Black backgrounds on web pages?

Lauren Spangler-Young sent me a email about Blackle.

The email claimed:

"This is something we should all implement....

If Google had a black screen, taking in account the huge number of page views, according to calculations, 750 mega watts/hour per year would be saved.

In response Google created a black version of its search engine, called Blackle, with the exact same functions as the white version, but obviously with lower energy consumption:

Spread the word... use http://www.blackle.com/"

There is some infomration in Wikipedia.

"The principle behind Blackle is based on the fact that the display of different colors consumes different amounts of energy on computer monitors.[3] The creators of Blackle cite the US Department of Energy’s Energy Star information page which states that a monitor displaying white uses 74 watts, while a monitor displaying black uses 59 watts. [4] They also cite a 2002 study from Roberson, who tested a variety of CRT and LCD monitors and found that an all black screen consumed less energy than an all white screen on all of them.[3] ..."

The Citicism Section says:

"The creators of Blackle have been criticised for lack of clarity regarding the type, size and manufacturer of monitor that the power usage claims refer to.[4] One critic, a technology journalist who reviews computer hardware, tested 4 cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors and 23 liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors, and found that power was saved by the CRT monitors, but was less than that claimed by the blog post that inspired Blackle. The LCD monitors tested showed increased power use in the majority of cases, although some of the larger (24 inch) monitors did use less power displaying a black screen.[1][5] Despite these concerns, the environmental impact of Blackle is also uncertain, as the 750 MW hours of energy that the original blog[6] claims could be conserved if Google used a black background amounts to about 5 billionths of the total energy consumed annually worldwide."

Appears that black may save some energy, but I would suggest replacing CRT monitors with LCD will save more energy.