ENERGY STAR^® – Qualifying Criteria for Home Audio and DVD Equipment

All manufacturers of home audio and DVD equipment are required to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the United States Environmental Protection Agency before they can sign an ENERGY STAR Administrative Arrangement with Natural Resources Canada.

Definitions
Consumer Audio Product – categorized as a commercially available electronic product encased in a single housing whose intended purpose, other than providing non-video status displays, is to produce or record signals in the audio domain as reproduced by headphones, loudspeakers or other transducers. To qualify, consumer audio products must draw current from a building's AC electrical outlet via a power cord or an AC power adapter that is shipped with the product. Consumer audio products that have a power switch to interrupt the current flow from the power line and perform no operating functions except in active mode are also eligible.

Digital Videodisc / Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) Product – categorized as a commercially available electronic product encased in a single housing whose intended purpose is to produce or record digitized video signals on a spinning reflective disc. To qualify, DVD products must draw current from a building's AC electrical outlet via a power cord or an AC power adapter that is shipped with the product. DVD products that have a power switch to interrupt the current flow from the power line and perform no operating functions except in active mode are also eligible.

Standby Mode – the mode in which the product is connected to the power source, is possibly producing status information or a time readout, is waiting to be switched to the active mode and is not producing or recording video or audio signals (either directly audible or audible as reproduced by headphones, loudspeakers or other transducers). The product may exit the standby mode through activation of an automatic timer, direct activation by the user or a remote-control command from the user. In standby mode, the product is substantially shut down but may continue to perform some functions (e.g. remote control sensing and clock).

Active Mode – the mode in which the product is connected to a power source and is producing or recording signals in the video and/or audio domains as reproduced by headphones, loudspeakers or other transducers. The power requirement in this mode is typically greater than the power requirement in standby mode.

Home Audio and DVD Equipment
		Consumer Audio Equipment		DVD Equipment
Phase I Standby Mode (watts)		<= 2.0		<= 3.0
Phase II Standby Mode (watts)		<= 1.0		<= 1.0

Timeline
Phase I
The first phase of this program, Phase I, will commence immediately and conclude on December 31, 2002.

Phase II
The second phase of this program, Phase II, will commence on January 1, 2003.

The ENERGY STAR symbol appears on the model, the packaging or on other product-related materials.

Certification Requirements
Products may be self-certified, or certified by an independent third party, to determine if they meet the ENERGY STAR technical specifications. For specific testing protocols, please refer to the U.S. ENERGY STAR Web site. Tests may be conducted on products bearing the ENERGY STAR symbol to determine their specifications, and the participant may be asked to voluntarily provide products for the purposes of such testing.