Redefining energy efficiency in displays: from experiment to everyday use
What began as a sustainability experiment in 2023 has helped shape a new generation of interactive and non-interactive displays. Here is how we are turning research into measurable, everyday energy savings.
Energy efficiency is often presented as a number on a product label or specification sheet. But that number is the result of decisions made much earlier: how the backlight works, which software settings are selected by default, how the display responds to its surroundings and whether users can see the energy they consume.
At i3CONNECT, we are bringing those decisions together. Our aim is not simply to develop displays that consume less power under test conditions, but to make energy efficiency part of how they work in practice.
It started with the Green Screen experiment
In 2023, we began experimenting with the Green Screen: a proof-of-concept touchscreen designed around sustainability-first choices.
The project allowed us to question established approaches to display design. We visited recycling specialist Mirec to understand what happens to displays at the end of their useful life. Together with Pezy Engineering, we examined their material composition and explored alternatives such as recycled plastics, lighter construction, modular electronics and reduced cabling.
Energy consumption was another important part of the experiment. One of the prototypes used dynamic backlighting, exploring whether different areas of the display could be controlled separately instead of illuminating the entire backlight at the same intensity.
The Green Screen was not intended to provide one finished answer. It gave us space to test ideas, work with specialists and suppliers and identify which concepts could be translated into future products. Dynamic backlighting was one of the ideas that helped shape the development of Aspen 4.
Turning an experiment into everyday savings
With Aspen 4, local dimming became part of a touchscreen designed for everyday use. The technology divides the backlight into up to 286 separate zones. These zones can be dimmed independently, so dark areas of the image require less illumination while brighter areas remain clear and vivid.
But the technology alone was not enough. We also looked at how people use our touchscreens. Our whiteboard application is the most-used feature, and its dark blackboard mode has become increasingly popular. That insight created an opportunity to connect existing user behaviour with lower energy consumption.
the everyday savings of the Aspen 4
By combining local dimming with blackboard mode, power consumption can fall from 210 W in whiteboard mode to 86 W in blackboard mode. Making blackboard the default turns that technical capability into an everyday energy-saving measure, without requiring users to find and activate a separate setting.
Motion detection, ambient light sensing and dedicated energy modes further reduce unnecessary consumption by responding to room occupancy and lighting conditions.
We explore these individual features in more detail in our article about Aspen 4’s sustainability features. The bigger story, however, is how the thinking behind them is beginning to extend beyond a single touchscreen.
Discover the Aspen 4's sustainability features
Extending the thinking beyond touchscreens
The lessons from the Green Screen experiment are not limited to interactive touchscreens. We have also applied the same underlying thinking to Cactus, our first non-touch display.
Designed for Bring Your Own Device meeting rooms, Cactus uses local dimming to divide its QD-Mini LED backlight into independently controlled zones. The 65-inch model has 242 zones, the 75-inch model has 312 and the 85-inch model has 420. Darker parts of an image can use less backlight, while brighter areas remain clear and vivid.
An ambient light sensor adds another layer of efficiency by adjusting the screen brightness to the conditions in the room. When less brightness is needed, the display can automatically reduce its output. Users do not need to find a setting or remember to activate an energy-saving mode. Efficiency becomes part of normal operation.
Adapting design principles
The non-touch format is another deliberate choice. Cactus is designed for presenting rather than annotating, so it does not include a touch layer that its intended meeting-room use does not require. Combined with its slim housing, this keeps the construction relatively light: approximately 17 kg for the 65-inch model, 23 kg for the 75-inch and 32 kg for the 85-inch.
Important next step
This does not mean that Aspen 4’s measured energy savings can automatically be applied to Cactus. The products have different configurations and use cases. What they share is the design principle behind them: illuminate only what needs to be illuminated, adapt to the environment and avoid adding hardware that does not serve the product’s purpose.
Cactus therefore represents an important next step. An idea first explored through the Green Screen and introduced commercially in an interactive touchscreen is now informing how we design other types of displays too.
Discover Cactus' sustainability & security features
Making efficiency visible and manageable
A display can contain advanced energy-saving technology, but its real-world impact still depends on how it is configured and used.
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Energy widget
That is why Aspen 4 includes a built-in energy monitoring widget. It shows energy consumption over the previous seven days and allows users to calculate costs using their own currency and electricity price. Instead of remaining hidden inside the product, energy use becomes visible and relevant to the organisation using it.
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Cortex dashboard
Cortex adds another layer. Our remote management solution allows IT teams to manage display settings and power schedules across multiple rooms or locations. Compatible displays can also provide historical energy insights by day, week or month.
This gives organisations more control over their complete display estate. They can identify unexpected consumption, introduce consistent power policies and check whether energy-saving settings are being used as intended.
Looking beyond power consumption
Reducing electricity consumption during use is important, but it is only one part of a display’s environmental impact.
Our Corporate Carbon Footprint shows that more than 99% of our emissions occur in Scope 3. Product manufacturing accounts for 63.7% of total emissions, while the energy consumed during product use accounts for 29.5%.
We therefore use Life Cycle Assessments to understand the environmental impact of our products from materials and manufacturing through to transport, use and end-of-life. These insights help us identify where design changes can create the greatest improvement.
Aspen 4's Sustainability Passport
For Aspen 4, the assessment indicates that combining local dimming with blackboard mode can reduce lifetime electricity consumption and its associated emissions by around 30%. This contributes to an estimated reduction of 11–13% in the product’s overall lifecycle carbon footprint.
This lifecycle perspective also keeps the role of energy efficiency in proportion. Local dimming can significantly reduce the impact of the use phase, while further progress requires us to address materials, manufacturing energy, product weight, repairability and end-of-life management as well.
From individual features to a design philosophy
The Green Screen began as an experiment. Aspen 4 translated one of its central ideas into a commercial interactive touchscreen. Cactus shows how that idea can be developed further and applied to a different type of display.
For us, this is what redefining energy efficiency looks like. It is not one feature, measurement or certification. It is a combination of efficient hardware, intelligent software, better default settings, responsive sensors, accessible energy data and lifecycle evidence.
Most importantly, it is a continuous process. Every experiment provides knowledge that can shape the next product. Every new product gives us another opportunity to make lower energy consumption part of the standard display experience.
