Display Refresh Rate Emulation for Low-Power Video Playback
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Display devices face challenges in efficiently displaying video content with non-native refresh rates, leading to increased power consumption, heat load, and reduced battery life due to the need for additional processing to match the device's native refresh rate.
Innovation Solution
Determining a set of native and expanded refresh rates for display devices, allowing software to provide video content at native rates while masking and emulating interrupts, thereby reducing the need for additional frame processing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If additional processing is performed to match the display device's native refresh rate, then the video content can be displayed correctly, but power consumption increases and battery life decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the refresh rate parameter from the native rate to an expanded rate that is a multiple of the content frame rate. This allows the display to show multiple frames per refresh cycle without requiring additional processing to match rates, thereby reducing power consumption while maintaining display accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a copy of the video content at the expanded refresh rate by duplicating frames. Instead of processing each frame individually at the native rate, the system copies and displays the same frame multiple times across refresh cycles, reducing computational overhead and power usage.
2Reliability
If additional processing is performed to match the display device's native refresh rate, then the video content can be displayed correctly, but heat load increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the refresh rate parameter to an expanded rate that eliminates the need for rate-matching processing. This parameter change reduces computational workload and consequently decreases heat generation while maintaining accurate video display.
3Use of energy by moving object
If the display device supports only native refresh rates, then power consumption is minimized, but adaptability to different video content is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the display device universal by supporting multiple expanded refresh rates that are multiples of various content frame rates. This multi-functionality allows the display to handle different video content types without requiring additional processing, maintaining low power consumption while improving adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces dynamic refresh rate selection where the display can adaptively choose from multiple expanded refresh rates based on the content frame rate. This dynamic approach allows the system to maintain optimal power efficiency while being compatible with various video specifications.
Data Source
AI summary
In an embodiment, a computing device includes a processor and a machine-readable storage medium storing instructions. The instructions may be executable by the hardware processor to: receive a request for an expanded refresh rate that is not supported by a display device; in response to the received request, determine a native refresh rate that is supported by a display device; mask a plurality of interrupts generated by display hardware at the determined native refresh rate; and send, at the requested expanded refresh rate, a plurality of emulated interrupts to an operating system in place of the masked plurality of interrupts generated by the display hardware. Other embodiments are described and claimed.