Advanced power management for computer displays
First Claim
1. In a computer system having a display, a method comprising:
- determining a first area on the display;
determining a second area on the display;
determining how power data should be used to control areas on the display based on user-configurable settings;
determining how much weight to give each window within the display by applying a weighing scheme; and
using the weighing scheme to reduce power consumed by the second area relative to power consumed by the first area by modifying a refresh rate of the second area such that the first area and the second area have different refresh rates and wherein modifying the refresh rate of the second area includes alternately skipping and providing illumination of at least one color within a pixel in the second area during refresh cycles of the second area.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Described is a method and system for power management of mobile computer displays, in which areas of the screen are selectively controlled to consume less power than other areas. For example, a foreground window having focus may receive normal brightness, while background areas are dimmed. To this end, the pixels of selected areas are controlled to vary color depth, resolution, refresh rate, brightness and/or the on/off state for any part of the display. Power settings for parts of the display not corresponding to a focused window can be gradually reduced over time. Power policy may determine which areas are given reduced power, and external mechanisms provide information useful in the determination, such as when the user last interacted with a window, where the mouse is hovering, explicit user instructions as to how to power manage a window, and sensors that detect where the user is likely to want more power.
67 Citations
31 Claims
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1. In a computer system having a display, a method comprising:
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determining a first area on the display;
determining a second area on the display;determining how power data should be used to control areas on the display based on user-configurable settings; determining how much weight to give each window within the display by applying a weighing scheme; and using the weighing scheme to reduce power consumed by the second area relative to power consumed by the first area by modifying a refresh rate of the second area such that the first area and the second area have different refresh rates and wherein modifying the refresh rate of the second area includes alternately skipping and providing illumination of at least one color within a pixel in the second area during refresh cycles of the second area. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. In a computer system having a display, a system comprising:
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a provider of power-related policy; and a display management mechanism coupled to the provider, the display management mechanism associated with a window manager that manages each window on the display, the display management mechanism configured to control a refresh rate of at least one window relative to a refresh rate of at least one other area of the display upon receiving policy data from the provider such that power consumption of the display changes based on the power-related policy, the display management mechanism determining how power data should be used to control areas on the display based on user-configurable settings and determining how much weight to give each window within the display by applying a weighing scheme; and wherein the display management mechanism uses the weighing scheme to modify the refresh rate of the second area on the display by alternately skipping and providing illumination of at least one color within a pixel in the second area during refresh cycles of the second area. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. In a computer system having a display, a method comprising:
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determining whether a window within the display has focus; obtaining policy information related to displaying a window that is not in focus; determining how power data should be used to control areas on the display based on user-configurable settings; determining how much weight to give each window within the display by applying a weighing scheme; and using the weighing scheme to modify a refresh rate of the window that is determined to not have focus and in response to determining that the window does not have focus, wherein the refresh rate of the window that does not have focus is modified by at least alternately skipping and providing illumination of at least one color within a pixel in the window that does not have focus during refresh cycles of the window that does not have focus. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification