Window Grouping and Rendering Optimization for Display Overlap
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Solution Overview
Problem
Electronic devices with multiple displayed windows face issues of overlapping windows obscuring each other and excessive processing power consumption when managing simultaneous presentations.
Innovation Solution
A method involving grouping windows into focus and defocus groups, using a graph data structure to track overlaps, and adjusting rendering parameters such as opacity, frame rate, and resolution based on focus status to optimize display and reduce power usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If multiple windows are simultaneously presented on the display, then information availability is improved, but window overlap obscures content and processing power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies transparency/opacity changes to windows based on their focus status. Focused windows are rendered with higher opacity (more opaque) while defocused windows are rendered with lower opacity (more transparent), allowing users to see through defocused windows to underlying content or other windows, thus reducing visual obstruction while maintaining information availability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a depth dimension by rendering focused windows in front of defocused windows in the z-order. This creates a visual hierarchy where focused windows appear closer to the user and defocused windows appear further away, allowing multiple windows to coexist without complete mutual obstruction
2Loss of information
If multiple windows are simultaneously presented on the display, then information availability is improved, but processing power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial rendering optimization by rendering defocused windows with lower opacity and potentially lower quality settings. This allows the system to process and display multiple windows simultaneously while reducing the computational resources required for rendering defocused content, as these windows can use simplified rendering paths compared to fully opaque focused windows
Solution Approach 2:
The patent dynamically changes rendering parameters such as opacity, resolution, and frame rate based on window focus status. Defocused windows may be rendered at lower resolutions or with reduced frame rates compared to focused windows, reducing processing power consumption while maintaining adequate visual information
3Ease of operation
If focused windows are rendered with high opacity to dominate display, then user attention is directed effectively, but defocused windows become less visible
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses transparency/opacity adjustments to create a visual hierarchy. Focused windows are rendered with high opacity to dominate user attention, while defocused windows are rendered with lower opacity to maintain partial visibility. This allows both focused and defocused windows to serve their purposes simultaneously without complete visual conflict
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic device may include a display that simultaneously presents multiple windows. A graph data structure may be stored to efficiently track overlap between windows on the display. Overlapping windows on the display may be grouped into window groups. For each window group, at least one of the windows may be set as a focused window and the remaining windows may be set as defocused windows. Rendering of the defocused window may be adjusted relative to rendering of the focused window. A defocused window may be rendered with a lower resolution than the focused window, may be rendered with a lower opacity than the focused window, and/or at a lower frame rate than the focused window.