Backlights are optimised for power and picture

New backlight control options allow designers to statically or dynamically select varying levels of power consumption and colour purity.

Clairvoyante has developed a new set of backlight control options for statically or dynamically selecting varying levels of power consumption and colour purity.

Next-generation mobile devices are increasingly being designed with capabilities such as web browsing, navigation, e-mail access and mobile TV.

These applications need varying levels of colour saturation and power reduction to run effectively.

PenTile Mode Control technology offers an innovative solution for setting a balance between colour saturation and power efficiency selectable by the user interface of mobile devices.

This unique approach to colour and power control allows display manufacturers the flexibility to develop displays suitable for a wider variety of applications that satisfy consumers' desires for feature-rich devices with extended battery life.

The initial features include three static modes that enable a user interface to control the amount of power reduction or colour control, and one dynamic mode that uses dynamic backlight control (DBLC) to automatically analyse image content in order to provide variable power savings of 15 to 65%.

"For the first time, display manufacturers and their customers will have unprecedented flexibility to select the most appropriate balance of colour purity and power reduction, putting the customer in control of optimising the power/performance ratio that best fits their application", according to Clairvoyante President and Chief Executive Officer Joel Pollack.

"PenTile Mode Control technology adds yet another measure of flexibility that enables PenTile technology to continually advance mobile display design".

There are three static backlight control modes, all of which are available now.

Each of the modes can be supported by driver chips that are currently available.

PenTile Power Saver Mode enables a fixed power reduction of 50% and is optimised to display lifelike, natural-looking colours such as full-screen video at maximum power efficiency.

This mode can be selected when content is dominated by natural colours such as video, or when the battery is running low and the user needs to conserve power at the expense of some pure colour appearance.

PenTile Pure colour Mode offers fixed 15% power savings and is appropriate for applications where content is dominated by bright, highly saturated colours such as web browsers or computer-generated graphics.

This mode is ideal for extending battery life of portable devices like ultramobile PCs and mobile Internet devices where the appearance of saturated colours is paramount.

PenTile Outdoor Mode is ideal for optimally displaying images and text in outdoor settings with high ambient light where visibility is most important.

This may enable transmissive panels to be used instead of transflective technology, where compromises are often made to appearance.

PenTile Dynamic Power Optimisation Mode combines the substantial power-saving properties of PenTile RGBW technology with content-dependant power savings achieved through dynamic backlight control techniques to achieve a variable power savings of 15 to 65%.

By analysing the colour and brightness metrics of each image frame and continually adjusting the image rendering and backlight, both computer-generated graphics and video may be displayed with content-appropriate colour purity at optimal power efficiency.

PenTile RGBW technology is also compatible with conventional dynamic backlight control from third parties.

Availability in products is expected in Q4 2007.

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