Display Controller Region Comparison for Bandwidth Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current data processing systems face significant bandwidth and power consumption challenges when sending pixel data from the display controller to the display, despite using compression techniques like Display Stream Compression (DSC), indicating a need for further improvements in reducing memory bandwidth and power requirements.
Innovation Solution
The system compares regions of an output surface to identify differences or similarities and sends this information to the display, allowing it to reconstruct the surface efficiently, thereby reducing the amount of data needed to be transmitted.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If pixel data is sent from the display controller to the display using compression techniques like DSC, then bandwidth requirements are reduced, but power consumption remains significant and further reduction scope is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential difference information between sequential output surfaces instead of transmitting complete pixel data. The display controller identifies and transmits only the regions that have changed between frames, allowing the display to reconstruct the current frame by applying these differences to the previous frame. This extraction of essential information significantly reduces both bandwidth requirements and power consumption compared to traditional compression methods that still require transmitting compressed pixel data.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of the conventional approach where the display controller sends complete or compressed image data to the display and the display renders the final image, this patent inverts the process by having the display controller send only difference information and allowing the display to perform the reconstruction. This role reversal enables the display to utilize its local resources for frame reconstruction, reducing the data transmission burden and associated power consumption.
2Reliability
If complete pixel data is transmitted from the display controller to the display, then the display can accurately reproduce the output surface, but bandwidth and power consumption are high
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses the previous output surface as a base copy and applies difference information to create the current output surface. Instead of transmitting complete pixel data, the system transmits only the differences that need to be applied to the previous frame copy. This copying approach maintains display accuracy while significantly reducing bandwidth requirements, as the display can reconstruct the current frame by applying the transmitted differences to the stored previous frame data.
3Use of energy by moving object
If difference information is transmitted instead of complete pixel data, then bandwidth and power consumption are reduced, but the complexity of the display controller increases due to comparison operations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the output surface into multiple regions and performs comparison operations on each segment independently. This segmentation allows the display controller to identify changed regions more efficiently and transmit only the necessary difference information for each segment. The segmentation approach distributes the comparison workload and enables more manageable processing complexity while still achieving significant bandwidth and power reduction.
Solution Approach 2:
The display controller performs comparison operations in advance to identify difference regions before transmission. By conducting these comparisons preliminarily and preparing the difference information ahead of time, the system reduces the real-time processing burden during frame transmission and display refresh cycles. This preliminary action approach organizes the complexity into manageable pre-processing steps.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of operating a data processing system is disclosed for a data processing system that comprises a display and a display controller operable to provide to the display data in respect of output surfaces to be displayed. The method comprises, when an output surface is to be displayed, the display controller providing to the display data in respect of the output surface in the form of image data and image modification data, and the display using the image data and the image modification data when producing an output surface for display.