Sleep mode

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See also: Standby power

Sleep mode or "stand-by" refers to a low power mode for electronic devices such as computers, televisions, and remote controlled devices. These modes save electrical consumption compared to leaving a device fully on, when a device is idle. But devices in sleep mode consume significant amounts of energy. Waking up resumes normal operations.

In computing, the standard for power management is ACPI. Compliant systems offer power saving modes such as sleep and hibernation.

Sleep mode (or Stand-by mode) is supposed to place electronic devices into a state of "waiting for a power-up" command.

1 Impact
2 See also
3 Notes
4 Links

[edit] Impact

Stand-by mode may affect equipment lifetime. Stand-by mode may reduce the thermal cycles of key components, therefore possibly improving the equipment reliability.^[1]^[disputed] This means equipment might last longer, so less electronic equipment will be scrapped. On the other hand, equipment in standby mode is at increased risk of damage from power surges, so stand-by will also shorten equipment lifetimes.

On Microsoft Windows based computers, the sleep mode turns off the CPU.