Addressable Display Region Refresh Rate Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Portable devices face high power consumption when displaying high-quality, full-color images at high frame rates due to the need for data source lines and high voltage control in electrowetted display panels, especially at frame rates above 30 FPS.
Innovation Solution
Implementing addressable display regions that can be refreshed at different rates based on display update deltas, allowing a display controller to minimize voltage switching events and reduce power consumption by refreshing static image regions at lower rates and video regions at higher rates, such as an electrowetted panel that can operate from 1 to 60 FPS.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If the entire display panel is refreshed at high frame rates (e.g., 60 FPS or higher), then image quality and smoothness are improved, but power consumption increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The display panel is divided into multiple addressable display regions (e.g., first display region, second display region, third display region) that can be refreshed at different frame rates independently. This segmentation allows the system to apply high refresh rates only where needed (e.g., video content) while using lower refresh rates for static content, thereby reducing overall power consumption while maintaining image quality where required.
2Illumination intensity
If high voltage control (20V) is applied to all display columns to adjust gray scale levels, then display quality is improved, but power consumption increases due to high voltage switching events
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the refresh rate of different display regions based on the content being displayed. By using display update deltas to determine pending updates, the controller can refresh only the regions that actually need updating at high frame rates, reducing the number of voltage switching events and associated power consumption while maintaining display quality where necessary.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the display controller refreshes all regions at the same high frame rate, then consistency and smoothness are maintained, but frequency-related power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
Different display regions are assigned different refresh rates based on their specific requirements. For example, regions displaying video content may be refreshed at high frame rates (e.g., 60 FPS) to maintain smoothness, while regions displaying static images are refreshed at lower frame rates. This local differentiation maintains display consistency where needed while reducing overall frequency-related power consumption.
Data Source
AI summary
In embodiments of display region refresh, a display panel has addressable display regions that display at different display refresh rates. Display data is buffered to update the addressable display regions, and subsequent display data is received to further update the addressable display regions. A display controller can determine display update deltas that indicate pending display updates based on a comparison of the display data to the subsequent display data. A first addressable display region can then be refreshed at display refresh rate based on a first display update delta that corresponds to the first addressable display region, and a second addressable display region can be refreshed at a different display refresh rate based on a second display update delta that corresponds to the second addressable display region.