Display brightness control method and apparatus for conserving battery power
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for reducing the brightness of a display, said display being of the type capable of being operated on power supplied by a battery power source and an external power source, said method comprising the steps of:
- configuring the display to provide a first user selected display brightness level when an external power source is in use, and a second target display brightness level when the battery power source is in use;
detecting a change from the external power source to the battery power source; and
changing the display brightness level from said user selected brightness level to said target brightness level;
wherein the step of changing the display brightness is performed according to a rate limiting function such that the resulting change in display brightness occurs gradually.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for reducing display brightness on a portable computer when a user switches from an AC adapter to a battery power source provide battery power conservation. The reduction in display brightness is performed gradually so that a sudden brightness drop is not detected by the user. The display brightness reduction is preferably performed sufficiently gradually so that the reduction in brightness is virtually unnoticeable to the human eye.
-
Citations
34 Claims
-
1. A method for reducing the brightness of a display, said display being of the type capable of being operated on power supplied by a battery power source and an external power source, said method comprising the steps of:
-
configuring the display to provide a first user selected display brightness level when an external power source is in use, and a second target display brightness level when the battery power source is in use;
detecting a change from the external power source to the battery power source; and
changing the display brightness level from said user selected brightness level to said target brightness level;
wherein the step of changing the display brightness is performed according to a rate limiting function such that the resulting change in display brightness occurs gradually. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. A method for reducing the brightness of a display, said display being of the type capable of being operated on power supplied by a battery power source and an external power source, said method comprising the steps of:
-
configuring the display to provide a first user selected display brightness level when an external power source is in use, and a second target display brightness level when the battery power source is in use;
detecting a change from the external power source to the battery power source;
determining whether the target brightness level is less than the user selected brightness level;
changing the display brightness level from said user selected brightness level to said target brightness level if the target brightness level is less than the user selected brightness level; and
leaving the brightness level unchanged if the target brightness level is not less than the user selected brightness level;
wherein the step of changing the display brightness is performed according to a rate limiting function such that the resulting change in display brightness occurs gradually. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. In a portable computer system, said computer system being of the type capable of being operated on power supplied by a battery power source and an external power source, a display brightness control system comprising:
-
a display;
control circuitry operably connected to said display for adjusting the display brightness;
power supply detecting means for detecting whether power is being supplied by said battery power source or an external power source; and
rate limiting means for gradually changing the brightness level from a first user selected brightness level to a second target brightness level when a change from the external power source to said battery power source is detected by said power supply detecting means. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
-
-
31. An article of manufacture comprising:
-
a computer useable medium having a computer readable code means embodied in said medium for controlling the brightness of a computer display, said computer being of the type capable of being operated on power supplied by a battery power source and an external power source, the computer readable program code in said article of manufacture comprising;
computer readable program code means to configure the computer to provide a first user selected display brightness level for determining the brightness level when an external power source is in use, and a second target display brightness level for determined the brightness level when the battery power source is in use;
computer readable program code means to detect a change from the external power source to the battery power source; and
computer readable program code means to change the display brightness level from said user selected brightness level to said target brightness level;
wherein the change in display brightness is performed according to a rate limiting function such that any resulting change in display brightness occurs gradually.
-
-
32. An article of manufacture comprising:
-
a computer useable medium having a computer readable code means embodied in said medium for controlling the brightness of a computer display, said computer being of the type capable of being operated on power supplied by a battery power source and an external power source, the computer readable program code in said article of manufacture comprising;
computer readable program code means to configure the computer to provide a first user selected display brightness level for determining the brightness level when an external power source is in use, and a second target display brightness level for determined the brightness level when the battery power source is in use;
computer readable program code means to detecting a change from the external power source to the battery power source;
computer readable program code means to determine whether the target brightness level is less than the user selected brightness level; and
computer readable program code means to change the display brightness level from said user selected brightness level to said target brightness level if the target brightness level is less than the user selected brightness level and to leave the brightness level unchanged if the target brightness level is not less than the user selected brightness level;
wherein the change in display brightness is performed according to a rate limiting function such that any resulting change in display brightness occurs gradually.
-
-
33. A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for controlling the brightness of a computer display, said computer being of the type capable of being operated on power supplied by a battery power source and an external power source, said method steps comprising:
-
configuring the computer to provide a first user selected display brightness level for determining the brightness level when an external power source is in use, and a second target display brightness level for determined the brightness level when the battery power source is in use;
detecting a change from the external power source to the battery power source; and
changing the display brightness level from said user selected brightness level to said target brightness level;
wherein the step of changing the display brightness is performed according to a rate limiting function such that the resulting change in display brightness occurs gradually.
-
-
34. A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for controlling the brightness of a computer display, said computer being of the type capable of being operated on power supplied by a battery power source and an external power source, said method steps comprising:
-
configuring the computer to provide a first user selected display brightness level for determining the brightness level when an external power source is in use, and a second target display brightness level for determined the brightness level when the battery power source is in use;
detecting a change from the external power source to the battery power source;
determining whether the target brightness level is less than the user selected brightness level;
changing the display brightness level from said user selected brightness level to said target brightness level if the target brightness level is less than the user selected brightness level; and
leaving the brightness level unchanged if the target brightness level is not less than the user selected brightness level;
wherein the step of changing the display brightness is performed according to a rate limiting function such that the resulting change in display brightness occurs gradually.
-
Specification