Pixel Value Adjustment to Reduce the Energy Requirements of Display Devices

Abstract

The media and entertainment industry consumes a significant amount of energy to create, distribute, and present video content to consumers. A large proportion of this energy is used by display devices, notably by the 1.9+ billion displays installed in consumers’ homes globally. The production of light within a display is the main reason for this energy use, independent of display technology. Reducing the global energy use of display devices by any means possible is, therefore, a topic of prime concern. Due to the very large number of displays currently in use, even small reductions per display may end up globally saving enormous amounts of energy. In this spirit, we present a video processing technique that can reduce energy requirements without altering the visual quality of the displayed material. For use cases whereby a viewer would accept a certain loss of visual quality, a user parameter could be exposed that further reduces display energy requirements.