OM-D: does the evf or LcD use more power?

From what i have seen the OLED never really shuts off while the camera is in use, it just goes black when the EFV is engaged.

 

Interesting, so no power savings ... does black consume more power than color?

Gary

 

Olympus says that when used with the VF-2, the E-P3 has a battery of approx 90% compared to using the rear screen alone. I haven't seen anything similar regarding the E-M5 but the specs of the two components (EVF and OLED screen) on each camera are similar.

E-P3 &gt Frequently Asked Questions

 

There's no backlight, so an OLED screen showing black doesn't draw much power. Sadly no idea how much it draws compared to an 'off' LCD screen, but it's less difference than you might think.

 

If someone cares to send me their camera I can measure the power draw directly!

Does the screen have a brightness control like the older pens?

 

How to tweak your Olympus OM-D E-M5 to shoot sports by Jim Huffman

1. Turn of the back lcd entirely. This would save on battery life AND eliminate the delay in switching.

 

That is really interesting, i will have to try that.

normally i leave my OLED screen completely black much the way he describes.


For what it i worth, i have managed to pull 1,300 shots with the OLED screen on.

IBIS off, AF off, no image review, mounted on my timelapse rail running one shot every 5 seconds.

 

 

I have an AMOLED cellphone (International Gnex) and I can tell you its as power hungry as an LCD. The only exception, as mentioned earlier, is when rendering blacks.

Many AMOLED cellphone users set their homescreen background to a solid dark color, and invert colors in their web browser so that text is white and background in black. The power savings are marginal.

The EVF with its small size would definitely draw less power. Since it unaffected by sunlight, you can even lower its brightness without ill effects

 

Yup, this has always been my experience with the VF-2 as well. I haven't noted if there's any difference yet with the lower-resolution and small-screened VF-3.

The EVF on the E-M5 is similar in spec to the VF-2, and the OLED touch screen is similar in spec to that on the E-P3... so I would imagine it should be the same deal.

 

"The back lcd" is NOT an LCD at all! The OLED monitor has a totally different power use than LCD. With the OLED there's no backlight.

 

I know this is an old thread, but I have an update. Luckypenguins info does not apply to the EM5. I asked Oly Tech Spt and they said that the built in EVF consumes less power than the OLED display.

 

On follow up, I asked what was the approximate % power remaining when the battery warning icon appeared if the warning level was set to +2, 0 and -2? Here is their answer:

"It would be roughly close %30, %20 and %10, but this is not that accurate
as this only measures the voltage that the battery is providing."