Patent Publication Number: US-2017352130-A1

Title: Display apparatus dynamically adjusting display resolution and control method thereof

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     The disclosed embodiments of the present invention relate to display resolution control, and more particularly, to a display apparatus referring to human activity to dynamically adjust a display resolution and a related control method thereof. 
     In order to improve a user&#39;s viewing experience, manufacturers devote efforts to increasing a pixel density of a display (measured in pixels per inch (PPI)) of an electronic apparatus such as a battery-powered device (e.g. a mobile phone or a tablet computer). For example, a 5.5-inch mobile display with a 4K ultra-high definition (UHD) (3840λ2160) has a display density of up to 806 PPI. However, power consumption of an electronic apparatus increases due to an increase in display density, resulting in shortened battery life. The user has to charge the electronic apparatus frequently. 
     Thus, there is a need for a novel display mechanism to not only provide an enjoyable user&#39;s viewing experience but also maintain long battery life. 
     SUMMARY 
     In accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention, a display apparatus referring to human activity to dynamically adjust a display resolution, and a related control method thereof are proposed to solve the above-mentioned problems. 
     According to an embodiment of the present invention, an exemplary display apparatus is disclosed. The exemplary display apparatus comprises a detector and a controller. The detector is arranged for detecting motion of the display apparatus to identify an activity of a user of the display apparatus, and accordingly generating an identification result. The controller is coupled to the detector, and is arranged for determining a display resolution of the display apparatus according to the identification result. 
     According to an embodiment of the present invention, an exemplary control method of a display apparatus is disclosed. The exemplary control method comprises the following steps: detecting motion of the display apparatus to identify an activity of a user of the display apparatus, and accordingly generating an identification result; and determining a display resolution of the display apparatus according to the identification result. 
     By dynamically adjusting a display resolution according to different user activities or usage scenarios, the proposed display mechanism may not only reduce power consumption but also maintain good user&#39;s viewing experience. 
     These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a flow chart of an exemplary control method of a display apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary display apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is an implementation of the detector shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is an implementation of the display apparatus shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 5  is a diagram illustrating exemplary display resolutions of the display screen corresponding to different activities of a user of the display apparatus shown in  FIG. 4  according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  is a diagram illustrating the display apparatus shown in  FIG. 2  connecting an external display screen according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  is a flow chart of an exemplary control method of a display apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Certain terms are used throughout the description and following claims to refer to particular components. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, manufacturers may refer to a component by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish between components that differ in name but not function. In the following description and in the claims, the terms “include” and “comprise” are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean “include, but not limited to . . . ”. Also, the term “coupled” is intended to mean either an indirect or direct electrical connection. Accordingly, if one device is electrically connected to another device, that connection may be through a direct electrical connection, or through an indirect electrical connection via other devices and connections. 
     The proposed display mechanism may dynamically adjust a display resolution according to different user activities or usage scenarios (e.g. resting, walking and running) while maintaining a good user&#39;s viewing experience, thereby reducing power consumption of a display apparatus. By way of example but not limitation, when a user is walking and watching a video played on a portable electronic apparatus (e.g. a display apparatus) held by the user, the eye&#39;s perception of display resolution is reduced as compared to when the user is sitting on a chair and watching the video. Hence, when the user is walking and watching the video played on the display apparatus held by the user, the proposed display apparatus may dynamically decrease a display resolution of the display apparatus in response to an activity of the user (i.e. walking) to thereby reduce power consumption, wherein the user may still have an enjoyable viewing experience. Additionally, the proposed display mechanism may detect motion of a display apparatus to identify an activity of a user of the display apparatus, and accordingly dynamically adjust a display resolution of the display apparatus to reduce power consumption. Further description is provided below. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 1 , which is a flow chart of an exemplary control method of a display apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The display apparatus may be any electronic apparatus capable of displaying images such as a battery-powered device (e.g. a mobile phone or a tablet computer). The exemplary control method shown in  FIG. 1  may be summarized below. 
     Step  100 : Start. 
     Step  110 : Detect motion of the display apparatus to identify an activity of a user of the display apparatus, and accordingly generate an identification result. 
     Step  120 : Determine a display resolution of the display apparatus according to the identification result. 
     In step  110 , the activity of the user may be identified according to the detected motion of the display apparatus, including position information, translation information and/or rotation information, wherein a type of the activity of the user may be, by way of example but not limitation, resting (e.g. a still or almost still state), walking, running, cycling or commuting (e.g. standing or sitting in a public transport vehicle). 
     In step  120 , the display resolution may meet the human eye&#39;s ability to perceive resolution under a condition where the user performs the activity. By way of example but not limitation, when the identification result indicates that the activity of the user is a first type user activity (e.g. a sedentary activity or a low-motion activity), the display resolution may be set to a first resolution; when the identification result indicates that the activity of the user is a second type user activity different from the first type user activity (e.g. an energetic activity or a high-motion activity), the display resolution may be set to a second resolution different from the first resolution. 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary display apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the display apparatus  200  may employ the control method shown in  FIG. 1  to dynamically adjust a display resolution. In this embodiment, the display apparatus  200  may include, but is not limited to, a detector  210 , a controller  220 , an image processing circuit  230  and a display screen  240 . The detector  210  may be used for detecting motion of the display apparatus  200  to identify an activity of a user of the display apparatus  200 , and accordingly generating an identification result DR. The controller  220  is coupled to the detector  210 , and is arranged for determining a display resolution of the display apparatus  200  according to the identification result DR. The image processing circuit  230  is coupled to the controller  220 , and is arranged for generating an image output IM OUT  according to the display resolution. For example, the controller  220  may generate a control signal CS to thereby enable the image processing circuit  230  to generate the image output IM OUT  according to the display resolution. 
     The display screen  240  is coupled to the image processing circuit  230 , and is arranged for displaying the image output IM OUT . When the identification result DR indicates that the activity of the user is a first type user activity, the image processing circuit  230  may generate the image output IM OUT  according to a first resolution, and the display screen  240  may display the image output IM OUT  at the first resolution; when the identification result DR indicates that the activity of the user is a second type user activity different from the first type user activity, the image processing circuit  230  may generate the image output IM OUT  according to a second resolution different from the first resolution, and the display screen  240  may display the image output IM OUT  at the second resolution. 
     In one implementation, the detector  210  may utilize at least one acceleration sensor to detect the motion of the display apparatus  200  to identify the activity of the user. Please refer to  FIG. 3  together with  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 3  is an implementation of the detector  210  shown in  FIG. 2 . In the implementation shown in  FIG. 3 , the detector  210  may include an acceleration sensor  312 , an acceleration sensor  314  and an activity determiner  316 . The acceleration sensor  312  and the acceleration sensor  314  may detect the motion of the display apparatus  200  to generate a sensor result SR 1  and a sensor result SR 2  respectively. The activity determiner  316 , coupled to the acceleration sensors  312  and  314 , may identify the activity of the user according to the sensor results SR 1  and SR 2 . 
     By way of example but not limitation, the acceleration sensor  312  may be implemented by a linear acceleration sensor (e.g. an accelerometer (G-sensor)), and/or the acceleration sensor  314  may be implemented by an angular acceleration sensor (e.g. an orientation sensor (O-sensor) or a gyroscope sensor (gyro-sensor)). Hence, the detector  210  may detect linear motion information and/or angular motion information of the display apparatus  200 , and the activity determiner  316  may identify the activity of the user according to the detected linear motion information and/or angular motion information. As a person skilled in the art should understand the operation of the activity determiner  316  which identifies the activity of the user according to the sensor result(s) of the acceleration sensor(s), further description is omitted here for brevity. 
     It should be noted that the structure of the detector shown in  FIG. 3  (e.g. types of acceleration sensors, and the number of acceleration sensors) is for illustrative purposes only, and is not meant to be a limitation of the present invention. For example, the detector  210  may utilize at least one acceleration sensor (one or more acceleration sensors) to detect the motion of the display apparatus  200 , and the activity determiner  316  may identify the activity of the user according to sensor result(s) of the at least one acceleration sensor, wherein the at least one acceleration sensor may include at least one of a linear acceleration sensor and an angular acceleration sensor. Additionally, in a case where the detector  210  utilizes at least one linear acceleration sensor and at least one angular acceleration sensor, the detector  210  may use algorithms to calculate respective sensor results of the at least one linear acceleration sensor and the at least one angular acceleration sensor, and may be implemented as a combined sensor such as a gravity sensor (GV-sensor), a linear acceleration sensor (LA-sensor) and/or a rotation vector sensor (RV-sensor). In another example, the detector  210  may further include other types of sensors, such as a global positioning system (GPS) sensor, an ambient light sensor and/or a proximity sensor, used for detecting the motion of the display apparatus  200  and accordingly generating corresponding sensor result (s). The activity determiner  316  may identify the activity of the user according to one or more sensor results generated by the detector  210 . 
     Further, after the detector  210  identifies the activity of the user to generate the identification result DR, the controller  220  may refer to the identification result DR to control the image processing circuit  230  to adjust the display resolution. Please refer to  FIG. 4 , which is an implementation of the display apparatus  200  shown in  FIG. 2 . In this implementation, the display apparatus  400  may include, but is not limited to, the detector  210 , the controller  220  and the display screen  240  shown in  FIG. 2 , a configuration user interface (UI)  402  and an image processing circuit  430 , wherein the image processing circuit  230  shown in  FIG. 2  may be implemented by the image processing circuit  430 . 
     For illustrative purposes, the proposed display mechanism (or a dynamic resolution scaling mechanism) is described with reference to the image processing circuit  430  employing Android graphics architecture. However, this is not meant to be a limitation of the present invention. It is possible to utilize other graphics architecture to perform dynamic resolution scaling. In this embodiment, the image processing circuit  430  may include, but is not limited to, an application layer  431 , a dynamic resolution scaling (DRS) upper layer  432 , an OpenGL ES/EGL  433 , a buffer queue  434 , a surface flinger  435 , a DRS lower layer  436 , a hardware composer  437  and a frame buffer  438 . The application layer  431  may call an application programming interface (API) of the OpenGL ES/EGL  433  to use a graphic processing unit (GPU) (not shown in  FIG. 4 ) to perform graphics processing, and a resulting processing result may be stored in a graphics buffer within the buffer queue  434  (not shown in  FIG. 4 ). The surface flinger  435  may coordinate graphics buffers invisible layers (e.g. the graphic buffers within the buffer queue  434 ), and ask the hardware composer  437  to composite all visible layers together to thereby generate graphics data to the frame buffer  438 . 
     In one embodiment, after determining the display resolution of the display apparatus  200  according to the identification result DR, the controller  220  may generate the control signal CS to control the DRS upper layer  432  to intercept function calls of the OpenGL ES/EGL  433 , ensuring that graphics rendering is performed with a proper display resolution. Additionally, before the hardware composer  437  composite all the visible layers together, the DRS lower layer  436  may intercept function calls passed to the hardware composer  437 , ensuring that the composition is done with a proper display resolution. For example, the DRS upper layer  432  may refer to the control signal CS to perform resolution downscaling, and the DRS lower layer  436  may refer to the control signal CS to perform resolution upscaling. As a person skilled in the art should understand the operation of each element within the image processing circuit  430 , further description is omitted here for brevity. 
     Based on the aforementioned resolution downscaling and resolution upscaling, the display apparatus  400  may dynamically adjust the display resolution of the display screen  240 . Please refer to  FIG. 5 , which is a diagram illustrating exemplary display resolutions of the display screen  240  corresponding to different activities of a user of the display apparatus  400  shown in  FIG. 4  according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the activities of the user may include walking, standing against a wall, and sitting on a seat in a public transport vehicle while commuting. It should be noted that, when the user of the display apparatus  400  is walking, the eye&#39;s perception of display resolution reduces accordingly. This means that the user may have a satisfied viewing experience even if the display apparatus  400  does not provide a relatively high display resolution. Hence, when the user is walking, the display resolution of the display screen  240  may be reduced as compared to when the user is sedentary (e.g. standing against a wall, or sitting on a seat in a public transport vehicle while commuting). Accordingly, power consumption may be reduced, and battery life of the display apparatus  400  may be extended. 
     In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 5 , when the identification result DR indicates that the user of the display apparatus  400  (e.g. a mobile phone) is walking, the display screen  240  may display the image output IM OUT  at a display resolution of 720P (1280×720); when the identification result DR indicates that the user of the display apparatus  400  is standing against a wall (i.e. an activity level of the user is low), the display screen  240  may display the image output IM OUT  at a display resolution of 1080P (1920×1080); when the identification result DR indicates that the user of the display apparatus  400  is sitting on a seat in a public transport vehicle while commuting (i.e. the user is in an almost still state), the display screen  240  may display the image output IM OUT  at a display resolution of 2K (2560×1440). 
     Please note that the display resolution values shown in  FIG. 5  are for illustrative purposes only, and are not meant to be limitations of the present invention. Respective display resolution values corresponding to different user activities may be set according to different user requirements. In an alternative design, the user may set respective display resolution values corresponding to different types of user activities through the configuration UI  402 . Additionally, image processing architecture (or display resolution adjustment architecture) of the proposed display apparatus is not limited to the image processing circuit  430  shown in  FIG. 4 . As long as image processing architecture may dynamically adjust a display resolution in response to a user activity, all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
     In addition to dynamically adjusting a display resolution in response to a user activity (or a type of user activity), the proposed display mechanism may further selectively activate dynamical resolution scaling according to a usage scenario. In one embodiment, the proposed display mechanism may not activate the dynamical resolution scaling in a still image output mode. Please refer to  FIG. 4  again. In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 4 , the controller  220  may further determine whether the image output IM OUT  is a dynamic image signal (e.g. a video) or a still image signal (e.g. a picture). When the image output IM OUT  is the dynamic image signal, the controller  220  may refer to the identification result DR to determine the display resolution of the display screen  240 ; when the image output IM OUT  is the still image signal, the controller  220  may set the display resolution of the display screen  240  to a predefined value (i.e. the dynamical resolution scaling may not be activated). By way of example but not limitation, the controller  220  may refer to a frame update rate of the frame buffer  438  or check any update taken place over content of the frame buffer  438  to determine whether the image output IM OUT  is the dynamic image signal or the still image signal, wherein when the frame update rate is greater than a predetermined rate, the controller  220  may determine that the image output IM OUT  is the dynamic image signal. 
     In another embodiment, the proposed display mechanism may not activate the dynamical resolution scaling in an external output mode. Please refer to  FIG. 6 , which is a diagram illustrating the display apparatus  200  shown in  FIG. 2  connecting an external display screen according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the controller  220  may further determine whether the image processing circuit  230  transmits the image output IM OUT  to the display screen  640  externally connected to the display apparatus  200 . When the image processing circuit  230  does not transmit the image output IM OUT  to the display screen  640  (as shown in  FIG. 2 ), the controller  220  may refer to the identification result DR to determine the display resolution of the display screen  240 ; when the image processing circuit  230  transmits the image output IM OUT  to the display screen  640  (as shown in  FIG. 6 ), the controller  220  may set the display resolution of the display screen  240  to a predefined value (i.e. the dynamical resolution scaling may not be activated). 
     In yet another embodiment, the proposed display mechanism may not activate the dynamical resolution scaling in a head mounted display mode. Please refer to  FIG. 2  again. By way of example but not limitation, the display apparatus  200  may be implemented by a head-mounted display, or the display apparatus  200  (e.g. a mobile phone) may be inserted into a display holder to implement a head-mounted display. In this embodiment, the controller  220  may further determine whether the display apparatus  200  operates in a head mounted display mode, wherein when the display apparatus  200  does not operate in the head mounted display mode, the controller  220  may refer to the identification result DR to determine the display resolution of the display screen  240 , and when the display apparatus  200  operates in the head mounted display mode, the controller  220  may set the display resolution of the display screen  240  to a predefined value (i.e. the dynamical resolution scaling may not be activated). 
     In still another embodiment, the user may input a selection signal through the configuration UI  402  to determine whether to activate the dynamical resolution scaling. 
     The display mechanism described above may be summarized in  FIG. 7 .  FIG. 7  is a flow chart of an exemplary control method of a display apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The control method shown in  FIG. 7  is based on the control method shown in  FIG. 1 , wherein the main different is that the control method shown in  FIG. 7  further include the step of determining whether to activate dynamical resolution scaling. For illustrative purposes, the control method shown in  FIG. 7  is described with reference to the display apparatus  200  shown in  FIG. 2 . A person skilled in the art should understand that this is not meant to be a limitation of the present invention. In addition, provided that the result is substantially the same, the steps are not required to be executed in the exact order shown in  FIG. 7 . For example, steps can be added and/or omitted. The control method shown in  FIG. 7  may be summarized below. 
     Step  100 : Start. 
     Step  702 : Determine whether to active dynamic resolution scaling. If yes, go to step  110 ; otherwise, return to step  110 . For example, the controller  220  may determine whether the image output IM OUT  of the display apparatus  200  is a dynamic image signal or a still image signal. In another example, the controller  220  may determine if the display apparatus  200  output the image output IM OUT  to an external display screen (e.g. the display screen  640  shown in  FIG. 6 ). In yet another example, the controller  220  may determine if the display apparatus  200  operates in a head mounted display mode. 
     Step  110 : Detect motion of the display apparatus to identify an activity of a user of the display apparatus, and accordingly generate an identification result. 
     Step  720 : Determine the activity of the user according to the identification result. If a type of the activity of the user is resting (e.g. the user is in a still state or resting in a chair), go to step  722 ; if the type of the activity of the user is commuting (e.g. the user is sitting on a seat in a public transport vehicle), go to step  724 ; if the type of the activity of the user is walking, go to step  726 ; if the type of the activity of the user is running, go to step  728 . 
     Step  722 : Display content (i.e. the image output IM OUT ) on the display screen  240  at a first resolution. 
     Step  724 : Display content on the display screen  240  at a second resolution. 
     Step  726 : Display content on the display screen  240  at a third resolution. 
     Step  728 : Display content on the display screen  240  at a fourth resolution. 
     In one embodiment, step  120  shown in  FIG. 1  may be implemented by steps  720 - 728 . In another embodiment, the first resolution may be higher than the second resolution, the second resolution may be higher than the third resolution, and the third resolution may be higher than the fourth resolution. However, this is not meant to be a limitation of the present invention. Additionally, types of user activities are not limited to the aforementioned types. As long as a display resolution may be dynamically adjusted in response to a user activity, all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention. As a person skilled in the art should understand the operation of each step shown in  FIG. 7  after reading the above paragraphs directed to  FIGS. 1-6 , further description is omitted here for brevity. 
     To sum up, by dynamically adjusting a display resolution according to different user activities or usage scenarios, the proposed display mechanism may not only reduce power consumption but also maintain good user&#39;s viewing experience. 
     Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.