Sustainable solutions have the potential to reap huge energy savings across video entertainment industry, according to research from Futuresource and InterDigital.
The research estimates that the TV and video streaming industry accounts for 4% of total global emissions – double that of the aviation industry, at 2%
The report, Spotlight on Sustainability: Towards a greener TV and video value chain, analyses the carbon footprint created by the video entertainment industry, from the point of production to delivery, and consumption. The paper also examines emerging solutions to mitigate the environmental impact across the video value chain.
One of the biggest challenges for the industry comes from Scope 3 emissions, which arise from indirect sources such as travel, accommodation, catering, and post-production. However, progress is being made in some areas, such as IP-based remote virtual production, for example, could lower the industry’s carbon footprint by six times less CO2 than on-site methods.
TVs remain the most energy-intensive devices, but investments in AI and brightness-adjustment technologies mean that energy consumption of TVs are set to decline by 15% by 2028.
Overall energy consumption for video entertainment devices – which includes TVs, set-top boxes, media streamers, gaming consoles, smartphones, and tablets – has declined by 17% since 2020, with another 12% reduction expected by 2028, as older devices are replaced with more energy-efficient alternatives.
InterDigital, which develops video compression standards, says that if If PVR technology was applied to devices showing the recent Paris Olympics, roughly 48 million kWh of energy could have been saved, which is the equivalent of fueling 4,000 US homes for a year.
“It is the responsibility of the entire industry to make changes that will improve the sustainability of the TV and video sector,” said Lionel Oisel, InterDigital’s Head of Video Labs. “While change is being made, more can and should be done. Technologies like PVR have the potential to make significant energy savings, even when applied to special events like the Olympics. If this was applied universally, the benefits could be huge, and a game changer for the industry.”
Futuresource report that there are now 858 million 4K TVs installed in homes, yet the emissions generated per hour from 4K TVs are around 1.7x that of a 1080 HD TV.
