Displays

A display can materially contribute to device manufacturing and electricity consumption. Its share depends on configuration and use. Relevant parameters include area, technology and materials. Area grows with the square of diagonal length when aspect ratio is constant.

Physical structure

Element	LCD	OLED	Relevant contribution
Substrate	Glass layers	Glass or plastic	Material production and process energy
ITO conductive layer	Present in common designs	Present in common designs	Indium-containing material inventory
Backlight	LEDs	Self-emissive pixels instead	Operational electricity
Organic emissive layer	No	Yes	Chemical processing
Filters / polarisers	Design-dependent	Design-dependent	Materials and manufacturing

Parametric model

Scenario requiring calibration

The technology coefficients below are D4B educational assumptions for size-sensitivity exploration. Their derivation from a specified product report and panel boundary has not been established. They are not validated ADEME or Boavizta factors. Reporting requires a traceable product or display inventory.

Embodied formula

$$I_{emb}=S_{display}C_{technology}+C_{base}$$

For a 16:9 screen with diagonal $d$ in inches:

$$S_{display}=d^2\times2.54^2\times\frac{16\times9}{16^2+9^2}\approx d^2\times2.7569\quad[\mathrm{cm}^2]$$

$C_{technology}$ is impact per cm², while $C_{base}$ represents an assumed fixed contribution such as drivers, connectors and frame. These elements may already occur in another equipment residual.

Area versus diagonal

A 27-inch 16:9 display has 17.25 times the area of a 6.5-inch 16:9 display. The model's variable part follows that ratio; the fixed base does not. Other aspect ratios require different geometry.

Scenario coefficients

Technology	GWP coefficient, kg CO₂ eq./cm²	Base, kg CO₂ eq.	Assumed power, W/cm²	Status
LCD / IPS	0.07	3.0	0.003	D4B assumption; calibration needed
OLED / AMOLED	0.12	2.5	0.002	D4B assumption; content-dependent power
E-ink	0.03	1.5	Approximately zero for static image retention	Excludes electronics, refreshes and any lighting

The contextual corpus contains manufacturer-report decompositions but does not substantiate these specific technology coefficients. Manufacturing and operational differences depend on panel design, yields, brightness and displayed content. Dark OLED pixels reduce emission-related power without making the whole panel or device consume zero electricity.

Arithmetic examples

All rows use the LCD scenario and 16:9 geometry:

Example	Diagonal	Area	Manufacturing GWP	Modelled LCD power
Smartphone-sized display	6.5 in	116 cm²	About 11 kg CO₂ eq.	0.35 W
Tablet-sized display	11 in	334 cm²	About 26 kg CO₂ eq.	1.00 W
Laptop-sized display	14 in	540 cm²	About 41 kg CO₂ eq.	1.62 W
Desktop display	27 in	2,010 cm²	About 144 kg CO₂ eq.	6.03 W

The last result is not a complete monitor LCA or proof of equivalence with a laptop. Surface-power assumptions may omit electronics and conversion losses; they are not wall-power measurements.

Operational impact

$$P_{display}=S_{display}p_{technology}$$

The illustrative coefficients are $p_{LCD}=0.003$ and $p_{OLED}=0.002$ W/cm². E-ink static image retention does not imply zero energy for refresh, control electronics or lighting.

OLED consumption depends on brightness and content. Dark-mode savings are not uniform and cannot be applied to the whole device without measurement. LCD backlighting is a distinct power contribution.

Indicator coverage

Indicator	Treatment
GWP	Exploratory area model, not calibrated
ADPe	Materials such as indium can matter; no validated display-specific factor here
WU	Cleaning and manufacturing require compatible inventories
AP, PM	Process contributions require compatible inventories
IR	Manufacturing and use require the correct LCIA unit; missing data do not imply a small contribution
CTUe, CTUh	Solvents and other processes may contribute; no isolated panel inventory established here

Whole-equipment factors may include these impacts without allowing a display-specific split. They must not be added to a separately modelled display when that duplicates the same boundary.¹²

Assumptions and limitations

Area alone omits resolution, pixel density, backlight design and manufacturing yield. OLED coefficients and area-based power are assumptions. The model does not isolate indium's ADPe contribution. Actual dimensions and representative measurements replace generic geometry and power when available.

These references do not by themselves validate the scenario table.

Interactive example

Diagonal (inches)

Technology

Lifetime (years)

Daily usage (hours)

Country

Screen area: 671 cm² (2.0 W)

Results (per year)

Climate (GWP)

Embodied: 7.14 kgCO2eOperational: 187.76 gCO2eTotal: 7.33 kgCO2e

Embodied

Operational

Operational electricity

5.88 kWh

Technology coefficients are exploratory and not calibrated to an identified panel. Area-based power does not replace a wall-power measurement.

Use-phase electricity: D4B snapshot, 2025 annual averages. The selected country applies to use; it does not relocate manufacturing factors.

Footnotes

1. Compatible D4B equipment factors and identified product environmental reports can support equipment-level assessment. Contextual material includes ADEME Base Empreinte, Les impacts environnementaux des équipements informatiques, manufacturer reports, Boavizta documentation and Digital4Better data. Digital4Better data catalogue, snapshot 77cae4a. References and scope: Sources and corpus. ↩

2. Boavizta documentation. Online documentation, unpinned version. ↩