Non-linear display brightness adjustment
First Claim
1. A system, comprising:
- a display panel configured to display digital content; and
a brightness adjustment module implemented via a processor or circuitry and configured to dynamically adapt brightness of a digital content signal for the display panel in accordance with changing ambient conditions, wherein dynamically adapt comprises;
obtain information about one or more ambient conditions affecting display panel brightness from one or more sources;
determine, responsive to the one or more ambient conditions, an adjustment to a brightness level for the display panel from the obtained information;
scale the digital content signal brightness up or down to adjust the brightness level of the display panel according to the determined adjustment while preserving contrast of the digital content signal or while scaling contrast of the digital content signal by a smaller amount than brightness, wherein to scale the digital content signal brightness while preserving contrast or while scaling contrast by a smaller amount than brightness the brightness adjustment module is configured to apply a non-linear brightness adjustment function to an input digital content signal to generate an output digital content signal for the display panel, wherein the non-linear brightness adjustment function has a slope that increases as input brightness increases; and
repeat said obtain information, said determine the adjustment, and said scale the digital content signal brightness to dynamically adapt brightness of the display panel in accordance with changing ambient conditions.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Display brightness adjustment apparatus and methods are described in which the average brightness of a display may be scaled up or down using a non-linear function. When applying the non-linear function to scale down brightness, the contrast of the output signal may not be reduced so that the dynamic range and highlights are preserved. The non-linear brightness adjustment may be performed automatically, for example in response to ambient light level as detected by sensor(s), but may also be applied in response to a user adjustment to a brightness control knob or slider. The non-linear brightness adjustment may be performed globally, or alternatively may be performed on local regions of an image or display panel. The non-linear function may be a piecewise linear function, or some other non-linear function.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A system, comprising:
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a display panel configured to display digital content; and a brightness adjustment module implemented via a processor or circuitry and configured to dynamically adapt brightness of a digital content signal for the display panel in accordance with changing ambient conditions, wherein dynamically adapt comprises; obtain information about one or more ambient conditions affecting display panel brightness from one or more sources; determine, responsive to the one or more ambient conditions, an adjustment to a brightness level for the display panel from the obtained information; scale the digital content signal brightness up or down to adjust the brightness level of the display panel according to the determined adjustment while preserving contrast of the digital content signal or while scaling contrast of the digital content signal by a smaller amount than brightness, wherein to scale the digital content signal brightness while preserving contrast or while scaling contrast by a smaller amount than brightness the brightness adjustment module is configured to apply a non-linear brightness adjustment function to an input digital content signal to generate an output digital content signal for the display panel, wherein the non-linear brightness adjustment function has a slope that increases as input brightness increases; and repeat said obtain information, said determine the adjustment, and said scale the digital content signal brightness to dynamically adapt brightness of the display panel in accordance with changing ambient conditions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method, comprising:
performing, by a brightness adjustment module implemented on a device, the brightness adjustment module implemented via a processor or circuitry and configure to perform dynamically adapting brightness of a digital content signal for a display panel in accordance with changing ambient conditions, wherein dynamically adapting comprises; obtaining information about one or more ambient conditions affecting display panel brightness of the display panel from one or more sources; determining, responsive to the one or more ambient conditions, an adjustment to a brightness level for the display panel from the obtained information; scaling the digital content signal brightness up or down to adjust the brightness level of the display panel according to the determined adjustment while preserving contrast of the digital content signal or while scaling contrast of the digital content signal by a smaller amount than brightness, based at least in part on applying a non-linear brightness adjustment function to an input digital content signal to generate an output digital content signal for the display panel, wherein the non-linear brightness adjustment function has a slope increases as input brightness increases; and repeating said obtaining information, said determining the adjustment, and said scaling the digital content signal brightness to dynamically adapt brightness of the display panel in accordance with changing ambient conditions. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. An apparatus, comprising:
a brightness adjustment module implemented via a processor or circuitry and configured to dynamically adapt brightness of a digital content signal for a display panel in accordance with changing ambient conditions, wherein dynamically adapt comprises; obtain information about one or more ambient conditions affecting display panel brightness of the display panel from one or more sources; determine, responsive to the one or more ambient conditions, an adjustment to a brightness level for the display panel from the obtained information; apply a non-linear brightness adjustment function to a luma component of an input digital content signal to generate an output digital content signal to scale display panel brightness according to the determined adjustment while preserving contrast of the digital content signal or while scaling contrast of the digital content signal by a smaller amount than brightness, wherein to scale the digital content signal brightness while preserving contrast or while scaling contrast by a smaller amount than brightness, a slope of the non-linear brightness adjustment function used to scale display panel brightness increases as input brightness increases; repeat said obtain information, said determine the adjustment, and said apply a non-linear brightness adjustment function to the luma component to dynamically adapt brightness of the display panel in accordance with changing conditions; and output the digital content to the display panel for display. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
Specification