Patent ID: 7643731

Claim:
In a portable computer system of the type that includes a computer core with a central processing unit connected to a display portion of the portable computer system by way of a first type interface and an operably independent video playback unit integrated into the computer system and arranged to read video data stored in a video storage device connected to the display portion by way of a second type interface, a low power method of displaying video from a video storage device, comprising: determining if the portable computer system is operating in a video playback mode only, and if so: powering on the video playback unit; determining if the computer core is powered on, and if so, powering off the computer core; reading the video data at a native format from the video storage device; sending the video data to the display portion by way of the second type interface; converting the video data from the native format to a display format; and displaying the video data on the display.