Color preservation for spatially varying power conservation

• US 7,583,260 B2
• Filed: 06/20/2005
• Issued: 09/01/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/16/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Honeywood Technologies LLC
• Inventors: Plut, William J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Shankar, Vijay
• Application Number:
  US11/157,219
• Publication Number:
  US 20060001660A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,534 Days
• Field of Search: 345/52, 345 76- 92, 345204-215, 345690-699
• US Class Current: 345/211
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3218 of display devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3265 Power saving in display device
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2310/04 Partial updating of the display screen
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0626 for control of overall brightness
• 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 2330/022 in absence of operation, e.g. no data being entered during a predetermined time
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/16 Calculation or use of calculated indices related to luminance levels in display data
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/32 semiconductive, e.g. using light-emitting diodes [LED]
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3208 organic, e.g. using organic light-emitting diodes [OLED]
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3406 Control of illumination source illumination devices structurally associated with liquid crystal cells G02F1/1336
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/36 using liquid crystals
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3611 Control of matrices with row and column drivers
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

Described herein are systems and methods that reduce power consumption for an electronics device that includes a display device. The systems and methods identify characteristic color video information for a graphics component that allows a person to visually locate the graphics component in a display area for the display device. Video information in the display area other than the characteristic color video information is then altered to conserve power. Preserving the characteristic color video information for the graphics component maintains a person'"'"'s ability to locate the graphics component at a later time, even though other portions of the display area have been altered and potentially visually degraded to conserver power.

Claims

1. A method for reducing power consumed by an electronics device that includes a display device, the method comprising:

identifying characteristic color video information for a graphics component that allows a person to visually locate the graphics component based on its characteristic color video information in a display area for the display device;

monitoring user activity in the display area;

after a threshold inactivity time in the display area, altering video information in the display area, other than the characteristic color video information, to produce altered video information, such that the display device will consume less power when displaying the altered video information than an amount of power that would be required to display the video information without the alteration; and

displaying the altered video information with the characteristic color video information.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the characteristic color video information permits shape recognition of the graphics component.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the graphics component includes one of:

a window, an icon and a toolbar.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the alteration comprises a luminance reduction for the video information in the display area other than the characteristic color video information.

5. A computer readable medium including instructions for reducing power consumed by an electronics device that includes a display device, the computer-readable medium comprising:

instructions for identifying characteristic color video information for a graphics component that allows a person to visually locate the graphics component based on its characteristic color video information in a display area for the display device;

instructions for altering video information in the display area, other than the characteristic color video information, to produce altered video information, such that the display device will consume less power when displaying the altered video information than an amount of power that would be required to display the video information without the alteration; and

instructions for displaying the altered video information with the characteristic color video information.

6. The computer readable medium of claim 5, wherein the display area includes multiple windows, and further comprising instructions for identifying characteristic color video information for each window.

7. A method for reducing power consumed by an electronics device that includes a display device, the method comprising:

identifying characteristic color video information for a graphics component that allows a person to visually locate the graphics component based on its characteristic color video information in a display area for the display device;

altering video information in the display area, other than the characteristic color video information, to produce altered video information, such that the display device will consume less power when displaying the altered video information than an amount of power that would be required to display the video information without the alteration; and

displaying the altered video information with the characteristic color video information.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the characteristic color video information permits shape recognition of the graphics component.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the characteristic color video information includes color video information in a border portion of a window.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein altering video information includes altering video information in an internal portion of the window that is inside the border portion.

11. The method of claim 7 wherein the display area includes multiple windows and the characteristic color video information is identified for a window that was last active in the display area according to user input.

12. The method of claim 7 wherein the display area includes multiple windows and the characteristic color video information is identified for each window.

13. The method of claim 7 wherein the graphics component outputs video information for one of:

a word processing program, an Internet Browser interface, and a file navigation program.

14. The method of claim 7 wherein the graphics component includes one of:

a window, an icon and a toolbar.

15. The method of claim 7 wherein the alteration comprises a luminance reduction for the video information in the display area other than the characteristic color video information.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the luminance reduction includes a histogram compression and a histogram shift for the video information in the display area other than the characteristic color video information.

17. The method of claim 7 wherein further comprising a second alteration of the video information in the display area other than the characteristic color video information.

18. The method of claim 7 wherein the alteration comprises a saturation reduction for the video information in the display area other than the characteristic color video information.

19. The method of claim 7 wherein the display device is an OLED device.

20. The method of claim 7 wherein the display device is included in one of:

a laptop computer, a handheld computer, a portable phone or a portable music player.