Device and method of controlling brightness of a display based on ambient lighting conditions

• US 8,749,538 B2
• Filed: 10/21/2011
• Issued: 06/10/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Snaptrack Incorporated (Qualcomm, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm MEMS Technologies Incorporated (Qualcomm, Inc.)
• Inventors: Webster, James R., Martin, Russel A., Gille, Jennifer L.
• Primary Examiner(s): PATEL, PREMAL R
• Application Number:
  US13/278,490
• Publication Number:
  US 20130100096A1
• Time in Patent Office: 963 Days
• Field of Search: 345/102, 345/207, 345/699
• US Class Current: 345/207
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0233 Improving the luminance or brightness uniformity across the screen
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/062 Adjustment of illumination source parameters
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0626 for control of overall brightness
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2330/021 Power management, e.g. power saving
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/14 Detecting light within display terminals, e.g. using a single or a plurality of photosensors
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/144 the light being ambient light
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3466 based on interferometric effect

Abstract

This disclosure provides systems, methods and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for controlling brightness of a display based on ambient light conditions. In one aspect, a display device can include a reflective display and an auxiliary light source configured to provide supplemental light to the display. The display device further can include a sensor system configured to determine an illuminance of ambient light, and a controller configured to adjust the auxiliary light source to provide an amount of supplemental light to the display based at least in part on the determined illuminance. In one aspect, the amount of supplemental light remains substantially the same or substantially increases in response to increasing illuminance when the illuminance is below a first threshold, and substantially decreases in response to increasing illuminance when the illuminance is above a second threshold that is greater than or equal to the first threshold.

Claims

1. A display device comprising:

an auxiliary light source configured to provide supplemental light to a reflective display;

a sensor system configured to determine an illuminance of ambient light illuminating the reflective display; and

a controller in communication with the sensor system, the controller configured to adjust the auxiliary light source to provide an amount of supplemental light to the reflective display based at least in part on the illuminance of the ambient light, wherein the amount of supplemental light;

remains substantially the same on average or substantially increases on average in response to increasing illuminance of the ambient light when the illuminance of the ambient light is below a first threshold, and

substantially decreases on average in response to increasing illuminance of the ambient light when the illuminance of the ambient light is above a second threshold that is greater than or equal to the first threshold,

wherein the amount of supplemental light has a peak value in a range from 20 nits to 30 nits for illuminance of the ambient light that is above the first threshold and below the second threshold.

2. The display device of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to access a look-up table (LUT) or a formula that provides the amount of supplemental light to be provided.

3. The display device of claim 2, wherein the LUT or the formula is based on a model that is non-monotonic for the amount of supplemental light as a function of the illuminance of the ambient light.

4. The display device of claim 1, wherein the first threshold is approximately equal to the second threshold.

5. The display device of claim 1, wherein the first threshold is greater than about 100 lux and the second threshold is less than 500 lux.

6. The display device of claim 1, wherein the amount of supplemental light is approximately the same amount on average when the illuminance of the ambient light is between the first and second thresholds.

7. The display device of claim 6, wherein the amount of supplemental light is in a range from about 20 nits to about 30 nits when the illuminance of the ambient light is between the first and second thresholds.

8. The display device of claim 1, wherein the amount of supplemental light remains approximately the same on average when the illuminance of the ambient light is below a third threshold that is less than the first threshold.

9. The display device of claim 8, wherein the amount of supplemental light is in a range from 5 nits to 10 nits when the illuminance of the ambient light is below the third threshold.

10. The display device of claim 8, wherein the third threshold is less than 50 lux.

11. The display device of claim 1, wherein the peak value of the supplemental light corresponds to the maximum light that can be provided by the auxiliary light source.

12. The display device of claim 1, wherein the amount of supplemental light is approximately zero when the illuminance of the ambient light is above a fourth threshold that is greater than the second threshold.

13. The display device of claim 12, wherein the fourth threshold is greater than 800 lux.

14. The display device of claim 1, wherein for at least some illuminances below the first threshold, the amount of supplemental light increases with increasing illuminance of the ambient light by a rate in a range from 0 nit/lux to 0.05 nit/lux.

15. The display device of claim 1, wherein for at least some illuminances above the second threshold, the amount of supplemental light decreases with increasing illuminance of the ambient light by a rate in a range from 0.01 nit/lux to 0.05 nit/lux.

16. The display device of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to determine the amount of supplemental light based at least in part on content being displayed.

17. The display device of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to determine the amount of supplemental light based at least in part on viewer preferences.

18. The display device of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to determine the amount of supplemental light based at least in part on at least one of a diffuse illuminance, a directed illuminance, a direction to the directed illuminance, and a location of a viewer.

19. The display device of claim 1, further comprising:

a processor that is configured to communicate with the reflective display, the processor being configured to process image data; and

a memory device that is configured to communicate with the processor.

20. The display device of claim 19, further comprising:

a driver circuit configured to send at least one signal to the reflective display; and

a driver controller configured to send at least a portion of the image data to the driver circuit.

21. The display device of claim 19, further comprising:

an image source module configured to send the image data to the processor.

22. The display device of claim 21, wherein the image source module includes at least one of a receiver, transceiver, and transmitter.

23. The display device of claim 19, further comprising:

an input device configured to receive input data and to communicate the input data to the processor.

24. A display device comprising:

means for providing supplemental light to a reflective display;

means for determining an illuminance of ambient light illuminating the reflective display; and

means for adjusting the supplemental light means, the adjusting means configured to determine an amount of supplemental light based at least in part on the determined illuminance of the ambient light, wherein the amount of supplemental light;

remains substantially the same on average or substantially increases on average in response to increasing illuminance of the ambient light when the illuminance of the ambient light is below a first threshold, and

substantially decreases on average in response to increasing illuminance of the ambient light when the illuminance of the ambient light is above a second threshold that is greater than or equal to the first threshold,

wherein the amount of supplemental light has a peak value in a range from 20 nits to 30 nits for illuminance of the ambient light that is above the first threshold and below the second threshold.

25. The display device of claim 24, wherein the reflective display includes interferometric modulators, or the means for providing supplemental light includes a front-light, or the means for determining the illuminance includes a light sensor.

26. The display device of claim 24, wherein for at least some illuminances below the first threshold, the amount of supplemental light increases with increasing illuminance of the ambient light by a rate in a range from 0 nit/lux to 0.05 nit/lux.

27. The display device of claim 24, wherein for at least some illuminances above the second threshold, the amount of supplemental light decreases with increasing illuminance of the ambient light by a rate in a range from 0.01 nit/lux to 0.05 nit/lux.

28. The display device of claim 24, wherein the adjusting means is configured to determine the amount of supplemental light based at least in part on at least one of content being displayed, viewer preferences, a diffuse illuminance, a directed illuminance, a direction to the directed illuminance, and a location of a viewer.

29. A method of controlling supplemental lighting of a reflective display, the method comprising:

determining by a light sensor an illuminance of ambient light illuminating the reflective display; and

automatically adjusting an auxiliary light source to provide an amount of supplemental light to the reflective display based at least in part on the illuminance of the ambient light, wherein the adjusting includes;

maintaining substantially the same amount of supplemental light on average or substantially increasing on average the amount of supplemental light in response to increasing illuminance of the ambient light when the illuminance of the ambient light is below a first threshold, and

substantially decreasing on average the amount of supplemental light in response to increasing illuminance of the ambient light when the illuminance of the ambient light is above a second threshold that is greater than or equal to the first threshold,

wherein the amount of supplemental light has a peak value in a range from 20 nits to 30 nits for illuminance of the ambient light that is above the first threshold and below the second threshold.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

accessing a look-up table (LUT) or a formula that provides the amount of supplemental light to be provided,

wherein the LUT or the formula is based on a model that is non-monotonic for the amount of supplemental light as a function of the illuminance of the ambient light.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein the first threshold is approximately equal to the second threshold.

32. The method of claim 29, wherein maintaining substantially the same amount of supplemental light on average or substantially increasing on average includes increasing the amount of supplemental light with increasing illuminance of the ambient light by a rate in a range from about 0 nit/lux to about 0.05 nit/lux when the illuminance of the ambient light is below the first threshold.

33. The method of claim 29, wherein substantially decreasing on average includes decreasing the amount of supplemental light with increasing illuminance of the ambient light by a rate in a range from about 0.01 nit/lux to 0.05 nit/lux when the illuminance of the ambient light is above the second threshold.

34. A non-transitory tangible computer storage medium having stored thereon instructions for controlling supplemental lighting of a reflective display of a display device, the instructions when executed by a computing system, causing the computing system to perform operations, the operations comprising:

receiving from a computer-readable medium a determined illuminance of ambient light illuminating the reflective display;

determining an amount of supplemental light to provide to the reflective display based at least in part on the illuminance of the ambient light, wherein the amount of supplemental light;

remains substantially the same on average or substantially increases on average in response to increasing illuminance of the ambient light when the illuminance of the ambient light is below a first threshold, and

substantially decreases on average in response to increasing illuminance of the ambient light when the illuminance of the ambient light is above a second threshold that is greater than or equal to the first threshold,

wherein the amount of supplemental light has a peak value in a range from 20 nits to 30 nits for illuminance of the ambient light that is above the first threshold and below the second threshold; and

transmitting a supplemental lighting adjustment based at least in part on the amount of supplemental light to a light source configured to provide light to the reflective display.

35. The non-transitory tangible computer storage medium of claim 34, the operations further comprising:

accessing a look-up table (LUT) or a formula that provides the amount of supplemental light to be provided,

wherein the LUT or the formula is based on a model that is non-monotonic for the amount of supplemental light as a function of the illuminance of the ambient light.

36. The non-transitory tangible computer storage medium of claim 34, wherein the first threshold is approximately equal to the second threshold.

37. The non-transitory tangible computer storage medium of claim 34, wherein for at least some illuminances below the first threshold, the amount of supplemental light increases with increasing illuminance of the ambient light by a rate in a range from 0 nit/lux to 0.05 nit/lux.

38. The non-transitory tangible computer storage medium of claim 34, wherein for at least some illuminances above the second threshold, the amount of supplemental light decreases with increasing illuminance of the ambient light by a rate in a range from 0.01 nit/lux to 0.05 nit/lux.

39. A display device comprising:

an auxiliary light source configured to provide supplemental light to a reflective display;

a sensor system configured to determine an illuminance of ambient light illuminating the reflective display; and

a controller in communication with the sensor system, the controller configured to adjust the auxiliary light source to provide an amount of supplemental light to the reflective display based at least in part on the illuminance of the ambient light, wherein the amount of supplemental light;

remains substantially the same on average or substantially increases on average in response to increasing illuminance of the ambient light when the illuminance of the ambient light is below a first threshold, and

substantially decreases on average in response to increasing illuminance of the ambient light when the illuminance of the ambient light is above a second threshold that is greater than or equal to the first threshold,

wherein the amount of supplemental light is approximately the same amount on average and in a range from 20 nits to 30 nits when the illuminance of the ambient light is between the first and second thresholds.

40. The display device of claim 39, wherein the controller is configured to access a look-up table (LUT) or a formula that provides the amount of supplemental light to be provided.

41. The display device of claim 40, wherein the LUT or the formula is based on a model that is non-monotonic for the amount of supplemental light as a function of the illuminance of the ambient light.

42. The display device of claim 39, wherein the first threshold is greater than 100 lux and the second threshold is less than 500 lux.

43. The display device of claim 39, wherein for at least some illuminances below the first threshold, the amount of supplemental light increases with increasing illuminance of the ambient light by a rate in a range from 0 nit/lux to 0.05 nit/lux.

44. The display device of claim 39, wherein for at least some illuminances above the second threshold, the amount of supplemental light decreases with increasing illuminance of the ambient light by a rate in a range from 0.01 nit/lux to 0.05 nit/lux.

45. A non-transitory tangible computer storage medium having stored thereon instructions for controlling supplemental lighting of a reflective display of a display device, the instructions when executed by a computing system, causing the computing system to perform operations, the operations comprising:

receiving from a computer-readable medium a determined illuminance of ambient light illuminating the reflective display;

determining an amount of supplemental light to provide to the reflective display based at least in part on the illuminance of the ambient light, wherein the amount of supplemental light;

remains substantially the same on average or substantially increases on average in response to increasing illuminance of the ambient light when the illuminance of the ambient light is below a first threshold, and

substantially decreases on average in response to increasing illuminance of the ambient light when the illuminance of the ambient light is above a second threshold that is greater than or equal to the first threshold,

wherein the amount of supplemental light is approximately the same amount on average and in a range from 20 nits to 30 nits when the illuminance of the ambient light is between the first and second thresholds; and

transmitting a supplemental lighting adjustment based at least in part on the amount of supplemental light to a light source configured to provide light to the reflective display.

46. The non-transitory tangible computer storage medium of claim 45, the operations further comprising:

accessing a look-up table (LUT) or a formula that provides the amount of supplemental light to be provided,

wherein the LUT or the formula is based on a model that is non-monotonic for the amount of supplemental light as a function of the illuminance of the ambient light.

47. The non-transitory tangible computer storage medium of claim 45, wherein the first threshold is greater than 100 lux and the second threshold is less than 500 lux.

48. The non-transitory tangible computer storage medium of claim 45, wherein for at least some illuminances below the first threshold, the amount of supplemental light increases with increasing illuminance of the ambient light by a rate in a range from 0 nit/lux to 0.05 nit/lux.

49. The non-transitory tangible computer storage medium of claim 45, wherein for at least some illuminances above the second threshold, the amount of supplemental light decreases with increasing illuminance of the ambient light by a rate in a range from 0.01 nit/lux to 0.05 nit/lux.

50. A display device comprising:

an auxiliary light source configured to provide supplemental light to a reflective display;

a sensor system configured to determine an illuminance of ambient light illuminating the reflective display; and

a controller in communication with the sensor system, the controller configured to adjust the auxiliary light source to provide an amount of supplemental light to the reflective display based at least in part on the illuminance of the ambient light, wherein the amount of supplemental light;

remains substantially the same on average or substantially increases on average in response to increasing illuminance of the ambient light when the illuminance of the ambient light is below a first threshold, and

substantially decreases on average in response to increasing illuminance of the ambient light when the illuminance of the ambient light is above a second threshold that is greater than or equal to the first threshold,

wherein the amount of supplemental light remains approximately the same on average and is in a range from 5 nits to 10 nits when the illuminance of the ambient light is below a third threshold that is less than the first threshold.

51. The display device of claim 50, wherein the controller is configured to access a look-up table (LUT) or a formula that provides the amount of supplemental light to be provided.

52. The display device of claim 51, wherein the LUT or the formula is based on a model that is non-monotonic for the amount of supplemental light as a function of the illuminance of the ambient light.

53. The display device of claim 50, wherein the first threshold is approximately equal to the second threshold.

54. The display device of claim 50, wherein the third threshold is less than 50 lux.

55. The display device of claim 50, wherein for at least some illuminances below the first threshold, the amount of supplemental light increases with increasing illuminance of the ambient light by a rate in a range from 0 nit/lux to 0.05 nit/lux.

56. The display device of claim 50, wherein for at least some illuminances above the second threshold, the amount of supplemental light decreases with increasing illuminance of the ambient light by a rate in a range from 0.01 nit/lux to 0.05 nit/lux.

57. A non-transitory tangible computer storage medium having stored thereon instructions for controlling supplemental lighting of a reflective display of a display device, the instructions when executed by a computing system, causing the computing system to perform operations, the operations comprising:

receiving from a computer-readable medium a determined illuminance of ambient light illuminating the reflective display;

determining an amount of supplemental light to provide to the reflective display based at least in part on the illuminance of the ambient light, wherein the amount of supplemental light;

remains substantially the same on average or substantially increases on average in response to increasing illuminance of the ambient light when the illuminance of the ambient light is below a first threshold, and

substantially decreases on average in response to increasing illuminance of the ambient light when the illuminance of the ambient light is above a second threshold that is greater than or equal to the first threshold,

wherein the amount of supplemental light remains approximately the same on average and is in a range from 5 nits to 10 nits when the illuminance of the ambient light is below a third threshold that is less than the first threshold; and

transmitting a supplemental lighting adjustment based at least in part on the amount of supplemental light to a light source configured to provide light to the reflective display.

58. The non-transitory tangible computer storage medium of claim 57, the operations further comprising:

accessing a look-up table (LUT) or a formula that provides the amount of supplemental light to be provided,

wherein the LUT or the formula is based on a model that is non-monotonic for the amount of supplemental light as a function of the illuminance of the ambient light.

59. The non-transitory tangible computer storage medium of claim 57, wherein the first threshold is approximately equal to the second threshold.

60. The non-transitory tangible computer storage medium of claim 57, wherein for at least some illuminances below the first threshold, the amount of supplemental light increases with increasing illuminance of the ambient light by a rate in a range from 0 nit/lux to 0.05 nit/lux.

61. The non-transitory tangible computer storage medium of claim 57, wherein for at least some illuminances above the second threshold, the amount of supplemental light decreases with increasing illuminance of the ambient light by a rate in a range from 0.01 nit/lux to 0.05 nit/lux.