Limited intra-word transition codes: an energy-efficient bus encoding for LCD display interfaces

Abstract

We propose a class of low-power codes, called Limited Intra-Word Transition (LIWT) codes, suitable for the digital interface to Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD). The proposed technique exploits the existing inter-pixel correlation of typical images, by transmitting an encoded representation of the difference between adjacent pixels. Since all standard LCD transmission protocols are serial, the LIWT specifically targets the minimization of intra-word transitions. The application of the encoding to a series of standard images resulted in transitions savings over 60% on average with respect to two standard TMDS and LVDS protocols.