Researchers from Seoul National University developed a new algorithm that remaps gray levels in image pixels so the image consumes less power on an OLED display. The researchers say that this algorithm can save about 10% while actually enhancing the contrast by 9%. The algorithm is linear and can be applied in real-time to high resolution videos.
The algorithms analysis the histogram of the image and changes the gray levels while maintaining the contrast. The key idea is that a large number of gray levels are never used in the images and these gray levels can be effectively exploited to reduce power consumption. To maintain the contrast, the algorithm takes into account the object size in the image to which each gray level is applied - so it does not perform changes to large objects.
Just last week we reported that researchers from the University of Southern California developed a new software platform that can automatically rewrite web pages and web applications so that they consume less energy on OLED pages. It's great to see those new software innovation that target OLED power consumption savings, and perhaps in the future these kinds of ideas can improve battery life on OLED mobile devices.
