Image: Maurizio Pesce/Flickr
Samsung is under fire this morning after independent lab tests determined that some of its TVs used more energy in real world conditions than they did during testing. There is no indication that Samsung broke any laws, and the company has rejected any comparison to Volkswagen's use of a so-called "defeat device," or software designed to fool regulators, on 11 million of its diesel cars.The tests, carried out by ComplianTV, an independent European company that tests TVs for energy efficiency regulations compliance, centered on "motion lighting," a feature on Samsung TVs that's supposed to reduce brightness and energy consumption while the TV is displaying slowly moving images. ComplianTV recorded the reduced energy consumption during testing, but did not record this reduction while outside of its lab.This increased energy consumption may leave everyday consumers with higher electricity bills than they might have anticipated, among other concerns.European regulators told the Guardian that they will investigate any alleged use of "defeat devices" by TV manufacturers.It's estimated that TVs make up as much as 10 percent of a household's energy use.