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IEEE 1621 ("Standard for User Interface Elements in Power Control of Electronic Devices Employed in Office/Consumer Environments") is a standard published by the IEEE and approved by ANSI that describes human interface guidelines regarding power controls in consumer electronics.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] It includes terminology, icons, and lighting.[8] It also standardized the crescent moon as a sleep symbol.[8.1] IEEE 1621 references the following standards: ANSI/VITA 40, CIE 107, IEC 60073, IEC 60417, IEC 60447, IEC 62301, IEC 80416-1, IEC 80416-3, ISO 7000, ISO 9186, ISO 9241-1, ISO 9241-10, and ISO/IEC 13251.[8.2]

History and Motivation

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Standardization of power controls in consumer electronics was spearheaded by Bruce Nordman at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory with funding provided by the California Energy Commission Public Interest Energy Research Program.[9] Nordman's research showed that many computers had power saving features disabled, mainly due to consumer confusion due to the lack of standardization of terminology and symbols in both hardware and software.[10][11] Confusion was further compounded due the symbol IEC 60417-5009 (⏻) meaning that the device was only in a low power state, rather than being disconnected from a power supply. Per IEC 60417-5009 this is defined as "stand-by."[12][13] This allows for ambiguity. For example it could mean that the device is entirely off aside from an illuminated "off" indicator or in a sleep mode.

In April, 1998 the project was submitted to the California Energy Commission with the project starting in June of 2000.[14]

The IEEE New Standards Committee approved working group 1621 to develop a power controls standard in September of 2002. Three months later a draft of IEEE 1621 was published.[15]

The final standard was approved by the American National Standards Institute on 2005-03-24 and the standard was published on 2005-06-08.[2]

Standards

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Definitions on power states[8.3]
Power state Definition
Disconnected Off power state with no power supply.
Hard-off Off power state with no power draw from mains or battery.
Off A power state with less than or equal power draw and similar functionality compared sleep or on.
On A power state with greater than or equal power draw and similar functionality compared sleep or off.
Sleep A power state with less than or equal power draw to on and greater than or equal to off.
Soft-off Off power state with possibility of power draw from mains or battery or not.
Transition Limited user-perceptible duration of switching power states.
  The basic standard power levels as defined in IEEE 1621. All other power levels are variants based off of these 3.

Power state formulas:[8.4]

PON≄PSLEEP[8.5]

PSLEEP≄POFF[8.5]

PLIGHT SLEEP≄PDEEP SLEEP[8.6][a]

Power state indications[8.1]
State Indicators light colors Symbol
Power Sleep
On Green Off
Sleep Yellow Yellow
Off Off Off
Error[8.7] Red Off
Green (alternating with yellow or with sleep's indicator light)[b] Yellow (alternating with power's indicator light)[c]
Power symbols[8.8]
Symbol Name Usage
 On For a switch.
 Off For a switch.
⏌
 On/Off On a switch that always switches off to a hard-off state.
⏻
 Power On a switch where it either can variability switch to a soft-off or a hard-off state.
 Sleep For a sleep button or indicator.

Regulation

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Energy Star encourages the use of IEEE 1621.[16]

EU Commission Decision 2009/347/EC encourages the use of IEEE 1621.[17]

EU Commission Decision 2016/1756 encourages the use of IEEE P1621.[18]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ↑ This equation is only for guidance for other power states.
  2. ↑ This scheme shall not be used to indicate a safety hazard.
  3. ↑ This scheme shall not be used to indicate a safety hazard.

References

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  1. ↑ "IEEE Std 1621-2004 - IEEE Standard for User Interface Elements in Power Control of Electronic Devices Employed in Office/Consumer Environments". webstore.ansi.org. Retrieved 2026-10-24.
  2. 1 2 "IEEE Standards Association". IEEE Standards Association. Retrieved 2026-10-24.
  3. ↑ "WIMS> Power management standards links". beta.pwg.org. Retrieved 2026-10-26.
  4. ↑ "Know What The Power Button Symbol Says". www.instantfundas.com. Retrieved 2026-10-26.
  5. ↑ Team, Origin Trace Editorial (2026-07-05). "The History of the Power Symbol: The International Standard Behind I, O, and ⏻". Origin Trace. Retrieved 2026-10-26.
  6. ↑ dankrotz (2003-06-16). "Simple Symbols that Save Energy - Berkeley Lab". Berkeley Lab News Center. Retrieved 2026-10-26.
  7. ↑ "Read The Proposal – Unicode Power Symbol". Retrieved 2026-10-26.
  8. ↑ IEEE Standard for User Interface Elements in Power Control of Electronic Devices Employed in Office/Consumer Environments, IEEE, doi:10.1109/IEEESTD.2005.96205, ISBN 978-0-7381-4650-8, retrieved 2026-10-24
    1. 1 2 "4. Power controls for electronic devices". p. 7.
    2. ↑ "2. Normative references". pp. 1–2.
    3. ↑ "3. Definitions and special terms". p. 3.
    4. ↑ "4. Power controls for electronic devices". pp. 4–5.
    5. 1 2 "4. Power controls for electronic devices". p. 4.
    6. ↑ "4. Power controls for electronic devices". p. 5.
    7. ↑ "4. Power controls for electronic devices". p. 8.
    8. ↑ "4. Power controls for electronic devices". p. 6.
  9. ↑ "Power Management Controls - Contact Us". ea-controls.lbl.gov. Retrieved 2026-10-24.
  10. ↑ Nordman, Bruce (2005-05-02). "Power Control Made Easy". EE Product News. Archived from the original on February 16, 2009. Retrieved 2007-04-26.
  11. ↑ "winhec02.pdf" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2004-11-01.
  12. ↑ "IEC 60417-5009:2015". products.iec.ch. Retrieved 2026-10-24.
  13. ↑ "IEC 60417 – 5009, Stand-by". IEC.
  14. ↑ "Power Management Controls - News". ea-controls.lbl.gov. Retrieved 2026-10-24.
  15. ↑ "Power Management Controls - User Interface Standard - IEEE 1621". ea-controls.lbl.gov. Retrieved 2026-10-24.
  16. ↑ "ENERGY STAR¼ Program Requirements for Televisions" (PDF).
  17. ↑ "Commission Decision of 20 April 2009 determining the Community position for a decision of the management entities under the Agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the European Community on the coordination of energy-efficiency labelling programmes for office equipment on the revision of the imaging equipment specifications in Annex C, part VII, to the Agreement (2009/347/EC)". legislation.gov.uk.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. ↑ "Commission Decision (EU) 2016/1756". Official Journal of the European Union: 12. 28 September 2016.


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