# Which uses more power, a CRT or LCD screen?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-uses-more-power-a-crt-or-lcd-screen/107212>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 4, 2002, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-uses-more-power-a-crt-or-lcd-screen/107212 "2002-05-04T04:17:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2002, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-uses-more-power-a-crt-or-lcd-screen/107212/1 "2002-05-04T04:17:17Z")

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Which uses more power, a CRT or LCD display, assumming each display is the same size?

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**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2002, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-uses-more-power-a-crt-or-lcd-screen/107212/2 "2002-05-04T04:30:18Z")

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A CRT. By a lot. A CRT is a big electron gun. Takes a lot of oomph to accelerate the electrons and control them.

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**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2002, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-uses-more-power-a-crt-or-lcd-screen/107212/3 "2002-05-04T15:34:42Z")

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My LCD book says it uses 80% less than a CRT.

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**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2002, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-uses-more-power-a-crt-or-lcd-screen/107212/4 "2002-05-04T16:57:14Z")

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Where would I find the actuall numbers for a certain size screen? Have CRT’s gotten more efficient over the years? I think that the phosphor’s should have improved their efficiency, but I don’t know how much.

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**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2002, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-uses-more-power-a-crt-or-lcd-screen/107212/5 "2002-05-04T23:48:13Z")

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Maybe [howstuffworks.com](http://howstuffworks.com) aka [howthingswork.com](http://howthingswork.com) ?

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**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\
**Post date:** [May 5, 2002, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-uses-more-power-a-crt-or-lcd-screen/107212/6 "2002-05-05T00:04:25Z")

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Why not manufacturers’ web sites? e.g. from [Eizo](http://www.eizo.com/products/index.htm):

Eizo FlexScan F520: 17" CRT, active display size 397mm, power consumption 80W

Eizo FlexScan L465: 16" LCD, active display size 406mm, power consumption 45W