Current drain reduction in AR/VR display systems
In some embodiments, eye tracking is used on an AR or VR display system to determine if a user of the display system is blinking or otherwise cannot see. In response, current drain or power usage of a display associated with the display system may be reduced, for example, by dimming or turning off a light source associated with the display, or by configuring a graphics driver to skip a designated number of frames or reduce a refresh rate for a designated period of time.
1. A display system with reduced power use, comprising:
an inward-facing sensor;
a display; and
processing electronics in communication with the inward-facing sensor and the display, the processing electronics configured to:
detect a change in a user's eye status using the inward facing sensor, and
reduce a current drain of the display system based on when the change in the user's eye status is detected,
wherein reducing a current drain does not comprise turning off a light source, and
wherein the change in the user's eye status is a blink or a saccade.
2. The display system of claim 1 , wherein the change in the user's eye status is a blink.
3. The display system of claim 1 , wherein the display comprises a light source, and wherein reducing a current drain of the display system comprises dimming the light source of the display.
4. The display system of claim 1 , wherein reducing a current drain of the display system comprises configuring a graphics driver associated with the display to reduce an amount of power consumed by the display system.
5. The display system of claim 4 , wherein the graphics driver is configured to skip a designated number of frames, the designated number of frames based upon a length of time that the eye blinks or saccades.
6. The display system of claim 1 , wherein the display comprises a liquid crystal display (LCD).
7. The display system of claim 1 , wherein the inward-facing sensor comprises a camera.
8. The display system of claim 1 , wherein the processing electronics is configured to reduce the current drain of the display system by reducing a refresh rate associated with the display.
9. The display system of claim 1 , further comprises a graphics driver wherein reducing the current drain of the display system comprises reducing the power consumption of a graphics driver.
10. A method for reducing power use of a display system, comprising:
detecting a change in a user's eye status using an inward facing sensor, and reducing a current drain of the display system based on when the change in the user's eye status is detected,
wherein the change in the user's eye status is a blink or saccade, and
wherein reducing a current drain does not comprise turning off a light source.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the change in the user's eye status is a blink.
12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the display system comprises a light source, and wherein reducing a current drain of the display system comprises dimming the light source of the display system.
13. The method of claim 10 , wherein reducing a current drain of the display system comprises configuring a graphics driver associated with the display system to reduce an amount of power consumed by the display system.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the graphics driver is configured to skip a designated number of frames, the designated number of frames based upon a length of a blink or length of time the eye cannot see.
15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the graphics driver is configured to reduce an amount of power consumed by the display system for a designated period of time, based upon a length of a blink or length of time the eye cannot see.
16. The method of claim 10 , wherein the display system comprises a liquid crystal display (LCD).
17. The method of claim 10 , wherein reducing the current drain of the display system comprises reducing a refresh rate associated with the display.
18. The method of claim 10 , wherein reducing the current drain of the display system comprises reducing the power consumption of a graphics driver.
19. The display system of claim 1 , wherein the change in the user's eye status is a saccade.
20. The method of claim 10 , wherein the change in the user's eye status is a saccade.