Lenovo Desktop LCD Displays Cut Wattage

The latest additions the the ThinkVision line use 30 to 60 percent less electricity than prior LCDs thanks to LED backlighting.

While most display manufacturers concentrate on making their screens bigger, sharper, and brighter, Lenovo’s R&D division has been working the green angle by developing new monitors that use less electricity. At this week’s Interop expo in New York City, the company debuted six new monitors that supposedly cut electricity use 30 to 60 percent from previous models.

They do it using LED backlighting, a technology that has traditionally been reserved for notebook applications where every watt truly counts. The flagship 24-inch L2440x Wide, for instance, offers an exceptionally large work area, but consumes only 29 watts of electricity during normal operation due to its use of LEDs rather than traditional compact fluorescents for illumination.

Specs on the monitors will vary, but most will carry 1,000:1 contrast ratios and five millisecond response times, with resolutions up to 1920 x 1200 on some models, built-in USB ports, and DisplayPort technology.

Two of the monitors, the L1700p and L1940 Wide, will be available for purchase on September 19. The rest, including the L1940p Wide, L2240p Wide, L2440p Wide and L2440x Wide will debut in October. Prices will range between $240 (for the L1700p) to $750 (for the L2440x Wide.)