Method and apparatus for enabling power management of a flat panel display

• US 7,119,786 B2
• Filed: 06/28/2001
• Issued: 10/10/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Cui, Ying
• Primary Examiner(s): Liang, Regina
• Application Number:
  US09/896,341
• Publication Number:
  US 20030001815A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,930 Days
• Field of Search: 345/102, 345/103, 345/104, 345/98, 345211-213, 345/214, 345 87- 89, 345/90, 345/92, 345/63, 345/101, 345/690, 348/602, 348/227.1, 713/320, 713/340
• US Class Current: 345/102
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0276 for the purpose of adaptation to the characteristics of a display device, i.e. gamma correction
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0626 for control of overall brightness
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/064 by time modulation of the brightness of the illumination source
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0646 Modulation of illumination source brightness and image signal correlated to each other
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0686 with two or more screen areas displaying information with different brightness or colours
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2330/021 Power management, e.g. power saving
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/12 Overlay of images, i.e. displayed pixel being the result of switching between the corresponding input pixels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/144 the light being ambient light
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/16 Calculation or use of calculated indices related to luminance levels in display data
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3406 Control of illumination source illumination devices structurally associated with liquid crystal cells G02F1/1336
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3611 Control of matrices with row and column drivers

Abstract

A method and apparatus for enabling power management of a flat-panel display is described. In one embodiment, a method involves detecting at least one display device power state and adjusting a backlight brightness in a display monitor in response to the detecting the at least one display power state. In one embodiment, a method further involves altering the brightness of a display image in order to maintain a display image quality when the backlight is adjusted.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

detecting at least one graphics accelerator power state;

adjusting a backlight brightness in a display monitor in response to detecting the at least one graphics accelerator power state;

adjusting a display image brightness in response to adjusting the backlight brightness to maintain a pre-determined display image quality represented by a relationship among a plurality of display image properties.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the relationship is a ratio of values, the values-representing the plurality of display image properties.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of display image properties comprises:

a display image character brightness;

an ambient light brightness;

a display image background brightness.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the display monitor is a flat panel display.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the display image brightness is adjusted by a graphics gamma unit.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein adjusting the backlight brightness contributes to satisfying the at least one power state requirement.

7. A method comprising:

displaying a display image on a display monitor;

detecting a display image brightness;

adjusting the display image brightness by adjusting a display character brightness or a background brightness in response to detecting the display image brightness and detecting a power state of a graphics accelerator corresponding to the display image.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising maintaining a ratio of:

values, the values representing a plurality of display image properties.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein at least one of the plurality of display image properties is effected by a backlight brightness, the backlight brightness being associated with the display monitor.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein at least one of the plurality of display image properties is effected by a software application being executed within a computer system, the computer system being coupled to the display monitor.

11. The method of claim 8 wherein the plurality of display image properties comprises an ambient light brightness.

12. An apparatus comprising:

a first unit to adjust a backlight brightness in response to detecting a graphics accelerator power state;

a second unit to adjust a display image brightness in response to an adjustment of the backlight brightness.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 further comprising:

a third unit to detect an ambient light brightness, wherein the second unit is to adjust the display image brightness in response to detecting the ambient light brightness.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the second unit and the third unit are the same functional unit.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the display image brightness includes character brightness and background brightness.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein a contrast between the character brightness and the background brightness is to be changed in response to an adjustment to the backlight brightness.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein a contrast between the character brightness and the background brightness is to be changed in response to an adjustment to the graphics accelerator power state.

18. A system comprising:

a display monitor;

a graphics accelerator to generate a display image on the display monitor, the display image having a character brightness and a background brightness;

a first unit to adjust the character brightness and the background brightness in response to a change in power state of the graphics accelerator.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the display monitor includes a backlight generation unit.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the first unit is to adjust the character brightness and the background brightness in response to a change in a backlight generated by the backlight generation unit.

21. The system of claim 18 further comprising an ambient light detector.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the first unit is to adjust the character brightness and the background brightness in response to a change in ambient light detected by the ambient light detector.

23. A machine-readable medium having stored thereon a set of instructions, which if executed by a machine cause the machine to perform a method comprising:

detecting a first graphics accelerator power state;

adjusting a backlight brightness in a display monitor in response to detecting the first graphics accelerator power state; and

adjusting a display image brightness in response to adjusting the backlight brightness.

24. The machine-readable medium of claim 23 wherein the method further comprises maintaining a display image quality in response to detecting the backlight brightness, the display image quality being represented by a relationship among a plurality of display image properties.

25. The machine-readable medium of claim 24 wherein the plurality of display image properties include a display image character brightness, an ambient light brightness, and a display image background brightness.