enabled and the content on each stream shall be different. 

5.3.3.1. Stream with recorded content. That is, previously recorded content shall be 

viewed on a display device connected to a client. 

5.3.3.2. Stream with channel content. That is, a channel (SD stream for an SD client 

and HD stream for an HD client) shall be viewed on the connected display 

device. For clients that do not support channels, select an appropriate SD or 

HD test stream and view the content as indicated. 

5.3.3.3. Other streaming option. If the streams from sections 5.3.3.1 and 5.3.3.2are 

not supported, use another stream that is available. 

5.4. Calculation of Average and Rated Power Consumption. 

5.4.1.	 For all tests in the on, sleep, and off modes (sections 5.5, 5.6, and 5.7), the 

average power shall be calculated using one of the following two methods: 

5.4.1.1. Record the accumulated energy (Ei) in kilo-watt hours (kWh) consumed over 

the time period specified for each test (Ti). The average power consumption is 

calculated as Pi = Ei/Ti. 

5.4.1.2. Record the average power consumption (Pi) by sampling the power at a rate 

of at least 1 sample per second and computing the arithmetic mean of all 

samples over the time period specified for each test (Ti). 

5.4.2.	 The rated power consumption in the on, sleep, and off modes shall be determined 

as follows: 

5.4.2.1. Apply the sampling and statistical requirements described in 10 CFR Part 

429.55 to the average power consumption values in each mode of operation. 

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5.4.2.2. The resulting rated power consumption value, for each mode of operation, 

shall be rounded according to the accuracy requirements specified in section 

4.2. 

5.5. On Mode Power Measurement. 

5.5.1.	 The time period for each test in the on mode (sections 5.5.2 and 5.5.3), TON, is 2 

minutes. 

5.5.2.	 On (Watch TV). The on (watch TV) test shall be performed on all STBs as 

follows. 

5.5.2.1. On (Watch TV SD). 

5.5.2.1.1. Configure the STB as specified in section 5.2. 

5.5.2.1.2. Of all the connections to the STB, only one stream shall be enabled 

and shall stream to a display device. No additional streams shall be 

sent to other connected display devices and/or clients. 

5.5.2.1.3. If supported, select an SD channel and view on the connected 

display device. For STBs using a content provider that does not 

support channels, select an appropriate SD test stream and view the 

content as indicated. 

5.5.2.1.4.	 Begin on mode power consumption measurement and record the 

average power consumption with the SD source content for 2 

minutes as PWATCH_SD. 

5.5.2.2. On (Watch TV HD). 

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5.5.2.2.1.	 If the STB supports HD streaming, repeat the test in section 5.5.2 

using HD content instead of SD content and record this value as 

PWATCH_HD. 

5.5.2.3. Calculation of PWATCH. Compute PWATCH according to the following equation: 

Where: 

PWATCH = the power consumption (in watts (W)) in on (watch TV) mode, 

PWATCH_SD = the power consumption (in W) in on (watch TV SD) mode when an SD test 

stream is used, and 

PWATCH_HD = the power consumption (in W) in on (watch TV HD) state when an HD test 

stream is used. 

5.5.3. Multi-stream 

5.5.3.1. Perform this test only if the STB supports multi-streaming as defined in 

section 2.14. 

5.5.3.2. Configure the STB as specified in section 5.2 of this appendix. Table 2 of this 

appendix describes how to setup the multi-stream test. Choose the highest 

priority (smallest number option) that the STB supports. 

Table 2: Priority List for the Multi-stream Test. 

Priority for Enabling Multi-streaming Number of Streams Enabled: 

- 1 is highest priority 

- 9 is lowest priority 

To Display 

Devices 

To Record on 

DVR 

To Connect to 

Clients 

1 1 1 1 

2 2 1 -

3 2 - 1 

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4 1 2 -

5 1 - 2 

6 3 - -

7 1 1 -

8 1 - 1 

9 2 - -

5.5.3.3. All streams required for the feasible STB configuration shall be enabled 

using appropriate content as described in section 5.3 of this appendix. If the 

STB or connected client(s) support HD streaming, an HD stream shall be used, 

otherwise an SD stream shall be used. 

5.5.3.4. Begin the multi-stream mode power consumption measurement and record 

the average power consumption for 2 minutes as PMULTI_STREAM. 

5.6. Sleep Mode Power Measurement. 

5.6.1.	 Only run the test for each mode if the STB supports this functionality, as defined 

in section 2.25.2. If the STB cannot be placed in sleep mode as defined in section 

2.25.2 using a remote control, then this test shall be skipped. 

5.6.2.	 The time period for each test in the sleep mode (sections 5.6.7 and 5.6.8 of this 

appendix), TSLEEP, shall be between 4 to 8 hours. The time period shall be extended 

beyond 8 hours only if required as described in section 5.6.4 of this appendix. 

5.6.3.	 Assure no recording events are scheduled over the entire duration of the test, 

including the time prior to transitioning to sleep mode. If the STB is capable of 

scheduling a recording, schedule a recording 24 or more hours into the future. 

5.6.4.	 Assure no service provider network initiated actions requiring a transition to on 

mode occur during the 4 to 8 hour time period that the STB is in sleep mode 

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(example: content downloads or software updates). If a service provider network 

initiated activity cannot be disabled, then this shall be monitored as follows: 

5.6.4.1. The power consumption shall be sampled at a rate of at least 1 sample per 

second. 

5.6.4.2. For input powers less than or equal to 1 W, a linear regression through all 

power readings shall have a slope of less than 10 milli-watts per hour (mW/h). 

If the slope of the linear regression is equal to or greater than 10 mW/h the test 

shall either be restarted or extended until a slope of less than 10 mW/h is 

achieved. 

5.6.4.3. For input powers greater than 1 W, a linear regression through all power 

readings shall have a slope of less than 1 percent of the measured input power 

per hour. If the slope of the linear regression is equal to or greater than 1 

percent the test shall either be restarted or extended until a slope of less than 1 

percent is achieved. 

5.6.4.4. If the test is extended beyond 8 hours to achieve the desired condition, the 

average power consumption over the entire test duration shall be reported for 

PSLEEP_MANUAL and PSLEEP_APD and these values shall be used to determine the 

AEC. 

5.6.5.	 Assure no local area network initiated actions requiring a transition to on mode 

are scheduled during the 4 to 8 hour time period that the STB is in sleep mode 

(example: mobile applications or other network devices requesting service). 

5.6.6. Configure the STB as specified in section 5.2 of this appendix. 

5.6.7. Manual Sleep Test. 

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5.6.7.1. If the STB does not support sleep mode, then set PSLEEP_MANUAL equal to 

PWATCH. 

5.6.7.2. For STBs that are capable of transitioning to sleep mode, operate the STB in 

the multi-stream test configuration (section 5.5.3 of this appendix) for at least 5 

minutes if the STB supports multi-streaming. If the STB does not support 

multi-streaming, operate the STB in the on (watch TV) configuration (section 

5.5.2 of this appendix) for at least 5 minutes. 

5.6.7.3. Momentarily (< 1 second) press the “Power” button on the remote for the 

STB, and each locally connected display device and client, to place the STB, 

and each locally connected display device and client, into sleep mode as 

defined in section 2.25.2. Some STBs may require a short period of time 

before they actually enter a lower power consumption mode. 

5.6.7.4. Do not use (or move) the STB remote control after section 5.6.7.3 of this 

appendix. 

5.6.7.5. Ensure that the STB and each locally connected client has entered sleep mode 

by verifying no channel viewing or recording is supported on the STB and 

client(s). That is, there shall be no video output on the connected display 

device(s) from the STB and any locally connected clients. 

5.6.7.6. Begin manual sleep mode power consumption measurement and record the 

average power consumed as PSLEEP_MANUAL over the time period as determined 

in section 5.6.2 of this appendix. 

5.6.8. Auto Power Down (APD) Test. 

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5.6.8.1. Perform this test only if the STB supports auto power down as defined in 

section 2.2 of this appendix. 

5.6.8.2. If the STB supports multi-streaming, operate the STB in the multi-stream 

configuration (section 5.5.2 of this appendix) for at least 5 minutes. If the STB 

does not support multi-streaming, operate the STB in the on (watch TV) 

configuration (section 5.5.2 of this appendix) for at least 5 minutes. 

5.6.8.3. Momentarily (< 1 second) press the “Power” button on the remote only for 

any locally connected clients to place the clients into sleep mode as defined in 

section 2.25.2. Some clients may require a short period of time before they 

actually enter a lower power consumption mode. If more than one display 

device is locally connected to the STB, press the “Power” button for the 

additional locally connected display devices and stream content to one display 

device only. 

5.6.8.4. Do not use (or move) the STB remote control after section 5.6.8.3 of this 

appendix. 

5.6.8.5. Allow the STB to operate until the STB enters sleep mode or until 4 hours 

have elapsed, whichever occurs first. 

5.6.8.6. If 4 hours have elapsed and the STB is not in sleep mode, then the unit is not 

considered to support APD and PSLEEP_APD shall be set equal to PWATCH. 

5.6.8.7. Once the STB is in APD, begin power consumption measurement in APD 

and record the average power consumed as PSLEEP_APD over the time period as 

determined in section 5.6.2 of this appendix. 

5.7. Off Mode Power Measurement. 

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5.7.1.	 Place the STB in off mode. If the STB cannot be placed off mode as defined in 

section 2.25.3, then this test shall be skipped. 

5.7.2. Wait until the STB enters off mode. 

5.7.3. Record the average power for 2 minutes as POFF. 

5.8. Sleep to On Mode Transition Time Measurement. The following test is optional and 

should be performed to verify that the STB’s operation qualifies for sleep mode as 

described in section 2.25.2. 

5.8.1.	 For the manual sleep test, place the STB in sleep mode according to the steps 

specified in sections 5.6.7.2 through 5.6.7.5 of this appendix. For the APD test, 

place the STB in sleep mode according to the steps specified in sections 5.6.8.2 

through 5.6.8.6 of this appendix. 

5.8.2.	 Once the STB enters sleep mode, wait until the STB power consumption reaches 

PSLEEP_MANUAL (+0.5 W, -0.0 W) for the manual sleep test and PSLEEP_APD (+0.5 W, -

0.0 W) for the APD test. 

5.8.3.	 After the STB power consumption reaches the desired value as specified in 

section 5.8.2 of this appendix, remain in sleep mode for at least 5 minutes. 

5.8.4.	 Momentarily (< 1 second) press the “Power” button on the remote or front panel 

of the STB. 

5.8.5. Begin the elapsed time measurement. 

5.8.6.	 Stop elapsed time measurement when the STB enters on mode. It shall be ensured 

that the STB has entered on mode when it supports channel viewing on the 

connected display device or client. 

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5.8.7.	 The duration to transition from sleep mode to on mode shall be recorded as 

TSLEEP_TO_ON, and this value shall be used to compare against the sleep mode 

requirements described in section 2.25.2. 

6. Calculation of the Annual Energy Consumption of the Set-top Box 

6.1. The AEC of the STB shall be calculated using the rated values of power consumption in 

the on, sleep, and off modes of operation (see section 5.4.2 for calculation of rated power 

consumption values). 

6.2. Compute the AEC of the STB using the equation below. The computed AEC value shall 

be rounded as follows: 

6.2.1.	 If the computed AEC value is 100 kWh or less, the rated value shall be rounded to 

the nearest tenth of a kWh. 

6.2.2.	 If the computed AEC value is greater than 100 kWh, the rated value shall be 

rounded to the nearest kWh. 

Where: 

AEC = annual energy consumption (in kWh per year), 

PWATCH = the rated power consumption value (in W) in on (watch TV) mode, 

HWATCH = the number of hours assigned to on (watch TV) mode according to Table 3 of this 

appendix, 

PMULTI_STREAM = the rated power consumption (in W) in the multi-stream test in on mode, 

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HMULTI_STREAM = the number of hours assigned to multi-stream according to Table 3 of this 

appendix, 

PSLEEP_MANUAL = the rated power consumption (in W) in the manual sleep test in sleep mode, 

HSLEEP_MANUAL = the number of hours assigned to manual sleep according to Table 3 of this 

appendix, 

PSLEEP_APD = the rated power consumption (in W) in the APD test in sleep mode, 

HSLEEP_APD = the number of hours assigned to APD according to Table 3 of this appendix, 

POFF = the rated power consumption (in W) in off mode, and 

HOFF = the number of hours assigned to off mode according to Table 3 of this appendix. 

Table 3: Number of Hours Assigned to each STB Mode of Operation. 

APD 

Enabled 

by 

Default? 

Multistream? HWATCH HMULTI_STREAM HSLEEP_MANUAL HSLEEP_APD HOFF 

NO NO 14 0 10 0 0 

YES NO 7 0 10 7 0 

NO YES 9 5 10 0 0 

YES YES 2 5 10 7 0 

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