SWITCHING DISPLAY UPDATE PROPERTIES UPON DETECTING A POWER MANAGEMENT EVENT

• US 20090160841A1
• Filed: 02/27/2009
• Published: 06/25/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tahoe Research Limited (f/k/a Learndale Limited) (Vector Capital Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Edward P. Costales, Terry M. Fletcher
• Inventors: Costales, Edward P., Fletcher, Terry M.
• Granted Patent: US 8,363,044 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/211
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3218 of display devices
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2330/021 Power management, e.g. power saving
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/04 Changes in size, position or resolution of an image
• 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

Systems and methods provide automatic switching of display update properties such as screen resolution, pixel depth, and refresh rate in response to a power management event. The display update property may be decreased when power is switched from AC power to DC power, for example, when the system is unplugged from a wall outlet and is running on battery power.

Claims

1. A method for execution by on or more processors, the method comprising:

receiving by the one or more processors an indication of a power management event;

selecting by the one or more processors a policy from a plurality of power management policies, wherein the selected policy matches the power management event; and

changing a display update property for a video display in response to the power management event, wherein changing the display update property includes changing the display update property in accordance with the selected policy.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the display update property includes at least one of a screen resolution, a pixel depth or a refresh rate.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the power management policies include one or more user defined power management policies.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the power management event comprises a change in a power source from AC power to DC power and wherein changing the display update property includes decreasing the display update property.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the power management event comprises a change in a power source from DC power to AC power and wherein changing the display update property includes increasing the display update property.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the power management event comprises a decrease in a power level of a battery past a predetermined threshold and wherein changing the display update property includes decreasing the display update property.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the power management event comprises an increase in a power level of a battery past a predetermined threshold and wherein changing the display update property includes increasing the display update property.

8. A system comprising:

a processor;

a graphics controller coupled to the processor; and

wherein the processor is operable to;

receive an indication of a power management event;

select a policy from a plurality of power management policies, wherein the selected policy matches the power management event, and

change a display property implemented by the graphics controller in response to the power management event, wherein the processor is operable to change the display property in accordance with the selected policy.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the power management event includes a change in a power source from AC power to DC power and further wherein the processor is operable to increase the display property.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the power management event includes a change in a power source from AC power to DC power and further wherein the processor is operable to decrease the display property.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the display property includes at least one of a screen resolution, a pixel depth or a refresh rate.

12. A graphics controller comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor;

wherein the processor is operable to;

receive an indication of a power management event,

select a policy from a plurality of power management policies, wherein the selected policy matches the power management event, and

change a display property in accordance with the selected policy for a video display refreshed from the memory.

13. The graphics controller of claim 12, wherein the power management event includes an a change in a power source from AC power to DC power and wherein the processor is operable to decrease the display property.

14. The graphics controller of claim 12, wherein the power management event includes a change in a power source from DC power to AC power and wherein the processor is operable to increase the display property.

15. The graphics controller of claim 26, wherein the display property includes at least one of a screen resolution, a pixel depth or a refresh rate.

16. A machine-readable medium having machine executable instructions stored thereon for causing one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving an indication of a power management event;

selecting a policy from a plurality of power management policies, wherein the selected policy matches the power management event; and

changing a display update property for a video display in response to the power management event, wherein changing the display update property includes changing the display update property in accordance with the selected policy.

17. The machine readable medium of claim 16, wherein the display update property includes at least one of a screen resolution, a pixel depth or a refresh rate.

18. The machine readable medium of claim 16, wherein the power management event comprises a change in a power source from AC power to DC power and wherein changing the display update property includes decreasing the display update property.

19. The machine readable medium of claim 16, wherein the power management event comprises a change in a power source from DC power to AC power and wherein changing the display update property includes increasing the display update property.

20. The machine readable medium of claim 16, wherein the power management event comprises a decrease in a power level of a battery past a predetermined threshold and wherein changing the display update property includes decreasing the display update property.

21. The machine readable medium of claim 16, wherein the power management event comprises an increase in a power level of a battery past a predetermined threshold and wherein changing the display update property includes increasing the display update property.

22. The machine readable medium of claim 28, wherein the power management policies include one or more user defined power management policies.