An article online suggests a black google as compared to a white google saves a significant amount of energy hence the birth of Blackle.Com

We take a look at Blackle's "About Us" page to find out more how this theory came to exist and we ended up on ecoIron, a blog dedicated to green computing. The article, "Black Pixels are the New Green Pixels", ran on the site in January 2007 about how switching to black could result in a 15 watt drop in power usage. This statement however, was quickly refuted by a few people acknowledging that while it is true for CRTs (those big, TV looking monitors), for LCD monitors, the difference in power consumption was negligible.

This was due to the difference in technology. While traditional CRTs required more intense beams of light to create the lighter colours, LCDs generally used almost the same amount. The technology behind LCDs involved a backlight which is filtered by various liquid crystal filters. The technology is alike putting on a pair of sunglasses during a sunny day. The sunglass would block out the light so it appears dimmer, however, no matter how much light is filtered, the sun would still be shining as brightly.

And think about it, how many of us actually use CRTs anymore? I know I still have a CRT, but its going to reach the end of its life soon and I don't see myself getting another CRT since they're less common and LCD monitors now cost a lot less than they used to.

This arguement of black over white was eventually turned down seven months later by the very site that supported it. In August 2007 ecoIron ran another article, "Five Myths and Mysteries About Black Surfing" and blammed the idea that it would really be environmentally friendly.

So folks, the next time someone tells you that you should surf black to save power, tell them that it isn't true, unless of course you're using one of those big boxed CRTs (or Plasma Screens and OLEDs for the matter since the technology used requires more power for lighter colours). A general tip if you're really into energy savings, just switch it off when not using, that saves the most energy.

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