This should be a requirement for Energy Star rating on all TVs.  To make custom installers happy they should allow optional lip-sync bypass so we don’t have an “echo” effect between house audio amps and the TV speakers.

Definitely, Derek.

The Pioneer Kuro 5020 Has a similar feature.  I have never thought of energy saving.  I just get annoyed by the dvd player background.

coult 45,
Thanks for the info on the Pioneer.  I’d be more annoyed by the 30-second looped audio on most dvds!  I think I have a few tracks permanently burned into my sub-conscious because I fell asleep during a dvd and had that music playing over and over…. :-D good thing I added a sleep timer or my brain would be mush by now.

You can do this with ANY TV, simply add an A/V receiver!  It amazes me that people are still trying to re-invent the wheel here.  If a customer is wanting “rich control of audio”, wouldnt it be a good idea to sell them something that actually is designed for audio as a PRIMARY function rather than an afterthought?

First of all a flat screen TV has the worst sound since the first transistor radios.  The main problem is that the screen is not thick and therefore the cavity volume required for good sound at bass frequencies is lost. Also the power output and speaker complement are both puny because of cost considerations. Forget about any kind of stereo imaging or smooth response as the manufacturers cram some speakers in that restrictive space just to get some noise out of the box. Just buying a cheap surround integrated amp and some cheap bookshelf speakers is going to project way better sound than any flat screen TV.  Shutting off video should happen when a motion detector detects no movement in the room for a selectable period of time. 
          As far as energy use…..LEDs will eventually replace the CCFL backlight, most likely from CREE corporation, which are twice as efficient, run cooler, and have truer color (higher CRI=color rendering index).