Major television players to intro 10-star ratings within months

By Chris Nicholls

SYDNEY: All bar one of the major television brands have announced they will comply ahead of schedule with the Federal Government’s voluntary television ratings scheme, with some saying labels will be on their TVs within three to four months.

Panasonic was first out of the blocks, with Panasonic Australia managing director, Steve Rust, saying he expected the labels to appear on both the company’s plasma and LCD televisions during “the coming months” as the scheme is finalised.

“Panasonic supports the new energy rating label scheme announced by the Federal government today. We look forward to helping Australian consumers better understand energy consumption in the home and make a more informed choice,” said Rust.

Sharp followed suit, with Sharp Australia deputy managing director Denis Kerr saying the company would introduce the labels “as soon as we can possibly do so”. He said with Sharp’s three month production schedule and one month for shipping, he hoped to have labelled sets in Australia by September.

Sony Australia managing director Carl Rose said the company would introduce the system across the Bravia range “within the next few months”.

“Sony Australia welcomes the voluntary television energy label scheme and we will be embracing it,” he said.

Rose said the scheme would “eliminate any myths [about flat panel TV energy consumption] and make it very easy for Australian consumers to be aware of the energy consumption of the product they are buying.”

Rose also used the opportunity to stoke the LCD/plasma fires by saying internal testing showed their LCD televisions used “at least 30 per cent” less power than the published specifications of comparable plasma models in Australia.

LG Australia confirmed it would also introduce the labelling scheme before Christmas, but Current.com.au was awaiting further comment at time of publication.

Philips Australia also confirmed it would introduce the labelling scheme on its coming ‘low-energy’ FlatTV range, due for launch in June.

Samsung was unavailable for comment.