Samsung and Intel's new display technology lowers laptop battery drain
What's the story
Samsung Display and Intel have jointly developed a new technology, called SmartPower HDR. The innovation is designed to reduce power consumption while viewing HDR content on an OLED screen. The tech was first showcased by Intel last year, but now Samsung Display has revealed more about its functionality and potential power savings. However, details about which laptops will feature SmartPower HDR remain unclear.
Tech
How SmartPower HDR works
SmartPower HDR works by having the laptop's chipset track the peak brightness of each frame in real-time. The panel's timing controller chip then uses this data and the ratio of active pixels to determine the best driving voltage for the panel. This way, general tasks like web browsing or document editing can run at lower voltage levels, while high-definition content such as games or video playback needs higher brightness and voltage.
Efficiency
SmartPower HDR's impact on power consumption
Traditional HDR modes stay at maximum brightness, consuming more power even in regular use cases. This is why many laptops stick to SDR mode, despite the color and brightness benefits of HDR. However, SmartPower HDR can cut down OLED pixel emission power consumption by up to 22% in general usage, and up to 17% during HDR content. In fact, under general usage scenarios, its power consumption is similar to that of SDR mode.