Apple patent is for portable media device with power-managed display
Posted by Dennis Sellers 
Nov 29, 2007 at 12:26pm
An Apple patent (number 2007027374) for a portable media device with power-managed display has appeared at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. The invention relates to media devices and, more particularly, to portable media devices having displays.
According to Apple, improved techniques for controlling power utilization of a display device are disclosed. The improved techniques reduce power consumption by lowering display intensity at appropriate times. In one embodiment, the display intensity can be controlled depending on the type of content being displayed. In another embodiment, the display intensity can be controlled depending on the characteristics of the content being displayed. In still another embodiment, the display intensity can be controlled depending on the type and characteristics of content being displayed. The improved techniques are well suited for use with portable media devices.
Here’s what Apple has to say about the invention: “Portable media devices, such as MP3 players, video players, cell phones, and PDAs, are typically small, lightweight and highly portable. The primary source of power to these media devices are rechargeable batteries housed within the media devices. These batteries are typically recharged through a cable that connects to an AC adapter or a peripheral port of a personal computer. A portable media device typically includes a display that presents a user interface to a user of the device. The user interface can assist with user control or navigation of the media device as well as displaying information pertaining to media being played. For example, as to user control or navigation, the display can display menus or lists, volume level, user preferences, playback status, etc. As another example, when an audio item (e.g., song) is being played by the media device, the title and possibly the artwork associated with the song (or its associated album) can be displayed on the display. As still another example, when a video item (e.g., movie) is being played by the media device, video frames can be sequentially displayed on the display.
“Some portable media devices dim or turn-off their displays when not being used. Dimming or deactivating a display serves to reduce its power consumption. For example, a display might be dimmed or turned-off after a lack of any user interaction for a period of time. As another example, when a housing (e.g., clam shell type cell phone housing or laptop computer housing) is closed, its display is typically turned off since it is no longer usable by the user.
“Nevertheless, there is an increasing demand for larger and brighter displays on portable media devices. Unfortunately, however, the increased power consumption of larger and brighter displays leads to substantial increases in the overall power consumption of the portable media devices. Accordingly, larger and brighter displays increase the demand for power from the batteries. As a result, portable media devices may need to provide larger, heavier batteries in order to power the larger and brighter displays for a sufficient duration of time. The conventional approaches to dimming or deactivating displays are not able to address the power consumption difficulties due to the larger and brighter displays. Thus, there remains a need for improved techniques to intelligently manage power consumption of portable media devices.
“The invention relates to improved techniques for controlling power utilization of a display device so as to reduce power consumption. The improved techniques reduce power consumption by lowering display intensity at appropriate times. In one embodiment, the display intensity can be controlled depending on the type of content being displayed. For example, when displaying certain types of content, the display intensity can be lowered from its otherwise high, constant intensity level. In another embodiment, the display intensity can be controlled depending on the characteristics of the content being displayed. For example, when displaying images that are light, the display intensity can be lowered from its otherwise high, constant intensity level. In still another embodiment, the display intensity can be controlled depending on the type and characteristics of content being displayed.
“The invention is well suited for use with portable media devices. The portable media devices can, for example, be battery-powered media playback devices. The battery-powered media playback devices can be highly portable, such as handheld or pocket-sized media players.
“The invention can be implemented in numerous ways, including as a method, system, device, apparatus, or computer readable medium. Several embodiments of the invention are discussed below.
“As a method for controlling display intensity of a display device of a portable electronic device, one embodiment of the invention includes at least the acts of: identifying content being displayed or to be displayed on the display device, the content having a content type associated therewith; determining the content type of the identified content; and setting an output intensity for the display device based on the determined content type.
“As a method for controlling brightness of a display device of a portable electronic device, another embodiment of the invention includes at least the acts of: identifying content to be displayed on the display device, the content having a content type associated therewith; determining the content type of the identified content; obtaining a user preference associated with the content type; and setting a brightness level for the display device based on at least one of the determined content type and the user preference.
“As a method for controlling display intensity of a display device of a battery-powered electronic device, the electronic device also having a user input device, one embodiment of the invention includes at least the acts of: receiving a user input via the user input device; determining content to be displayed in response to the received user input; determining a content type for the content to be displayed; establishing a display intensity for the display device based on the content type; activating the display device if not already activated; displaying the content on the display device in accordance with the display intensity; and subsequently deactivating the display device if a subsequent user input is not received within a predetermined period of time after the received user input was received.
“As a method for controlling display intensity of a display device of a portable electronic device, still another embodiment of the invention includes at least the acts of: identifying content to be displayed on the display device, the content having at least one content characteristic associated therewith; determining at least one content characteristic of the identified content; and setting an output intensity level for the display device based on the at least one determined content characteristic.
“As a computer readable medium including at least computer program code for displaying content on a display of a portable electronic device in a power efficient manner, one embodiment of the invention includes at least: computer program code for identifying content being displayed or to be displayed on the display, the content having a content type associated therewith; computer program code for determining the content type of the identified content; computer program code for setting an output intensity for the display based on the determined content type; and computer program code for displaying the content on the display in accordance with the output intensity level that has been set.
“As a computer readable medium including at least computer program code for displaying content on a display of a portable electronic device in a power efficient manner, another embodiment of the invention includes at least: computer program code for identifying content to be displayed on the display, the content having a content type and at least one content characteristic associated therewith; computer program code for determining the content type and at least one content characteristic of the identified content; computer program code for setting an output intensity level for the display based on the determined content type and the at least one determined content characteristic; and computer program code for displaying the content on the display in accordance with the output intensity level that has been set.
“As a portable media device, one embodiment of the invention includes at least: a rechargeable battery that provides power to the portable media device; a media store that stores media files pertaining to media items, the media files include at least media content for the media items; a display device; and a processor capable of processing a media file from the media store and producing media output signals for controlling the display device, wherein at least one of the media output signals controls display intensity of the display device based on the media item associated with the media file.
“Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.”
The inventors are Andrew Bert Hodge, Guy Bar-Nahum, Shawn R. Tupman and John David. The graphic below is a flow diagram of an intensity control process according to one embodiment of the invention.
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Dennis Sellers
Dennis has been a newspaper editor/reporter (seven years) and teacher (seven years). He has over 4,000 magazine, newspaper and online articles to his credit. He has also covered the Mac and tech industries for over a decade for such online publications as MacCentral, MacMinute and now MacsimumNews.
