System, method, and computer program product for providing a dynamic display refresh

1. A method, comprising:

performing a first refresh of a display device during which a screen of the display device is painted line-by line with an image frame to emit photons, wherein the image frame is transmitted from a first buffer in a memory;

identifying a state of the display device at a point in time when the entirety of the image frame is displayed by the screen of the display device;

in response to the identification of the state, determining that an entirety of a next image frame to be displayed has not been rendered to a second buffer in the memory by a processor; and

in response to the determining that the entirety of the next image frame to be displayed has not been rendered to the second buffer, delaying a second refresh of the display device while the next image frame continues to be rendered to the second buffer, wherein delaying the second refresh of the display device comprises preventing the screen of the display device from being re-painted line-by line to emit photons.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the state of the display device at a point in time when the entirety of the image frame is displayed by the screen of the display device is identified in response to completion of a last scan line of the screen of the display device being painted.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein in response to the identification of the state, the next image frame is transmitted to the display device for display thereof as fast as possible upon the determination that the entirety of the next image frame to be displayed has been rendered to the second buffer.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second refresh of the display device is delayed up to a threshold amount of time.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising, after the second refresh is delayed up to the threshold amount of time, painting the screen of the display device with the image frame.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the painting of the screen of the display device with the image frame is performed by the processor re-transmitting the image frame from the first buffer to the display device.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the painting of the screen of the display device with the image frame is performed by the display device displaying the image frame from a buffer internal to the display device.

8. The method of claim 5 , further comprising, waiting for the entirety of the repeated image frame to be displayed by the display device before transmitting the next image frame to the display device for display thereof.

9. The method of claim 5 , further comprising, when the entirety of the next image frame to be displayed has been rendered to the second buffer before an entirety of the repeated image frame is displayed by the screen of the display device, transmitting the next image frame to the display device for display thereof without identifying a state of the display device at a point in time when the entirety of the repeated image frame is displayed by the screen of the display device.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein upon receipt of the next image frame by the display device, the display device interrupts the painting of the screen of the display device with the image frame and begins painting of the screen of the display device with the next image frame at a point of the interruption, resulting in simultaneous display by the screen of the display device of a portion of the image frame and a portion of the next image frame.

11. The method of claim 5 , wherein upon receipt of the next image frame by the display device, the display device interrupts the painting of the screen of the display device with the image frame and begins painting of the screen of the display device with the next image frame at a first scan line of the screen of the display device.

12. The method of claim 4 , further comprising, after the second refresh is delayed up to the threshold amount of time, transmitting the next image frame to the display device for display thereof.

13. The method of claim 4 , wherein the threshold amount of time is specific to a model of the display device.

14. The method of claim 4 , wherein the second refresh of the display device is delayed by one of:

waiting up to a predetermined period of time before transmitting any further image frames to the display device; or

instructing the display device to ignore an unwanted image frame transmitted to the display device when the processor will not wait up to the predetermined period of time before transmitting any further image frames to the display device.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein smoothness of motion for moving objects is provided via a constant delay between completion of rendering of a first image frame and painting of a second image frame to the screen of the display device.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein an amount of system power used is reduced when the second refresh of the display device is delayed.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the processor is a graphics processing unit (GPU).

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the display device is a stereo display device displaying image frames having both left content intended for viewing by a left eye of a viewer and right content intended for viewing by a right eye of the viewer.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein the delaying of the second refresh of the display device is performed by the processor, and during the delay the display device automatically repeats display of the image frame at a preconfigured frequency until the next image frame is transmitted to the display device.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the screen of the display device comprises a touch screen.

21. The method of claim 1 , wherein a pixel of the screen of the display device is allowed to change in color or brightness compared with a value of the pixel in the image frame while the second refresh is delayed.

22. A computer program product embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium, comprising:

computer code for performing a first refresh of a display device during which a screen of the display device is painted line-by line with an image frame to emit photons, wherein the image frame is transmitted from a first buffer in a memory;

computer code for identifying a state of the display device at a point in time when the entirety of the image frame is displayed by the screen of the display device;

computer code for, in response to the identification of the state, determining that an entirety of a next image frame to be displayed has not been rendered to a second buffer in the memory by a processor; and

computer code for in response to the determining that the entirety of the next image frame to be displayed has not been rendered to the second buffer, delaying a second refresh of the display device while the next image frame continues to be rendered to the second buffer, wherein delaying the second refresh of the display device comprises preventing the screen of the display device from being re-painted line-by line to emit photons.

23. The computer program product of claim 22 , wherein a pixel of the screen of the display device is allowed to change in color or brightness compared with a value of the pixel in the image frame while the second refresh is delayed.

24. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory comprising a first buffer and a second buffer; and

at least one processor for:

performing a first refresh of a display device during which a screen of the display device is painted line-by line with an image frame to emit photons, wherein the image frame is transmitted from the first buffer;

identifying a state of a display device at a point in time when the entirety of the image frame is displayed by the screen of the display device;

in response to the identification of the state, determining that an entirety of a next image frame to be displayed has not been rendered to the second buffer; and

in response to the determining that the entirety of the next image frame to be displayed has not been rendered to the second buffer, delaying a second refresh of the display device while the next image frame continues to be rendered to the second buffer, wherein delaying the second refresh of the display device comprises preventing the screen of the display device from being re-painted line-by line to emit photons the image frame.

25. The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein the processor remains in communication with the memory and the display device via a bus.

26. The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein a pixel of the screen of the display device is allowed to change in color or brightness compared with a value of the pixel in the image frame while the second refresh is delayed.