Google has occasionally set the background of their homepage to black as a way to promote the environmental importance of energy efficiency (ex: Earth Hour). While the effort was intended to be symbolic, the idea that a monitor/screen uses less energy to display a black pixel than a white pixel became a big discussion point.
Apparently this same concept is what helps the Samsung Galaxy S and its American kin (Captivate, Epic 4G, Fascinate, Vibrant) conserve energy, thereby preserving precious battery life.
But is it true? After sites like Blackle popped up to leverage the theory and tree huggers like… well, treehugger… have supported efforts, Google themselves have come out denying any real benefit. The Big G provided evidence from sources such as the Wall Street Journal and one citation even suggested that black pixels required MORE energy than white pixels.
Samung’s SUPER AMOLED screen on the Galaxy S series is much different than your typical laptop or desktop computer so I won’t pass judgement on whether or not the representative is right or wrong. We would all love to see better battery life on our smartphones – the smarter they get the more juice they suck and hopefully they can keep pace with each other.
While we wait for official word from Samsung on the matter, what do YOU think about the black pixel design of the Samsung Galaxy S phones? Does it conserve energy?
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