Electrophoretic Display Region Control for Power Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing electrophoretic display apparatuses using the active matrix method face challenges in efficiently rewriting images across multiple frames, leading to high power consumption due to increased memory accesses as the number of pixels increases, especially when editing or deleting images, which affects operability and display speed.
Innovation Solution
A control apparatus for an electro-optic apparatus that reduces memory accesses by determining whether a writing operation is necessary for each region of pixels, allowing for partial region writing and optimizing memory access flags to minimize power consumption by only accessing memory when necessary.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If writing operation is performed on entire screen when image rewriting is performed across multiple frames, then image display completeness is ensured, but power consumption increases due to increased memory accesses
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the display screen into multiple regions and implements region-based writing operations. Instead of writing to the entire screen, the system identifies and writes only to specific regions that require updates. This segmentation approach maintains image display completeness for updated areas while reducing unnecessary memory accesses and power consumption in regions that don't require changes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different writing strategies to different regions based on their specific needs. Regions that require image rewriting are identified and given priority writing access, while regions that don't need updates skip writing operations. This local quality approach ensures that power is consumed only where necessary, maintaining display reliability while reducing overall power consumption.
2Reliability
If writing operation is performed on entire screen when image is edited or deleted, then image update completeness is ensured, but operability deteriorates due to long rewriting time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the screen into multiple regions and performs writing operations on only those regions that require updates during image editing or deletion. This approach maintains image update completeness for modified areas while significantly reducing the overall rewriting time, thereby improving operability and user experience.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements partial writing actions by identifying and writing only to the specific regions that need updates rather than performing excessive full-screen writing operations. This partial action approach ensures that image updates are complete for necessary areas while reducing the time required for rewriting operations, thus improving ease of operation.
3Speed
If pipeline process is used for partial region writing, then display speed is improved, but memory access frequency increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines segmentation with pipeline processing by dividing the screen into regions and applying pipeline writing only to regions that require updates. This approach maintains the speed benefits of pipeline processing while reducing the total number of memory accesses by excluding regions that don't need rewriting, thus balancing display speed improvement with reduced memory access frequency.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach significantly reduces memory accesses and power consumption by allowing writing operations to proceed only when necessary, enhancing display speed and operability while maintaining efficient image rendering.
Implementation Method 1
white particles and black particles which are included in each of the microcapsules move based on an electric field which is generated by the electrical potential difference
Data Source
AI summary
Each of a plurality of regions of a display unit is provided with an access flag indicative of whether a writing operation is performed on pixels in a corresponding region. It is determined whether the corresponding operation is performed on each of the regions based on the access flag. When the corresponding operation is necessary, image data written in a memory is compared with estimated image data. As a result, when a new writing operation is necessary, the new writing operation starts to be performed on each pixel after a previous writing operation is terminated. When the writing operation is terminated on all the pixels included in the region, the state of the access flag corresponding to the relevant region is changed to a state in which the writing operation is not necessary.