Method for environmental adaptation of display characteristics based on location

1. A method for environmental adaptation of electronic display characteristics, comprising:

determining sunset and sunrise times for a day;

determining whether a present time is between sunrise and sunset or between sunset and sunrise;

selecting a gamma for the display based on whether the present time is between sunrise and sunset or between sunset and sunrise, wherein said gamma refers to a mathematic exponent in a power function S γ that is adapted to transform scaling of gray levels (on a sub-pixel basis) in an image, wherein S represents a normalized value of an image signal; and

driving the display at the selected gamma.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

gradually changing the gamma for the display when transitioning from nighttime to sunrise; and

gradually changing the gamma for the display when transitioning from daytime to sunset.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein:

selecting a gamma is performed without any actual input from an ambient light sensor.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein:

determining the sunset and sunrise times for the day is performed by calculating a sunrise equation.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

selecting a black level offset for the display based on whether the present time is between sunrise and sunset or between sunset and sunrise; and

driving the display at the selected black level offset.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining whether the present time is during a sunset or sunrise transition period,

calculate artificial ambient sensor data (AAS) for sunset, if during the sunset transition period,

calculate artificial ambient sensor data (AAS) for sunrise, if during the sunrise transition period,

select a gamma for the display based on the AAS data if the present time is during the sunset or sunrise transition period, and

driving the display at the selected gamma if the present time is during the sunset or sunrise transition period.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining whether the present time is during a sunset or sunrise transition period; and

calculating artificial ambient sensor data (AAS) if during a sunset or sunrise transition period, and

selecting a gamma for the display based on the AAS data if during a sunset or sunrise transition period.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining local weather information,

calculating artificial ambient sensor data (AAS) based on the local weather information,

select a gamma for the display based on the AAS data and whether the present time is between sunrise and sunset or between sunset and sunrise, and

driving the display at the selected gamma.

9. A method for environmental adaptation of electronic display characteristics, comprising:

determining sunset and sunrise times for a day, including a sunset transition period and a sunrise transition period,

determining if a present time is during the sunrise transition, daytime, the sunset transition, or nighttime,

calculating artificial ambient sensor data (AAS) for sunrise and selecting a gamma for the display based on the AAS data if the present time is during the sunrise transition period,

selecting a gamma for the display for daytime if the present time is daytime,

calculating AAS data for sunset and selecting a gamma for the display based on the AAS data if the present time is during the sunset transition period,

selecting a gamma for the display for nighttime if the present time is nighttime, and

driving the display with the selected gamma;

wherein, respectively, said gamma refers to a mathematic exponent in a power function S γ that is adapted to transform scaling of gray levels (on a sub-pixel basis) in an image, wherein S represents a normalized value of an image signal.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein:

the AAS data approximates an amount of ambient light that is present in the environment.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein:

each said gamma is determined by approximating the amount of ambient light present in the environment.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein selecting a gamma for the display based on AAS data is performed by:

comparing the AAS data to a predetermined relationship between ambient light in the environment and a corresponding value for gamma.

13. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

selecting a black level offset for the display based on whether the present time is between sunrise and sunset or between sunset and sunrise; and

driving the display at the selected black level offset.

14. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

determining a black level offset for the display based on the AAS data.

15. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

calculating a percentage of cloud cover; and

further selecting a gamma for the display based on the percentage of cloud cover.

16. A method for environmental adaptation of electronic display characteristics, comprising:

determine location data for the electronic display through a GPS device; and

determining sunrise and sunset times for a given day,

directing the electronic display to utilize a first gamma setting if a present time is between sunrise and sunset, and

directing the electronic display to utilize a second gamma setting if the present time is between sunset and sunrise;

wherein said first gamma setting and said second gamma setting, respectively, refer to a mathematic exponent in a power function S γ that is adapted to transform scaling of gray levels (on a sub-pixel basis) in an image, wherein S represents a normalized value of an image signal.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein:

directing the electronic display to utilize a first gamma setting or a second gamma setting is performed without accepting any input from an ambient light sensor.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein:

calculating the sunrise and sunset times is performed based on

longitude and latitude coordinates of the electronic display.

19. The method of claim 18 further comprising:

selecting a black level offset for the display based on whether the present time is between sunrise and sunset or between sunset and sunrise; and

driving the display at the selected black level offset.

20. The method of claim 18 further comprising:

calculating a percentage of cloud cover; and

further selecting a gamma for the display based on the percentage of cloud cover.