The always-on set-top cable box has recently been targeted as a chief energy hog, on the household hit list for inefficiency and waste. Last year, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) reported that the average new cable or satellite box with a high-definition digital video recorder (HD DVR) consumes more electricity annually than a new flat panel TV and more than half the energy of an average new refrigerator.
In the new world of home connectivity, making a set-top box energy-efficient becomes both a challenge and a necessity, because many set-top boxes will serve as gateways into the home not just for hundreds of video channels, but for Internet services, VoIP phone and networking—all features that require more energy and 24/7 network readiness.
CableLabs and set-top box chip maker Broadcom are out to change the industry. CableLabs has promised boxes that save energy by going into “light sleep” modes by September, and Broadcom says set-top boxes with its new energy-saving chipsets should be available by then.
Recently, Broadcom released its new BCM7425VMS chip that can allow up to four different power states, programmable by the cable or satellite operator or hardware vendor. The chips lowest power state, “Deep standby,” consumes less than half a watt of electricity and can resume full active video decoding in 4 seconds.
For more information see the article, “Should Cable Boxes Be Put to Sleep?” by Steven Castle.
