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HP Introduces New Technology to Save Mobile Battery Life
fenimor writes "HP researchers have developed new technology to save battery life on mobile devices. Targeting one of the main culprits of battery consumption -- the display -- they've developed an energy-aware solution that dims parts of the screen that aren't in use. Display battery life lasts from two to 11 times longer, depending on what the user is doing."
Now, this is the kind of thinking and research development that I would expect from HP! This technology combined with optimizations in the OS like Quartz could be a real boost to the way we interact with our portable devices, allowing for progressive dynamic layering of items that are important to view. Shoot, one could even link it into search engines to render only what is relevant for display.
Now if they could just put a little innovation into their calculators again....
Visit Jonesblog and say hello.
Watch a typical Windows user sometime. What's the first thing they do to whatever application they open?
:-/
If you said "Maximize it!", then you're right! Sadly, this ends up being self-defeating.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
I'd like to be the developer that codes the algorithm for dimming the unimportant parts of pr0n images. I'd need plenty of research images, of course.
/me reads an install guide for Linux...
/me goes back to Windows. Oh hey, not dimmed anymore!
WTF its dimmed?
battery life of your cell phone can be extended by
TURNING THE FUCKING PHONE OFF
Meh, I can buy a sticker that promises to do most of this, and all for a few small payments. Heck, it was even covered on Slashdot so it has to be true!
"There's no success like failure, and failure's no success at all."
- Bob Dylan
Now if they can just figure out how to stop the laptop from burning my privates when i compute naked.
worked with Ranganathan to develop software that monitors a PDA's screen when it is in use and automatically dims the unimportant pixels.
Occasionally I get devices from companies that have proactively singled out these unimportant pixels.
The coolest voice ever.
Maybe if they put some money in OLED research, they wouldn't need to worry about backlights at all.
It is incredible... but I can only see what I am typing... and my mouse cursor sometimes.
This is my blog I am posting to right? Must be... Cant tell though...
Try to hack my 31337 firewall!
So is this another sticker we're supposed to put on the screen too? If we combine this with the sticker on the battery, can we get hundreds of hours of battery life?
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
And to think. A week ago, I was saying that HP should be sticking to printers. This technology could let me play Tetris without being plugged in!
Won't these problems be solved with OLEDs?
As far as I understand, Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) will emit light from each pixel much like an LED does. This will not require a battery sucking back-light, and if necessary it would be easy to dim areas of the screen, just make parts of it darker/black and less/no light will be emitted from it.
More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OLED
Do you really want to sacrifice clarity for an extra 11 minutes of usage?
I don't know - is this a useful technique or just another trick? When the salesman tells you that laptop runs 6 hrs. on system battery, but only if you don't touch it - how useful is this for you?
Reminds me of other fallacies: the gigahertz myth, the LCD display reaction-time. myth
You can defy gravity... for a short time
It's called an OLED display.
Things you think are in the Constitution, but are not.
I admit I'm confused about how the computer knows things like which lines of text you're reading. Do you have to keep the cursor there, or something? Or is it...sentient? :P
Save the galaxy!
depending on what the user is doing.
Yeah, I guess it saves ALOT more when the user is doing something else.
You can't dim a 'portion' of a standard LCD monitor; the monitor is backlit by small flourescent tubes at the top and the bottom of the display, and it is those that take most power to drive. On desktops they have multiple tubes at the top and bottom (and you could shut one or two off to save power), but for notebooks they usually have only one, and by dimming that one you end up dimming the whole display, not a portion of the display.
If they can light up only a portion of the screen they must be using white LEDs or something like that where they can light up as many or as few as they want. If this is the case, i wouldnt hold my breath as to when it will reach the market.
Actually, the eye isn't equally sensitive to color, at all points, so you can gradually "bleed off" color as a function of distance, too.
For that matter, the eye doesn't see with a uniform resolution, so you can "skip" pixels as you move off-center.
Alternatively, you can say "screw it!" and represent all output with a row of 128 LEDs. This not only cuts down on power, but reduces the weight of portable systems, cuts down on environmental waste when the unit is recycled, and forces 99.9% of all the stupid idiots who just use computers for spreading viruses anyway to go out into the Real World and get something done.
(Hey, punch-cards worked just fine for ages, and they didn't go to 128 columns IIRC)
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
I don't know if this is a sarcastic comment or not. You do realize iPods have the worst battery problem of any device out there right? $99 replacement and many users complain it permanently dies in 1 year.
A powerbook's battery is nothing to harp on about. It stinks, moreso when the cheaper iBooks have a consistent better performing battery life. Even at the same speeds!
Jonathanjk.com
Reading the parts of the article on MP3 player displays really leaves me tempted:
... (Then again, maybe it'd be better to just try a firmware hack instead ...)
Why not add a switch so that the display only shows when it's pressed? (I know that some players do this anyway, but not my Rio S10.) I rarely look at the screen anyway. I bet it wouldn't be that hard to open it up and solder one in
I was a little fuzzy on the article on how they could dim parts of a normal LCD monitor screen, however. Isn't there only one backlight, so it's all or nothing? Are they proposing a grid of backlights instead of just one large one? Or is it that when the pixels are dimmed, the transistors use less power? That part wasn't very clear to me after reading TFA. -- Paul
OpenSource.MathCancer.org: open source comp bio
When there are two boob-shaped areas of my screen that appear to be burned in more than the rest of my screen, then people will know about my, ahem, viewing habits.
You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
Actually, Apple doesn't do very much *first* they just put things in a pretty package and claim credit. (gui, ipod iTunes music store)
This is excellent! I'm constantly using full screen consoles with white text on a black background. This technology may give command line users excellent uptimes!
--- Sigmentation Fault - Comments Dumped
If this is really so important, why not switch to white text on black background for mobile devices? This would maximize the amount of dim pixels.
You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
The display itself consumes very little power especially for the simple monochromatic displays used on consumer electronics. It's the large backlights that are the power hogs.
While HP was busy researching this, Intel actually implemented a wide array of power saving measures for displays in their centrino chipset, including Intel DPST which can modify the backlight on the fly depending on the screen content to save power.
v ol ume09issue01/art05_perf_power/p04_gmch.htm
http://developer.intel.com/technology/itj/2005/
So the little stickers DO work!
By summer it was all gone...now shesmovedon. --
hmm... and how does this help me watch more DVDs on long flights?
Website seemed a bit slow to me, so i decided to make a mirror of it... Get it here: http://files.photojerk.com/physorg/www.physorg.com /news3335.htmlMirroringisstillinprogress-whendonea llfileswillbefrommyserver...Therestofthesitewillbe findablefrom:>>
Alan
I don't know if this is a sarcastic comment or not. You do realize Apple have corrected the battery problem of any of their devices out there right? $49 replacement and many users who own a first gen 5GB model still quote a battery life of around 8 hours.
Jonathanjk.com
I hope a lot of the discouraged and unnappreciated engineers down at HP will now start taking swipes at real innovative ideas such as this one. During the oh so ironic 'HP Invent' days this sort of thinking was discouraged. Since Carly has moved on at least a chance now exists for HP to get back on track, I'm not saying it's going to happen overnight (good R&D takes years). At least there's a chance we're going to see HP try something besides rebranding other devices or switching last years pretty plastic shell on the same product over and over again.
I've had this so called "technology" since Windows 3.0. My computer would blue out the whole screen to save energy.
Here's the HP article outside the PhysORG tarpit.
I'd REALLY have to see this in action. After HP abandoned the Jornada (their own Pocket PC, one with a much better human-engineered design) for the Heath-Robinson iPaq, I've taken everything they've said about handhelds with a shovel-full of salt.
Somtimes the battery meter confuses me. I just played it today with 2 pixels left on the battery meter(20gb ipod, purchased a month ago). It let me play it for 6 hours. Seems like it should have been less.
Because the battery life you save may be your own...
That way, you don't need to have the display lit up at all, regular ambient lighting can be used to read the display.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Slashdot:/ iowannaski$ cat grandparent | grep iPod Slashdot:/ iowannaski$ Slashdot:/ iowannaski$ echo WTF?? WTF??
i forget
i forget
Coralized
JOhn
Campaign for Liberty
Don't you hate meta-sigs?
1st - GP didn't even mention iPods.
2nd - I have a 1st generation 20GB iPod that is over 2 years old. The battery life on it was down to about 4 hours per charge. Not great, but better than most 2 year old laptop batteries.
3rd - I just replaced my battery today (maybe 2 hours ago) with a Newer technology replacement battery that is supposedly higher capacity than my original batter. It cost $39 and took 5 minutes to replace. So far, it works great. They had another battery that was $29 which had the same capacity as the original. (So I paid extra $10 for a "better" battery - we'll see...)
The upshot is that I don't think that your statement is true anymore and has nothing to do with the original post.
Avoid Missing Ball for High Score
If this is what the ladies and gents at HP labs can brag about, they are in deeper trouble than we think. Allow me to present three battery-life-saving tips that won't cost a penny of research money:
1) Use a portable DVD player (one can be had for as low as $129 at Walmart), instead of watching DVDs on your laptop, which, if it is your office laptop, you're supposed to use only for work (wink).
2) Set the brightness level of the display all the way down (I just did, and I can still see clearly).
3) Use AC power as much as you can.
Maybe we got it wrong all along -- maybe HP did not fire Carly; maybe she quit after having to put up with all the ineptitude?
Sun and Fun
Huh? First of all, I was addressing his "burning private parts" concerns, not thinking about battery life. Second, my iBook gets good battery life (and it's about 1.5 years old now). Third, we're talking about laptops, not iPods.
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
1) Clearly moving quickly to a display technology that emits light efficiently ONLY WHERE YOU WANT IT, like OLEDs, is much smarter than the current backlit architecture, where you blast an array of FILTERS (devices design to THROW AWAY LIGHT) with a bright uniform backlight. The current LCD technology is about as stupid as it gets when it comes to energy efficiency.
2) I am constantly amazed that no laptop company has yet make a laptop with EXCHANGEABLE displays. There are times, in the dark, where you want a bright color display, BUT there are other times when you would be much happier with a passive/reflective/no backlight display, which, by the way, is far more energy efficient. If I'm working outside, for example, writing a paper or whatever, I really would be happier with a simple STN reflective, LOW POWER, NO BACKLIGHT, perhaps even monochrome LCD (the type on those old Palm V's would be perfect: very high contrast, very low power). So why not have a laptop that you can simply plug in different display screens, depending on your anticipated usage ? I would venture to guess that a standard modern laptop with a TFT and a battery life of 3 hours, would last 6+ hours using a passive STN display.
The fact is that in most daily human environments other than in a movie theater, it is expected that there will be sufficient lighting to read magazines, write postcards, etc, etc. So laptop displays need to take advantage of this, rather than the current (stupid) brute force method of trying to drown out the environmental lighting with a light-producing display.
It uses Doom3 technology and you need your mouse over anything you actually want to see.
A couple people were discussing the possibility of this exact thing on the notebook forums I host:
I like the idea though, Maybe if they could design a backlight that could just light say 2" around the mouse?
At the time I thought the idea was a bit far-fetched - seems like the HP engineers think otherwise.
When the new OLED technology becomes widespread this capability will be inherit to the display, and be controllable at the pixel-level. A simple color scheme using as much black as possible (ie white text on black) could conserve batteries significantly.
Dan East
Better known as 318230.
Thank you very much, kind sir, for both taking the time to read my post and provide me with a helpful hint. It is much appreciated :)
i forget
They tell you the part of the screen you are not looking at is darkened ? How would you know ? This is like the BS story about the refigerator lights going out when you close the door, don't belive it until you have done the research.
What keeps me going is my inertia.
that they are not rethinking the screen totaly. i have seen shots of a screen tech where you dont need a backlight as the screens active elements reflects light as if it was a hard surface.
:P
the funnyest thing was that they could remove the backside totay, basicly turning the screen transparent, and still be able to get a clear picture of the active elements of the image shown.
and you didnt need to have constanct power on like on a lcd or oled display.
the powersaveings on mobile devices with screens like these would be gigantic.
only problem is that i cant find any info on colordepth or refresh rate at the moment
comment first, facts later. http://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScience/RelativityofWrong.htm
Wow, those HP engineers really put the "inno" in innovation!
What kind of brainstorming session did this idea come from? Hmmm...let's see...how can we use less power? I got it! Let's turn it off!
Yes, I know it's more complicated than that, but really, this doesn't seem earth-shattering. Plus with OLED technology maturing, this whole idea is pretty much moot.
For the record, I do realize that "inno" has no meaning, so turn of your flame throwers. It was a joke, not a good one, but it was the best I could do on short notice.
An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come. - Victor Hugo
....I could play Doom3 on my laptop for like, days! *drools*
and HP is back to making cool tech.
Unfortunately, what really burns me is that (according to the Bush administration) Carly is on the short list to head the World Bank.
UGH! What's next, printing Euros with inkjets?
Interesting. Considering the backlight in standard LCD screens is always on, this is a pretty cool development in a number of ways. Intel has demonstrated a similar, but more traditional approach - a technology that will dim and brighten the backlight depending on how dark or bright the image on-screen is (a lot of black space, like a terminal window, will dim the backlight, while a lot of white, like /. fullscreen, brightens it automatically).
Now if they can figure out a way to use this for printers, we can save a lot of ink...
Can I get one that just dims the ads?
Need Mercedes parts ?
I've read about high dynamic range displays that have a grid based backlight that is turned on and off to increase the dynamic range, which is rather crappy on regular displays (like only 300 to 1), while the eye has a range of closer to a million to one. (actually the the ration of the brightest light level to the lowest light level a well-adapted eye can work in is about a TRILLION to one!! Ask any digital camera manufacturer, thats very ipressive)
Smoking is an expensive, slow, and unreliable method of suicide.
Sick of people being jealous because gentoo's package management system is better?
Portage is not a package management system. It contains one, but it isn't one. Neither is apt. Neither is yum. Neither is ports.
As for portage as a software distribution system, it is quite good. As for me, I prefer Crux ports, since they're much simpler to hack to my preference.
By the way, I was the original 'sick of Gentoo zealots throwing plugs in unrelated topics?' guy. I took it down because people misunderstood me thinking that I disliked Gentoo. I do not; it is a fine distribution.
Slashdot: Where people pretend to be twice as smart as they really are by behaving like children.
What the hell are you talking about... link it into search engines? Christ almighty.... oh and nice bit about the calculators, that always gets you modded up a few times by HP calc die-hards around here.
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
And I just want to make a comment here. Your point is totally valid. win32 users are not likely to benefit from this tech much.
I just want to point out, once again, why win32 users tend to maximize things.
They do it because the win32 window manager sucks. Focus follows mouse and being able to enter data into a window without bringing it to the foreground really has a lot of advantages when working with multiple windows. --Sure the user needs to learn to make use of it, but don't they have to learn how to deal with crappy management too?
That's all... back to the topic at hand.
Blogging because I can...
wanting to give this a try, but are a little short on time?
I've been wanting that feature for years!!!
(Loving OSS computing where interesting ideas get a chance beyond the focus group)
Blogging because I can...
you updated the firmware yet?
Jonathanjk.com
why does my cell phone need a color display?
I want to know the number i'm calling and maybe the number that's calling me.
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
Organic Light Emitting Diodes
I believe these displays have the "consume power only on change" property you're talking about. They are currently under research, but they have been implemented for small-scale devices (i.e. MP3 players).
I just got this buzzword bingo vibe. You see it a lot when anything relating to apple comes up. You know, the speculation runs rampant whenever any tiny thing at the apple store changes... sigh.
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON