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Nokia welcomes new TCO'99 standard
October 29, 1998
Nokia Display Products welcomes the introduction of the new TCO'99 standard for ergonomics, safety, energy consumption and environmental compatibility of displays and other PC equipment. The 17-inch Nokia 447XS is the first Nokia display that has been certified in accordance with the new TCO'99 standard.
The new TCO'99 standard represents the third generation of TCO certification. Nokia was the first manufacturer to take into production the original TCO'92 standards. All Nokia displays have been certified in accordance with the TCO standard current at the time of design and start of production. The 17-inch Nokia 447XS is the first Nokia display that has been certified in accordance with the new TCO'99 standard.
Customer focus
Nokia has participated in the process of formulating the new standards through offering its views on draft TCO proposals. The focus has been on communicating customer expectations and making available Nokia expertise on the newest technical development. For a technology supplier in the forefront of technical development it is important that the standard is both realistic and communicable to the customers.
In Nokia's view TCO approval with its wide acceptance by leading manufacturers is a signal to the customer that the display fulfils the state of the art requirements. Labelling also saves customer the trouble of having to go through all the technical and ecological details. The certifier does the checking for the customer.
For TCO, the participation of technology companies is of equal importance. "It is very important for us to receive input and comments from the manufacturers. In order to keep up with the incredibly rapid technical development in the IT-business, it is absolutely necessary to work together with the manufacturers," states Martin Soderberg of TCO's Development Department.
Stricter visual ergonomics requirements
TCO'99 requirements cover the same products and the same areas as its predecessor TCO'95. The certification requirements and specifications have been further tightened in response to advances in technology and working life as well as increased knowledge of health risks. The most significant changes deal with visual ergonomics, energy saving, electromagnetic emissions and ecological factors.
Nokia takes the view that stricter demands for the picture quality are the most important for the user. Even when using high resolutions, the user should be able to view sharp images and characters with good contrast and a stable picture. High usability, a fundamental value guiding Nokia's technological development, has been taken into account in TCO'99.
On ergonomics, TCO'99 revises the requirements for picture luminance, uniformity, contrast, flicker, and front frame reflection. The aim is to ensure that displays are comfortable to read and work with. Displays meeting the requirement offer the user better picture quality without disturbing factors, such as jitter, excessive contrast, reflection from the screen or loss of focus at the edges.
TCO'99 specifies minimum resolutions relative to the size of the screen and requires 85 Hz image refreshment for a specified screen resolution. TCO'95 sets the minimum refresh rate at 75 Hz. Sufficiently high refresh rate ensures that the image is flicker free.
"TCO'99 ergonomics testing is harder to pass than the that of TCO'95. Apart from setting tougher values on many parameters, the screen area subjected to testing is larger. As many computer programs today require that even the corners of the screen are legible, it is important that the picture quality is high on the whole screen," explains Martin Soderberg of TCO.
Separate criteria for CRTs and flat panels
TCO'99 gives separate sets of criteria for the CRT and flat panel displays to bring out the best of the two technologies. Ergonomic parameters, such as luminance contrast and luminance uniformity, constitute the most important developing area for flat panel displays. The picture quality of a flat panel display tends to get poor when the user views the panel from a point which is not right in front of it. Accordingly, TCO'99 requires that luminance contrast and luminance uniformity be measured also for viewing angels of +/- 30 degrees.
A good display allows the user to vary the distance from the screen as well as the viewing angle. TCO'99 requires that there should be no major changes in colour and contrast if the viewing angle changes.
Energy-efficient equipment
Energy consumption is perhaps the most important question from the environmental point of view. In TCO'99, the electrical power levels have been halved and displays receiving the TCO'99 certification can save up to 50% of energy as compared to TCO'92 and TCO'95 certified displays.
Nokia has been a forerunner in energy saving display technology. It introduced as far back as 1993 a monitor with a PowerSaverTM function. The solution was created to meet the TCO'92 requirements. Thanks to new technical solutions, Nokia can today achieve even stricter energy consumption levels and meet the TCO'99 requirements.
Friendlier on the user and Nature
The major change in the environmental requirements is that TCO'99 certification is linked to environmental management systems. To qualify for TCO'99 certification, a manufacturer must have an environmental management system which is certified either in accordance with the ISO 14001 standard or accepted in the EMAS register. Manufacturer which have a schedule for implementing environmental certification can also apply for TCO'99 certification. TCO'99 promotes materials recycling in many ways.
Nokia is the world's leading mobile phone supplier and a leading supplier of mobile and fixed telecom networks including related customer services. Nokia also supplies solutions and products for fixed and wireless datacom, as well as multimedia terminals and computer monitors. In 1997, net sales totaled FIM 52.6 billion (USD 9.8 billion). Headquartered in Finland, Nokia is listed on five European Stock Exchanges and on the New York Stock Exchange (NOK.A), has sales in 130 countries and employs more than 42,000 people world-wide.
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