InterDigital/Futuresource Video Sustainability Report: Devices, Data Centers Drive Power Footprint as Video Grows to 82% of I...
December 02 2020 - 4:00AM
The staggering disparity between the energy demands of emerging
consumer devices and immersive video experiences has spotlighted
the need for more environmentally sustainable choices across the
video entertainment industry. According to a joint study released
today by InterDigital, Inc. (NASDAQ: IDCC), a mobile and video
technology research and development company, and leading market
research firm Futuresource, sustainability will define businesses
of the 21st century and require consumers and businesses to embrace
sustainable practices to offset the growing carbon footprint of the
video industry.
The report, “The Sustainable Future of Video Entertainment,”
analyzes the energy demands of the video entertainment industry,
from the production, delivery, and consumption of feature films,
video games, and other video experiences, and examines emerging
solutions to mitigate the environmental impact across the video
value chain. The findings suggest that sustainability must be
integrated into all aspects of the video entertainment industry,
from research to manufacturing to supply chain and logistics, to be
most effective.
“This has been the year of video, as the world’s circumstances
have aligned with a ubiquity of consumer devices and more time
spent looking at our screens. As our dependence on these devices
and experiences grows, so too will our impact on the environment
become more consequential,” said Henry Tirri, CTO, InterDigital.
“Through InterDigital’s cutting-edge research, development of video
standards, compression solutions, and more, we’re doing our part to
stay on top of the industry’s growing carbon footprint and develop
solutions for a more sustainable future.”
Limited awareness of the environmental impact of video and
consumer devices, and lack of access to more sustainable choices,
are often cited as key factors driving the video entertainment
industry’s growing carbon footprint. The report highlights several
statistics for the video industry’s staggering energy dependence,
and emerging sustainable solutions, including:
- By 2022, video viewing will
account for 82% of all internet traffic, with overall
internet traffic accounting for more than 1% of global
emissions.
- An 8K TV uses more than
double the electricity as a 4K TV. Still, many users are
unaware that 8K TVs account for 108gCO2e per hour of emissions, 2.6
times higher than for a 4K set.
- By 2023, roughly 30 million
8K TVs will consume 50% more energy than the 343 million tablets
worldwide. Consumer engagement with sustainability will
spur greater scrutiny in device choice.
- In 2019, televisions
consumed an estimated 251Terawatt hours
(TWh) of energy, and
consumer electronic devices consumed 379 TWh of energy. Conversely,
data centers for streaming video consumed 2,460 Gigawatt hours of
energy.
- Data centers are responsible
for roughly 3% of global electricity use. Data centers are
integral to housing content for the video entertainment industry
but also leave a high carbon footprint. The massive impact of data
centers on global energy reserves highlights the need for a green
transformation of the ICT sector.
- Gaming consoles may become
more energy efficient as game time
increases. The Xbox Series X is over
twice as efficient as an Xbox One. PlayStation 5 will achieve a
reduction in the console’s total carbon footprint from 45gCO2e per
hour in 2019 to 36gCO2e per hour in 2023, per device. While the
number of PlayStation consoles is expected to grow 20% between 2019
and 2023, overall power usage of devices will only increase by
4%.
- The popularity of video
subscription services is responsible for more than 951 million
Subscription Video on Demand
(SVoD) subscribers. Of
the leading subscription services, Netflix has 18% market share,
while Amazon Prime holds 10%.
The video entertainment industry still faces barriers to
achieving sustainability, including a lack of knowledge of the
video entertainment industry’s carbon footprint, the assumption
that sustainable practices are prohibitively expensive, and the
relative absence of regulations and standards to monitor the
industry’s carbon emissions. Despite these challenges, the video
ecosystem has also pursued new efforts to achieve a more
sustainable future. These efforts include government programs, like
the European Green Deal to encourage sustainable energy practices
across industry sectors, as well as industry certifications like
EnergyStar to reduce greenhouse gases and inefficient energy use.
At one end of the video supply chain, device manufacturers have
begun to pursue more sustainable manufacturing and device
recycling, while innovations in user interface design give
consumers the power to choose more sustainable viewing options.
“The data in this report highlights the importance of continued
technical progress in streaming, networking, compression and device
technology, but also the need for individuals to make responsible
choices,” Tirri added. “For instance, an individual watching an
information broadcast on a 4K TV can lessen their energy footprint
by almost 40% simply by choosing to watch the content in 720p – and
even more by choosing to watch it on a tablet or their smartphone.
With the awareness that studies like the InterDigital/Futuresource
study will bring, individuals will be empowered to understand and
make those choices.”
InterDigital leads industry players in developing cutting-edge
video compression standards that achieve lower bandwidth and energy
consumption without sacrificing high-quality, low latency video
experiences, and also crafting innovative solutions and AI
algorithms that enable us to enjoy increasingly immersive
experiences with a reduced energy impact.
The InterDigital-Futuresource paper is a part of InterDigital’s
sustainability research and thought leadership initiative dedicated
to addressing energy consumption and environmental sustainability
across all sectors of the technology ecosystem. InterDigital’s
sustainability microsite includes the latest research and white
papers exploring the impact of energy sustainability in the
evolution of advanced wireless, video, IoT proliferation, and more.
You may learn more here.
To read the complete report, “The Sustainable Future of Video
Entertainment,” please click here.
About InterDigital®
InterDigital develops mobile and video technologies that are at
the core of devices, networks, and services worldwide. We solve
many of the industry’s most critical and complex technical
challenges, inventing solutions for more efficient broadband
networks, better video delivery, and richer multimedia experiences
years ahead of market deployment. InterDigital has licenses and
strategic relationships with many of the world’s leading technology
companies. Founded in 1972, InterDigital is listed on NASDAQ and is
included in the S&P MidCap 400® index.
InterDigital is a registered trademark of InterDigital, Inc.
For more information, visit: www.interdigital.com.
InterDigital Contact:Roya
StephensEmail: Roya.Stephens@InterDigital.com+1 (202)
349-1714
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