Environmental Screening and Evaluation of Energy-using Products (EuP) Final Report
18 Simple Converter Boxes for digital television (Lot ?)
- 18.1 Background
- 18.2 Environmental screening based on the Ecoinvent database
- 18.3 Ecolabel requirements
- 18.4 Technology and market trends
- 18.5 Conclusion
18.1 Background
There is no EuP project group for Simple Converter Boxes. The EuP project group for Complex set-top Boxes is still working and there are no background documents available at present.
In 1997, a working group lead by the European Commission identified the digital service system (simple set-top boxes) as the domestic electronic device with one of the largest potential to increase energy consumption in European households. Research into proposed development showed that by 2010, simple set-top boxes could push domestic electronic energy consumption in Europe above that of refrigerators and freezers. With potentially over 200 million of these boxes across the EU - equivalent to one per household – the annual electricity requirement for digital service systems with full functionality and poor power management could be around 60TWh.
18.2 Environmental screening based on the Ecoinvent database
As there are no data in the Ecoinvent database for “Simple Converter Boxes for digital television”, an environmental screening has not been performed for this product group.
18.3 Ecolabel requirements
It has not been possible to find Ecolabel criteria for “Complex set top boxes”.
To limit the potential growth in energy consumption from simple set-top boxes a voluntary programme was introduced, the European Code of Conduct for Digital TV Services, developed by a working group which includes all the stakeholders[7]. The Code of Conduct sets out the basic principles to be followed by all parties involved in digital TV services, operating in the European Community in respect of energy efficient equipment. Figure 18.1 show the power consumption of new set-top boxes sold in the EU by companies that have signed the Code of Conduct requirements. Simple set-top boxes not designed to be efficient may always be on with a power consumption of 20W or more.
It is also important to notice in Figure 18.2 that both the standby and on-mode power have decreased in the period 2001 to 2005 despite a strong improvement in performance and features.
![Figure 18.2 Power consumption for simple set-top boxes 2001-2005. Source: [HAR2006].](images/s132b.gif)
Figure 18.2 Power consumption for simple set-top boxes 2001-2005. Source: [HAR2006].
18.4 Technology and market trends
A major driver for the increase in electricity consumption is the move to digital TV and broadband communication. In order to utilise the benefits of digital TV, one needs a new flat screen (LCD) TV, which is capable of displaying the digital TV signals directly, or one needs an external converter box that converts the received digital signal into an analogue signal, which can be displayed on the analogue TV set. The converter is usually an external electronic device (set top box) with the sole purpose of converting TV signals. It is in most cases always on, although some boxes may have some kind of rudimentary stand-by function.
The European Union is rapidly moving toward the switch to digital TV and the phase-out of analogue broadcasting. This means that the current stock of analogue TVs will need set-top converter boxes in order to function. In 2004 and 2005 millions of these boxes were sold in European countries.
At the same time, digital TV is competing on the market with more sophisticated services and offers. When the convergence between Information Communication Technology equipment and Consumer Electronics takes off, the simple set-top converter boxes needs to be replaced with more advances set-top boxes, which will have a big impact on energy consumption as the new set-top boxes gets more complex and more powerful (see the subsequent section on complex set-top boxes).
Digital Terrestrial TV and cable TV is designed for broadcasting (one-to-many). The format of transmission is determined by international standards, most of which are developed by the European and International Telecommunication Standardisation Bodies such as the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) of the ISO/IEC standardisation bodies. The MPEG-2 Transport, video and audio standards for broadcast-quality television were the first standards introduced. MPEG-2 is used for over-the-air digital television, digital satellite TV services, and with slight modifications, as the files that carry the images on DVDs. MPEG-4 was introduced in 1998 and designated a new standard for audio and video coding formats for television broadcasts. MPEG-4 is more efficient and more robust than is MPEG-2 and is today the choice for new television services and broadcasters.
According to the Canalys research company the number of households with digital TV in Western European countries was already over the 50 million during the first half of 2005. This high number has been reached through the switch from analogue to digital by pay-TV providers and the set up of free-to-air services in many Member States. The European Commission has indicated a switchover target of 2010, and the stronger than anticipated success of digital TV in several countries - including France, Germany and Sweden – means that many European countries would be meeting the target. [Til2005]
The United Kingdom has one of the highest DTT penetration rates in Europe with over 6 million households relying on the DTT platform as their main television reception platform. Other recent reports announced that 10 million Digital Terrestrial Transmission (DTT) set-top boxes have been sold in the United Kingdom. The UK is aiming for analogue switch-off in 2012.
In France, digital TV services (TNT) were launched 31 March 2005 and by the end of October 2006, 65 percent of households were covered by digital terrestrial broadcast (DVB-T). The free (public) channels in France transmit using the MPEG-2 standard, whereas the commercial channels transmit in MPEG-4. In France approximately 1.7 million DTT set-top boxes were sold as of the end of 2005.
The DTT platform has also progressed strongly in the Nordic countries.
In Denmark, the analogue terrestrial broadcast network will be phased out until November 2009. Digital broadcasting has started and is growing rapidly as consumers are buying TV sets with either build in converters or external set top converter boxes. However, the Danish standard today is MPEG-2 whereas is has politically been decided to require the more advanced standard MPEG-4 to be introduced in 2010 as part of the public service obligations. This means that consumers will have to replace once again their set-top boxes or add a new set-top box capable of receiving TV signals in MPEG-4 format. This will mean additional (and unnecessary) power consumption and increased EEE waste. Especially the latter is a course of concern, since the size of set-top boxes is so small that a large share of them is likely to enter the household waste stream.
Sweden, which was one of the first countries to launch a digital terrestrial service, is expected to be one of the first to switch off analogue transmissions in 2008. In Sweden, DTT is currently the fastest growing digital platform. Nearly 600,000 households access the available free-to-air and pay DTT services. Finland currently holds the highest DTT penetration rates in Europe with nearly 30% of its population accessing DTT services.
In Germany over 60% of the population can now access digital terrestrial TV services. It is estimated that over 4.5 million DTT receivers have been sold in Germany (other reports quote about 3.5 millions) [EIS2008]. Germany has taken a regional approach to analogue switch-off, with the last region not scheduled to make the move until 2010. These dates, much more than consumer demand, will shape digital TV adoption in Germany where pay-TV cable providers still serve most of their customers by multi-channel analogue transmission. [Til2005].
In Italy, free-to-air digital TV had a strong growth, partially due to the government subsidies available on terrestrial digital set-top boxes. Italy it is estimated that over 3 million set-top boxes have been sold in 2004 and 2005. In Spain at the end of 2005, 1 million households could access DTT services.
DTT growth has been slower in Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland where cable reception dominates the television market. The Czech Republic launched its DTT services in October 2005 and 150,000 DTT set-top boxes have been sold. DTT launches have been announced in Estonia, Slovakia and Lithuania. Ongoing DTT trials are in place in Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Macedonia, Poland, Serbia-Montenegro, Slovakia and Slovenia.
Together with cumulative DTT set-top boxes sales throughout Europe, it is estimated that over 20 million DTT set-top boxes have now been sold. The number of DTT households in Europe increased from 8.2 million at the end of 2004 to 11.6 million by mid 2005. [Mou2006]
The energy consequence is a burgeoning growth in the demand for set top boxes as we move towards the shut down of analogue broadcasts. Given that there are likely to be some 2 billion installed televisions world wide (of which very few will have digital tuners), the world demand for digital set top box converters could conceivably something like 1.5 billion over the next 10 years. China itself estimates the need for some 500 million digital to analogue converters [ACE2004]. The worrying aspect is that many of these products use significant amounts of power and there is no protocol for them to automatically power down when a connected analogue device is not in use.
18.5 Conclusion
18.5.1 Environmental impact in a system and life-cycle perspective
Conversion to digital broadcasts is perhaps the most significant issue with regard to future environmental impact and energy consumption associated with televisions. The main consequence of concern is the legacy of installed analogue televisions and how they will operate in a digital broadcast future. The short and simple answer is the digital converter.
18.5.2 Environmental perspective from new technologies
Increased energy consumption from the increased use of simple converter boxes is not the only environmental impact foreseen. Adding millions of electronic devices to the market every year poses a major challenge to the electronic waste, since these devices are all physically small and will easily find their way into the household waste stream. Further, the increased use of resources such as copper and zinc.
Another result is the increased WEEE from old analogue television sets being replaces by new units, mostly because of convenience on behalf of the consumer (to avoid set-top boxes or because it is desirable to move to flat screen technology).
However, the authors believe that the long term trend from simple set-top boxes to more complex types in the networked homes, will reduce the problem in this particular product group (albeit it is just moved to another product group).
[7] All the information can be found at http://energyefficiency.jrc.cec.eu.int/html/standby_initiative_digital%20tv%20services.htm
Version 1.0 December 2009, © Danish Environmental Protection Agency