Panel Self-Refresh Technology: Decoupling Image Update from LCD Panel Refresh in Mobile Computing Systems

摘要

Mobile computing and communication devices have become indispensable parts of our lives, with rapidly increasing worldwide adoption of laptops, tablets and smartphones. The ever-increasing demand for both performance and power efficiency of these devices requires a careful look at optimizing the system architecture. For example, image update from the host processor to the display in these devices is still following the traditional CRT approach, with timing and frame rate tracking the panel refresh frequencies even when the image content is unchanged on the display. In this paper, we present the panel self-refresh technology that allows decoupling of the image update from LCD panel refresh timing, and show the platform power-performance optimization opportunities it enables.