Display brightness adjustment

• US 20060092182A1
• Filed: 11/04/2004
• Published: 05/04/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/04/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Diefenbaugh, Paul S., Walz, Michael C., Corriveau, Philip J.
• Application Number:
  US10/981,303
• Publication Number:
  US 20060092182A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/690
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3218 of display devices
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0626 for control of overall brightness
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/08 Arrangements within a display terminal for setting, manually or automatically, display parameters of the display terminal
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2330/022 in absence of operation, e.g. no data being entered during a predetermined time
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/144 the light being ambient light
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/00 Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators image data processing or generation, in general G06T

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention can receive a data point defining an ambient light level associated with a display and a corresponding brightness adjustment of the display with respect to a reference brightness. The embodiments can then define a brightness response model for the display based on the data point and at least one additional data point.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a data point defining an ambient light level associated with a display and a corresponding brightness adjustment of the display with respect to a reference brightness; and

defining a brightness response model for the display based on the data point and at least one additional data point.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the data point and the at least one additional data point comprise a set of data points, and wherein receiving the data point comprises:

downloading the set of data points.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving the data point comprises:

capturing the corresponding brightness adjustment; and

measuring the ambient light level associated with the display in response to capturing the corresponding brightness adjustment.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising:

repeating the capturing and the measuring for the at least one additional data point for at least one additional ambient light level.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein capturing the corresponding brightness adjustment comprises:

receiving the corresponding brightness adjustment through a user interface.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the user interface comprises one of a hot key or a graphical user interface.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the data point comprises one of a maximum limit or a minimum limit for the brightness response model.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein defining the brightness response model comprises:

performing a piecewise linear approximation to form a response curve through the data point and the at least one additional data point.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein defining the brightness response model further comprises:

identifying a reference ambient light level at an intersection of the response curve and the reference brightness.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one additional data point comprises a previous set of data points, and wherein defining the brightness response model comprises:

incorporating the data point into the previous set of data points to create a new set of data points; and

adjusting a current response model generated from the previous set of data points based on the new set of data points.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the current response model comprises a piecewise linear response curve, and wherein adjusting the current response model comprises:

performing a piecewise linear approximation to form a new response curve through the new set of data points.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein adjusting the current response model comprises:

moving a limit along the current response model to the data point.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving the reference brightness.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein said reference brightness defines one of a default brightness level for the display when in a mobile mode of operation or a user-defined reference level.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the corresponding brightness adjustment comprises a percentage of the reference brightness.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the brightness response model comprises a first brightness response model corresponding to a first state of a set of factors, the method further comprising:

defining a second brightness response model for the display corresponding to a second state of the set of factors.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the set of factors comprises at least one of a user identifier, an application identifier, or a battery level indicator.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein the display comprises one of a transmissive display, a transreflective display, or an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display.

19. A method comprising:

receiving an ambient light measurement associated with a display;

applying the ambient light measurement to a brightness response model for the display, said brightness response model based on a plurality of data points, each data point of the plurality of data points defining a brightness adjustment with respect to a reference brightness for a corresponding ambient light level; and

adjusting a brightness level of the display according to a brightness adjustment identified from the brightness response model.

20. The method of claim 19 further comprising:

determining a mode of operation;

applying a constant brightness level during a plugged mode of operation; and

performing the receiving, applying, and adjusting during a mobile mode of operation.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the constant brightness level comprises a 100% brightness setting.

22. The method of claim 19 wherein the reference brightness comprises a brightness percentage in a range from 50% to 90%.

23. The method of claim 19 wherein receiving the ambient light measurement comprises:

monitoring a stream of sensor data, said sensor data being in terms of a linear brightness scale;

applying the stream of sensor data to a human-perceived brightness scale, said human-perceived brightness scale comprising a plurality of intervals, each of the plurality of intervals encompassing a range of the linear brightness scale, with the range encompassed by each interval further up the linear brightness scale being larger than the range encompassed by a previous, lower interval by a particular factor; and

recognizing the ambient light measurement when the stream of sensor data crosses a particular number of the plurality of intervals in the human-perceived brightness scale.

24. The method of claim 23 further comprising:

setting a sensitivity level for brightness adjustments by setting the particular number of the plurality of intervals.

25. A method comprising:

receiving a linear brightness scale based on a relative number of incident photons;

defining a human-perceived brightness scale based on the linear brightness scale, said human-perceived brightness scale comprising a plurality of intervals, each of the plurality of intervals encompassing a range of the linear brightness scale, with the range encompassed by each interval further up the linear brightness scale being larger than the range encompassed by a previous, lower interval by a particular factor; and

recognizing a meaningful human-perceived change in brightness when an ambient light level crosses a particular number of the plurality of intervals in the human-perceived brightness scale.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein the particular factor by which the range of at least one interval is larger than its previous, lower interval comprises a percentage from 3% to 15%.

27. The method of claim 25 wherein the particular number of the plurality of intervals comprises a number from 1 to 10 intervals.

28. A machine readable medium having stored thereon machine executable instructions that, when executed, implement a method comprising:

receiving a data point defining an ambient light level associated with a display and a corresponding brightness adjustment of the display with respect to a reference brightness; and

defining a brightness response model for the display based on the data point and at least one additional data point.

29. The machine readable medium of claim 28 wherein the data point and the at least one additional data point comprise a set of data points, and wherein receiving the data point comprises:

downloading the set of data points.

30. The machine readable medium of claim 28 wherein receiving the data point comprises:

capturing the corresponding brightness adjustment; and

measuring the ambient light level associated with the display in response to capturing the corresponding brightness adjustment.

31. The machine readable medium of claim 30, the method further comprising:

repeating the capturing and the measuring for the at least one additional data point for at least one additional ambient light level.

32. The machine readable medium of claim 30 wherein capturing the corresponding brightness adjustment comprises:

receiving the corresponding brightness adjustment through a user interface.

33. The machine readable medium of claim 28 wherein defining the brightness response model comprises:

performing a piecewise linear approximation to form a response curve through the data point and the at least one additional data point.

34. The machine readable medium of claim 28 wherein the at least one additional data point comprises a previous set of data points, and wherein defining the brightness response model comprises:

incorporating the data point into the previous set of data points to create a new set of data points; and

adjusting a current response model generated from the previous set of data points based on the new set of data points.

35. The machine readable medium of claim 34 wherein the current response model comprises a piecewise linear response curve, and wherein adjusting the current response model comprises:

performing a piecewise linear approximation to form a new response curve through the new set of data points.

36. The machine readable medium of claim 34 wherein adjusting the current response model comprises:

moving a limit along the current response model to the data point.

37. The machine readable medium of claim 28, the method further comprising:

receiving the reference brightness.

38. The machine readable medium of claim 28 wherein the corresponding brightness adjustment comprises a percentage of the reference brightness.

39. The machine readable medium of claim 28 wherein the brightness response model comprises a first brightness response model corresponding to a first state of a set of factors, the method further comprising:

defining a second brightness response model for the display corresponding to a second state of the set of factors.

40. A machine readable medium having stored thereon machine executable instructions that, when executed, implement a method comprising:

receiving an ambient light measurement associated with a display;

applying the ambient light measurement to a brightness response model for the display, said brightness response model based on a plurality of data points, each data point of the plurality of data points defining a brightness adjustment with respect to a reference brightness for a corresponding ambient light level; and

adjusting a brightness level of the display according to a brightness adjustment identified from the brightness response model.

41. The machine readable medium of claim 40, the method further comprising:

determining a mode of operation;

applying a constant brightness level during a plugged mode of operation; and

performing the receiving, applying, and adjusting during a mobile mode of operation.

42. The machine readable medium of claim 40 wherein receiving the ambient light measurement comprises:

monitoring a stream of sensor data, said sensor data being in terms of a linear brightness scale;

applying the stream of sensor data to a human-perceived brightness scale, said human-perceived brightness scale comprising a plurality of intervals, each of the plurality of intervals encompassing a range of the linear brightness scale, with the range encompassed by each interval further up the linear brightness scale being larger than the range encompassed by a previous, lower interval by a particular factor; and

recognizing the ambient light measurement when the stream of sensor data crosses a particular number of the plurality of intervals in the human-perceived brightness scale.

43. The machine readable medium of claim 42, the method further comprising:

setting a sensitivity level for brightness adjustments by setting the particular number of the plurality of intervals.

44. A machine readable medium having stored thereon machine executable instructions that, when executed, implement a method comprising:

receiving a linear brightness scale based on a relative number of incident photons;

defining a human-perceived brightness scale based on the linear brightness scale, said human-perceived brightness scale comprising a plurality of intervals, each of the plurality of intervals encompassing a range of the linear brightness scale, with the range encompassed by each interval further up the linear brightness scale being larger than the range encompassed by a previous, lower interval by a particular factor; and

recognizing a meaningful human-perceived change in brightness when an ambient light level crosses a particular number of the plurality of intervals in the human-perceived brightness scale.

45. The machine readable medium of claim 44 wherein the particular factor by which the range of at least one interval is larger than its previous, lower interval comprises a percentage from 3% to 15%.

46. The machine readable medium of claim 44 wherein the particular number of the plurality of intervals comprises a number from 1 to 10 intervals.

47. A system comprising:

a processor; and

a machine readable medium having stored thereon machine executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, are to implement

receiving a data point defining an ambient light level associated with a display and a corresponding brightness adjustment of the display with respect to a reference brightness, and

defining a brightness response model for the display based on the data point and at least one additional data point.

48. The system of claim 47 wherein the data point and the at least one additional data point comprise a set of data points, and wherein receiving the data point comprises:

downloading the set of data points.

49. The system of claim 47 wherein receiving the data point comprises:

capturing the corresponding brightness adjustment; and

measuring the ambient light level associated with the display in response to capturing the corresponding brightness adjustment.

50. The system of claim 49, the instructions further to implement:

repeating the capturing and the measuring for the at least one additional data point for at least one additional ambient light level.

51. The system of claim 49 wherein capturing the corresponding brightness adjustment comprises:

receiving the corresponding brightness adjustment through a user interface.

52. The system of claim 47 wherein defining the brightness response model comprises:

performing a piecewise linear approximation to form a response curve through the data point and the at least one additional data point.

53. The system of claim 47 wherein the at least one additional data point comprises a previous set of data points, and wherein defining the brightness response model comprises:

incorporating the data point into the previous set of data points to create a new set of data points; and

adjusting a current response model generated from the previous set of data points based on the new set of data points.

54. The system of claim 53 wherein the current response model comprises a piecewise linear response curve, and wherein adjusting the current response model comprises:

performing a piecewise linear approximation to form a new response curve through the new set of data points.

55. The system of claim 53 wherein adjusting the current response model comprises:

moving a limit along the current response model to the data point.

56. The system of claim 47, the instructions further to implement:

receiving the reference brightness.

57. The system of claim 47 wherein the corresponding brightness adjustment comprises a percentage of the reference brightness.

58. The system of claim 47 wherein the brightness response model comprises a first brightness response model corresponding to a first state of a set of factors, the instructions further to implement:

defining a second brightness response model for the display corresponding to a second state of the set of factors.

59. A system comprising:

a notebook computer having a processor and a display; and

a machine readable medium having stored thereon machine executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, are to implement

receiving an ambient light measurement associated with the display,

applying the ambient light measurement to a brightness response model for the display, said brightness response model based on a plurality of data points, each data point of the plurality of data points defining a brightness adjustment with respect to a reference brightness for a corresponding ambient light level, and

adjusting a brightness level of the display according to a brightness adjustment identified from the brightness response model.

60. The system of claim 59, the instructions further to implement:

determining a mode of operation;

applying a constant brightness level during a plugged mode of operation; and

performing the receiving, applying, and adjusting during a mobile mode of operation.

61. The system of claim 59 wherein receiving the ambient light measurement comprises:

monitoring a stream of sensor data, said sensor data being in terms of a linear brightness scale;

applying the stream of sensor data to a human-perceived brightness scale, said human-perceived brightness scale comprising a plurality of intervals, each of the plurality of intervals encompassing a range of the linear brightness scale, with the range encompassed by each interval further up the linear brightness scale being larger than the range encompassed by a previous, lower interval by a particular factor; and

recognizing the ambient light measurement when the stream of sensor data crosses a particular number of the plurality of intervals in the human-perceived brightness scale.

62. The system of claim 61, the instructions further to implement:

setting a sensitivity level for brightness adjustments by setting the particular number of the plurality of intervals.

63. A system comprising:

a processor; and

a machine readable medium having stored thereon machine executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, are to implement

receiving a linear brightness scale based on a relative number of incident photons,

defining a human-perceived brightness scale based on the linear brightness scale, said human-perceived brightness scale comprising a plurality of intervals, each of the plurality of intervals encompassing a range of the linear brightness scale, with the range encompassed by each interval further up the linear brightness scale being larger than the range encompassed by a previous, lower interval by a particular factor, and

recognizing a meaningful human-perceived change in brightness when an ambient light level crosses a particular number of the plurality of intervals in the human-perceived brightness scale.

64. The system of claim 63 wherein the particular factor by which the range of at least one interval is larger than its previous, lower interval comprises a percentage from 3% to 15%.

65. The system of claim 63 wherein the particular number of the plurality of intervals comprises a number from 1 to 10 intervals.