Smart backlights to minimize display power consumption based on desktop configurations and user eye gaze

1. A method of conserving power usage for a device, comprising:

dynamically creating a plurality of regions on a display based on a condition of the device, wherein dynamically creating a plurality of regions on the display comprises determining a number of regions of the plurality of regions, a size of each of the regions of the plurality of regions, and a location of each of the regions of the plurality of regions;

detecting an active region and a plurality of non-active regions of the plurality of regions on the display based on a user interaction with the display; and

controlling a brightness of a backlight of the display differently for the active region and at least one of the plurality of non-active regions.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the active region and the plurality of non-active regions comprises:

imaging a user of the device;

recognizing a feature of the user;

determining a gaze of the user based on the recognized feature;

setting a portion of the display encompassing the user's gaze as the active region; and

setting portions outside the active region as the plurality of non-active regions.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising dimming at least one of the plurality of non-active regions to conserve power.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising increasing a brightness of the active region.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the active region and the plurality of non-active regions on the display is based on the user interaction with an operating system.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising dimming at least one of the plurality of non-active regions in a step-wise fashion.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising dimming at least one of the plurality of non-active regions of the backlight of the display in a proportional manner relative to a distance of a backlight LED from the active region.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

outputting an image using an liquid crystal display; and

reducing a size of the image on the liquid crystal display to conserve power.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising independently controlling a brightness of an independently controllable cluster of one or more LEDs.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the device is one of a mobile device, a tablet computer, a desktop computer, or a laptop computer.

11. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

counting how long the user's gaze is on the active region; and

controlling the brightness after a threshold amount of time.

12. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

determining if a user's gaze is off the display; and

dimming an entire display if the user's gaze is determined to be off the display.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the condition of the device is one of the size or the display, the battery life of the device, the power consumption of the display, or a total number of LEDs in the display.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a position of LEDs inside or outside the active region; and

maintaining the brightness of the LEDs outside the active region for a threshold and dimming at the expiration of the threshold.

15. A computing device, comprising:

a processor;

a display coupled to the processor, the display comprising a backlight comprising a plurality of light emitting diodes (LED),

wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations comprising:

dynamically creating a plurality of regions on the display based on a condition of the device, wherein dynamically creating a plurality of regions on the display comprises determining a number of regions of the plurality of regions, a size of each of the regions of the plurality of regions, and a location of each of the regions of the plurality of regions;

detecting an active region and a plurality of non-active regions of the plurality of regions on the display based on a user interaction with the display; and

controlling a brightness of a backlight of the display differently for the active region and at least one of the plurality of non-active regions.

16. The computing device of claim 15 , wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that detecting the active region and the plurality of non-active regions comprises:

imaging a user of the device;

recognizing a feature of the user;

determining a gaze of the user based on the recognized feature;

setting a portion of the display encompassing the user's gaze as the active region; and

setting portions outside the active region as the plurality of non-active region.

17. The computing device of claim 15 , wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising dimming at least one of the plurality of non-active regions to conserve power.

18. The computing device of claim 15 , wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising increasing a brightness of the active region.

19. The computing device of claim 15 , wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that detecting the active region and the plurality of non-active regions on the display is based on the user interaction with an operating system.

20. The computing device of claim 15 , wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising dimming at least one of the plurality of non-active regions in a step-wise fashion.

21. The computing device of claim 15 , wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising dimming at least one of the plurality of non-active regions of the backlight of the display in a proportional manner relative to a distance of a backlight LED from the active region.

22. The computing device of claim 15 , wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising:

outputting an image using an liquid crystal display; and

reducing a size of the image on the liquid crystal display to conserve power.

23. The computing device of claim 15 , wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising independently controlling a brightness of an independently controllable cluster of one or more LEDs.

24. The computing device of claim 15 , wherein the computing device is one of a mobile device, a tablet computer, a desktop computer, or a laptop computer.

25. The computing device of claim 16 , wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising:

counting how long the user's gaze is on the active region; and

controlling the brightness after a threshold amount of time.

26. The computing device of claim 16 , wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising:

determining if a user's gaze is off the display; and

dimming an entire display if the user's gaze is determined to be off the display.

27. The computing device of claim 15 , wherein the condition of the device is one of the size or the display, the battery life of the device, the power consumption of the display, or a total number of LEDs in the display.

28. The method of claim 15 , wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations further comprising:

determining a position of LEDs inside or outside the active region; and

maintaining the brightness of the LEDs outside the active region for a threshold and dimming at the expiration of the threshold.

29. A computing device, comprising:

means for dynamically creating a plurality of regions on a display based on a condition of the device, wherein the means for dynamically creating a plurality of regions on the display comprises means for determining a number of regions of the plurality of regions, a size of each of the regions of the plurality of regions, and a location of each of the regions of the plurality of regions;

means for detecting an active region and a plurality of non-active regions of the plurality of regions on the display based on a user interaction with the display; and

means for controlling a brightness of the backlight of the display differently for the active region and at least one of the plurality of non-active regions.

30. The computing device of claim 29 , wherein means for detecting the plurality of active region and the non-active region comprises:

means for imaging a user of the device;

means for recognizing a feature of the user;

means for determining a gaze of the user based on the recognized feature;

means for setting a portion of the display encompassing the user's gaze as the active region; and

means for setting portions outside the active region as the plurality of non-active regions.

31. The computing device of claim 29 , further comprising means for dimming at least one of the plurality of non-active regions to conserve power.

32. The computing device of claim 29 , further comprising means for increasing a brightness of the active region.

33. The computing device of claim 29 , wherein means for detecting the active region and the plurality of non-active regions on the display comprises means for detecting the active region and the plurality of non-active regions non-active region on the display based on the user interaction with an operating system.

34. The computing device of claim 29 , further comprising means for dimming at least one of the plurality of non-active regions in a step-wise fashion.

35. The computing device of claim 29 , further comprising means for dimming the at least one of the plurality of non-active regions of the backlight of the display in a proportional manner relative to a distance of a backlight LED from the active region.

36. The computing device of claim 29 , further comprising means for independently controlling a brightness of an independently controllable cluster of one or more LEDs.

37. The computing device of claim 29 , wherein the computing device is one of a mobile device, a tablet computer, a desktop computer, or a laptop computer.

38. The computing device of claim 29 , further comprising:

means for outputting an image using an liquid crystal display; and

means for reducing a size of the image on the liquid crystal display to conserve power.

39. The computing device of claim 30 , further comprising:

means for counting how long the user's gaze is on the active region; and

means for controlling the brightness after a threshold amount of time.

40. The computing device of claim 39 , further comprising:

means for determining if a user's gaze is off the display; and

means for dimming an entire display if the user's gaze is determined to be off the display.

41. The computing device of claim 29 , wherein the condition of the device is one of the size or the display, the battery life of the device, the power consumption of the display, or a total number of LEDs in the display.

42. The computing device of claim 29 , further comprising:

means for determining a position of LEDs inside or outside the active region; and

means for maintaining the brightness of the LEDs outside the active region for a threshold and dimming at the expiration of the threshold.

43. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon processor-executable instructions configured to cause a processor of a computing device to perform operations comprising:

dynamically creating a plurality of regions on a display based on a condition of the device, wherein dynamically creating a plurality of regions on the display comprises determining a number of regions of the plurality of regions, a size of each of the regions of the plurality of regions, and a location of each of the regions of the plurality of regions;

detecting an active region and a plurality of non-active regions of the plurality of regions on the display based on a user interaction with the display and

controlling a brightness of a backlight of the display differently for the active region and at least one of the plurality of non-active regions.

44. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 43 , wherein the stored processor-executable instructions are configured to cause a processor of the computing device to perform operations such that detecting the active region and the plurality of non-active regions comprises:

imaging a user of the device;

recognizing a feature of the user;

determining a gaze of the user based on the recognized feature;

setting a portion of the display encompassing the user's gaze as the active region; and

setting portions outside the active region as the plurality of non-active regions.

45. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 43 , wherein the stored processor-executable instructions are configured to cause a processor of the computing device to perform operations further comprising dimming at least one of the plurality of non-active regions to conserve power.

46. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 43 , wherein the stored processor-executable instructions are configured to cause a processor of the computing device to perform operations further comprising increasing a brightness of the active region.

47. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 43 , wherein the stored processor-executable instructions are configured to cause a processor of the computing device to perform operations such that detecting the active region and plurality of non-active regions on the display is based on the user interaction with an operating system.

48. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 43 , wherein the stored processor-executable instructions are configured to cause a processor of the computing device to perform operations further comprising dimming at least one of the plurality of non-active regions in a step-wise fashion.

49. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 43 , wherein the stored processor-executable instructions are configured to cause a processor of the computing device to perform operations further comprising dimming at least one of the plurality of non-active regions of the backlight of the display in a proportional manner relative to a distance of a backlight LED from the active region.

50. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 43 , wherein the stored processor-executable instructions are configured to cause a processor of the computing device to perform operations further comprising:

outputting an image using an liquid crystal display; and

reducing a size of the image on the liquid crystal display to conserve power.

51. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 43 , wherein the stored processor-executable instructions are configured to cause a processor of the computing device to perform operations further comprising independently controlling a brightness of an independently controllable cluster of one or more LEDs.

52. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 43 , wherein the stored processor-executable instructions are configured to be executed by a processor of one of a mobile device, a tablet computer, a desktop computer, or a laptop computer.

53. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 44 , wherein the stored processor-executable instructions are configured to cause a processor of the computing device to perform operations further comprising:

counting how long the user's gaze is on the active region; and

controlling the brightness after a threshold amount of time.

54. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 44 , wherein the stored processor-executable instructions are configured to cause a processor of the computing device to perform operations further comprising:

determining if a user's gaze is off the display; and

dimming an entire display if the user's gaze is determined to be off the display.

55. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 43 , wherein the condition of the device is one of the size or the display, the battery life of the device, the power consumption of the display, or a total number of LEDs in the display.

56. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 43 , wherein the stored processor-executable instructions are configured to cause a processor of the computing device to perform operations further comprising:

determining a position of LEDs inside or outside the active region; and

maintaining the brightness of the LEDs outside the active region for a threshold and dimming at the expiration of the threshold.