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EP-4738066-A1 - INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD

EP4738066A1EP 4738066 A1EP4738066 A1EP 4738066A1EP-4738066-A1

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to decrease a refresh rate as appropriate to reduce power consumption of a display in a system in which an application does not require an appropriate refresh rate. An information processing apparatus includes a first processor configured to execute processing based on a program of an OS and a program executed on the OS, a second processor configured to perform image processing on a display image displayed on a display unit based on the processing by the first processor and to output display data after the image processing in frame order, and a third processor configured to detect, based on display data of a plurality of frames output from the second processor, a fluctuation amount between the frames of the display data displayed on the display unit and to control a refresh rate of the display unit in response to an instruction from the first processor, in which the first processor instructs the third processor on the refresh rate of the display unit based on an event occurring on the OS and the fluctuation amount detected by the third processor.

Inventors

  • NOMURA, RYOHTA
  • KAWANO, SEIICHI

Assignees

  • Lenovo (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20251007

Claims (14)

  1. An information processing apparatus comprising: a memory configured to temporarily store a program of an operating system, OS, and a program executed on the OS; a first processor configured to execute processing based on the programs stored in the memory; a second processor configured to perform image processing on a display image displayed on a display unit based on the processing by the first processor and to output display data after the image processing in frame order; and a third processor configured to detect, based on display data of a plurality of frames output from the second processor, a fluctuation amount between the frames of the display data displayed on the display unit and to control a refresh rate of the display unit in response to an instruction from the first processor, wherein the first processor is configured to instruct the third processor on the refresh rate of the display unit based on an event occurring on the OS and the fluctuation amount detected by the third processor.
  2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the event occurring on the OS is a user interface, UI, event including a movement of a cursor displayed on the display unit or a movement and a change of a window, and the first processor is configured to instruct the third processor on a high refresh rate as compared to when the event does not occur in response to the event occurring on the OS.
  3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the first processor is configured to instruct the third processor on a lower refresh rate as the fluctuation amount detected by the third processor is smaller.
  4. The information processing apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein in a case where a fluctuation occurs between the frames of the display data displayed on the display unit, the first processor is configured to further instruct the third processor on the refresh rate of the display unit based on a position where the fluctuation occurs in a screen of the display unit.
  5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the first processor is configured to instruct the third processor on a refresh rate corresponding to video display when a fluctuation that does not change the position continues to occur based on the position where the fluctuation occurs in the screen of the display unit.
  6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4 or claim 5, wherein when the position where the fluctuation occurs in the screen of the display unit is separated from a position of a cursor displayed on the display unit, the first processor is configured to instruct the third processor on a low refresh rate as compared to when the position where the fluctuation occurs in the screen of the display unit is close to the position of the cursor displayed on the display unit.
  7. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein when the position where the fluctuation occurs in the screen of the display unit is a position around the screen of the display unit, the first processor is configured to instruct the third processor on a low refresh rate as compared to when the position where the fluctuation occurs in the screen of the display unit is a central position.
  8. A control method of an information processing apparatus including a memory configured to temporarily store a program of an operating system, OS, and a program executed on the OS, a first processor configured to execute processing based on the programs stored in the memory, a second processor, and a third processor, the control method comprising: performing, by the second processor, image processing on a display image displayed on a display unit based on the processing by the first processor and outputting display data after the image processing in frame order; detecting, by the third processor, based on display data of a plurality of frames output from the second processor, a fluctuation amount between the frames of the display data displayed on the display unit; instructing, by the first processor, the third processor on a refresh rate of the display unit based on an event occurring on the OS and the fluctuation amount detected by the third processor; and controlling, by the third processor, the refresh rate of the display unit in response to the instruction from the first processor.
  9. The control method according to claim 8, wherein the event occurring on the OS is a user interface, UI, event including a movement of a cursor displayed on the display unit or a movement and a change of a window, and the method comprises instructing, by the first processor, the third processor on a high refresh rate as compared to when the event does not occur in response to the event occurring on the OS.
  10. The control method according to claim 8 or claim 9, comprising instructing, by the first processor, the third processor on a lower refresh rate as the fluctuation amount detected by the third processor is smaller.
  11. The control method according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein in a case where a fluctuation occurs between the frames of the display data displayed on the display unit, the method comprises further instructing, by the first processor, the third processor on the refresh rate of the display unit based on a position where the fluctuation occurs in a screen of the display unit.
  12. The control method according to claim 11, comprising instructing, by the first processor, the third processor on a refresh rate corresponding to video display when a fluctuation that does not change the position continues to occur based on the position where the fluctuation occurs in the screen of the display unit.
  13. The control method according to claim 11 or claim 12, wherein when the position where the fluctuation occurs in the screen of the display unit is separated from a position of a cursor displayed on the display unit, the method comprises instructing, by the first processor, the third processor on a low refresh rate as compared to when the position where the fluctuation occurs in the screen of the display unit is close to the position of the cursor displayed on the display unit.
  14. The control method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein when the position where the fluctuation occurs in the screen of the display unit is a position around the screen of the display unit, the method comprises instructing, by the first processor, the third processor on a low refresh rate as compared to when the position where the fluctuation occurs in the screen of the display unit is a central position.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and a control method. Description of the Related Art Power consumption of a display is closely related to a refresh frequency (refresh rate) of the display, and generally, the lower the refresh rate, the lower the power consumption (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2016-122056). For example, logic and analog power of the display are almost proportional to the frequency. In addition, the more frequently graphics processing is rewritten (the higher the frequency), the greater the power. In some devices such as a smartphone and a smart watch, the refresh rate of the display is decreased to a low value in order to reduce power consumption. This is realized by each application declaring and requesting a necessary refresh rate to an OS. For example, a widget or the like that is always displayed is requested to have a refresh rate lower than a refresh rate of a normal application, while a game or the like that requires a high-speed animation is requested from the application to have a refresh rate higher than the refresh rate of the normal application. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION However, there is a system in which refresh rate setting for each application is not supported, such as Windows (registered trademark). In such a system, a method different from a method of setting the refresh rate required for each of the applications described above is required in order to lower the refresh rate. The present invention has been devised in view of the circumstances described above, and an object thereof is to provide an information processing apparatus and a control method that are capable of decreasing a refresh rate as appropriate to effectively reduce power consumption of a display in a system in which an application does not require an appropriate refresh rate. The present invention is devised in order to solve the problems, and an information processing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a memory configured to temporarily store a program of an operating system (OS) and a program executed on the OS, a first processor configured to execute processing based on the programs stored in the memory, a second processor configured to perform image processing on a display image displayed on a display unit based on the processing by the first processor and to output display data after the image processing in frame order, and a third processor configured to detect, based on display data of a plurality of frames output from the second processor, a fluctuation amount between the frames of the display data displayed on the display unit and to control a refresh rate of the display unit in response to an instruction from the first processor, in which the first processor instructs the third processor on the refresh rate of the display unit based on an event occurring on the OS and the fluctuation amount detected by the third processor. In the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the event occurring on the OS may be a user interface (UI) event including a movement of a cursor displayed on the display unit or a movement and a change of a window, and when the event occurs on the OS, the first processor may instruct the third processor on a high refresh rate as compared to when the event does not occur. In the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the first processor may instruct the third processor on a lower refresh rate as the fluctuation amount detected by the third processor is smaller. In the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect, in a case where a fluctuation occurs between the frames of the display data displayed on the display unit, the first processor may further instruct the third processor on the refresh rate of the display unit based on a position where the fluctuation occurs in a screen of the display unit. In the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the first processor may instruct the third processor on a refresh rate corresponding to video display when a fluctuation that does not change the position continues to occur based on the position where the fluctuation occurs in the screen of the display unit. In the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect, when the position where the fluctuation occurs in the screen of the display unit is separated from a position of a cursor displayed on the display unit, the first processor may instruct the third processor on a low refresh rate as compared to when the position where the fluctuation occurs in the screen of the display unit is close to the position of the cursor displayed on the display unit. In the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect, when the position where the fluctuation occurs in the screen of the display unit is a position around th