Low power display device with variable refresh rates

摘要

The disclosure describes procedures for dynamically employing a variable refresh rate at an LCD display of a consumer electronic device, such as a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a mobile phone, or a music player device. In some configurations, the consumer electronic device can include a host system portion, having one or more processors and a display system portion, having a timing controller, a buffer circuit, a display driver, and a display panel. The display system can receive image data and image control data from a GPU of the host system, evaluate the received image control data to determine a reduced refresh rate (RRR) for employing at the display panel, and then transition to the RRR, whenever practicable, to conserve power. In some scenarios, the transition to the RRR can be a transition from a LRR of 50 hertz or above to a RRR of 40 hertz or below.

主权项

1. A method for employing a variable refresh rate at a liquid crystal display (LCD), the method comprising:
receiving, by a display controller, image data from a processor of a computing device communicatively coupled to the LCD; determining, by the display controller, a refresh rate for the LCD based on the image data; and performing, by a buffer circuit connected to the display controller, a compensation operation to adjust brightness of the LCD in response to a current refresh rate changing to the determined refresh rate, wherein performing the compensation operation includes:
selecting, by the buffer circuit, a target voltage for a display driver, and setting, by the buffer circuit, a current voltage of the display driver to the target voltage to adjust brightness of the LCD.