Quality over Quantity: The role of Pixel Value Reduction in Delivering Energy Savings for the Video Industry
Traditionally, the TV and video sector has been part of a highly fragmented and partner-dependent content supply chain. As a result, its perceived carbon footprint was low. In recent times however, greater visibility of its multiple sub-verticals—broadcast, streaming, publishing, B2B information services, and so on—has revealed the true scale of the video entertainment industry’s impact on the environment, from the point of production to delivery, and consumption. Recent data suggests that the TV and video streaming industry contributes 4% of total global emissions, making its environmental impact twice that of the aviation sector. This startling finding reveals that the environmental cost of digital entertainment is greater than many have realised, reinforcing the need for swift action to reduce the carbon footprint of streaming services.
Against this backdrop, TV and video companies are increasingly seeking ways to integrate sustainable practices into their operations. This might start small with the introduction of straightforward initiatives including the utilisation of renewable energy sources and leveraging electric vehicles during the production process. However, to really step up efforts to mitigate the environmental impact of video, the industry will need to rely on more advanced sustainable solutions. One such technology, Pixel Value Reduction (PVR), has been pioneered by InterDigital and can yield substantial energy savings, particularly when it is used during significant cultural and sporting broadcasting events. That’s because PVR solutions balance the ability to reduce the pixel brightness of an image (in other words, the amount of energy consumed) while optimising the perceived visual quality to the viewer.
The scale of the challenge: the unbearable heaviness of video data
The "glass-to-glass" video value chain begins the moment content is captured by a camera lens, flowing through production, transmission, distribution, and rendering before reaching the end-user display. Each stage demands substantial energy, contributing to the growing environmental footprint of video consumption. As global demand for streaming continues to rise, the video entertainment industry must prioritise efficiency, embracing innovative solutions that not only reduce energy consumption but also preserve high-quality viewing experiences. Achieving this requires advanced solutions that optimise the performance of TVs, smartphones, and other consumer electronics, ensuring a lower environmental footprint without compromising user expectations.
In 2024, the most widely used devices for video consumption—TVs, set-top boxes, gaming consoles, smartphones, tablets, and media streamers—collectively consumed over 357 terawatt hours (TWh) of energy. To put this figure into perspective, it surpasses the annual electricity consumption of both Australia and Norway combined, thereby reinforcing the significant energy demand of modern video streaming and entertainment. Despite this, these numbers represent a 17 percent decrease in energy consumption since 2020. This can be attributed to the fact that older devices are replaced by more energy-efficient alternatives, and as a result, the overall energy consumed by 2028 may decrease by another 12 percent.
When it comes to video-enabled devices, televisions are the highest consumers of energy by a significant margin: televisions have the biggest screens with the most pixels, and each illuminated pixel requires energy. Ongoing research and development have helped broadcasters, streamers and device makers achieve new efficiencies, but TV’s energy demands still top the list of all consumer electronics given that producing light efficiently remains a hard problem to solve.
The question of smartphones
In the immediate years ahead, while most devices are expected to experience a decline or maintenance of energy consumption by 2028, smartphones are a notable outlier. The preponderance of smartphones continues to drive significant energy demand, with approximately 4.8 billion devices in use globally, making them a crucial factor in the broader conversation around digital sustainability. With video-enabled devices consuming increasing amounts of content each year, the demand for pioneering solutions to enhance efficiency and reduce energy consumption is rising—especially for devices constrained by battery limitations.
PVR: a vision of the future
PVR is a breakthrough technology that delivers a scalable and efficient solution to a monumental challenge as it’s helping to redefine how video data is processed and optimised.
All device displays consume energy to produce light to present well-defined, high-quality video content, and PVR achieves energy savings by intelligently analysing and lowering the brightness of pixels in a display without impacting perceived image quality. This can be accomplished in one of two ways: the first approach prioritises a “just noticeable difference” to preserve the creative intent and integrity of the content while achieving energy savings. The second approach targets specific levels of energy reduction and can be better targeted to streaming providers who already customise their streams to accommodate customer internet speeds or device characteristics. At this stage, AI can be integrated into Deep PVR applications to intelligently optimise the balance between image quality and energy efficiency, ensuring maximum visual fidelity while minimising power consumption.
Ongoing research and innovation in PVR has led to significant advancements, delivering promising results in optimising energy efficiency and image quality. For example, PVR has been shown to reduce energy consumption on TV displays by up to 15% all without compromising the visual quality, while early tests of PVR applied to smartphones has revealed a noticeable extension of the device’s battery life. These efficiency-driven advancements benefit both operators and consumers, leading to lower costs while enhancing overall performance and sustainability. Most significantly, this reduction in energy usage has a positive impact on the environment.
The practical advantages of PVR
Given the rapid growth of video consumption and ever evolving viewing trends, consumers have high expectations of their devices. As a result, solutions that address the brightness of a tiny pixel can have a profound outcome on the user experience. This is confirmed by the fact that had PVR technology been applied to all televisions streaming the 2024 Paris Olympics worldwide, it could have potentially saved enough energy to power approximately 12,000 European homes for one year. Fundamentally, ground-breaking solutions like PVR, at scale, have the power to drive truly impactful results, transforming efficiency and effectiveness across industries.
PVR: a path to sustainability
The consumption of a video demands a considerable amount of energy during the various stages of its life cycle. This unfortunate reality has repercussions for both environmental sustainability and operational costs, highlighting the need for cutting-edge solutions that can enhance efficiency without compromising quality. With a billion hours of video consumed per day globally, the fall out for the environment is significant, as the resulting green house gas emissions contribute to increased carbon footprints, accelerating climate change concerns. In this context, solutions like PVR implemented at scale can achieve meaningful energy savings. And as demand for video content continues to rise, deploying efficient technologies like PVR is essential to fostering a more sustainable digital future—balancing innovation with responsibility.
[Editor's note: This is a contributed article from InterDigital. Streaming Media accepts vendor bylines based solely on their value to our readers.]