System and method for managing display power consumption

Abstract

A device includes a display screen that may be directed to function in one of multiple modes. The device may be configured to direct the display to shift between modes. In one mode, first information is displayed in an available display area including a first portion of a display screen in a display screen mode having a set of portions of the display screen. The set of portions may include the first portion of the display screen, which is configured in a powered-on state to perform display functions and receive user input, and a second portion of the display screen, which is configured in a powered-off state. In another mode, the entire screen may function in a powered-on state. One of the particular modes may be selected by swiping on object displayed by the screen to select a particular mode while the display is in a sleep mode.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A multifunction device comprising:
 a display comprising a display screen;   one or more processors; and   a memory comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executed by the one or more processors to implement:
 a power management module configured to manage a display controller of the multifunction device, wherein to manage the display the power management module is further configured to instruct the display controller to function in a proportional configuration mode, wherein the proportional configuration mode configures a portion of the display screen in a powered-on state and another portion of the display screen in a powered-off state; 
 wherein the proportional configuration mode configures the portion of the display screen in the powered-on state and another portion of the display screen in the powered-off state without losing functionality or access to applications. 
   
     
     
         2 . The multifunction device of  claim 1 , wherein when the portion of the display screen is in the powered-on state, the portion of the display screen is configured to perform display functions and receive user input. 
     
     
         3 . The multifunction device of  claim 2 , wherein the powered-on state configures the portion of the display screen to function in a grayscale color mode. 
     
     
         4 . The multifunction device of  claim 3 , wherein the powered-off state configures the other portion of the of the display screen to not perform display functions and to not receive user input. 
     
     
         5 . The multifunction device of  claim 1 , wherein the power management module is further configured to instruct the display controller to function in a full display mode, wherein the full display mode configures all of an available area of the display screen in a powered-on state when the display controller of the device is in the full display mode. 
     
     
         6 . The multifunction device of  claim 1 , wherein the power management module is further configured to manage the display of the multifunction device when the display is in a powered-off mode, the power management module configured to direct the display controller to display at least one of a time, date and an indication of one or more messages while the display controller is in the powered-off mode. 
     
     
         7 . The multifunction device of  claim 1 , wherein the power management module is further configured to direct the display controller to transition between modes based on a configurable battery power threshold, wherein the power management module is further configured to:
 determine that a battery power of the multifunction device reaches the configurable battery power threshold; and   subsequent to said determine, instruct the display controller to change from a full configuration mode to the proportional configuration mode.   
     
     
         8 . The multifunction device of  claim 7 , wherein the configurable battery power threshold is a configurable setting in a user interface of the multifunction device. 
     
     
         9 . The multifunction device of  claim 1 , wherein the display is a touch-sensitive display and wherein the program instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to implement a user interface module configured to:
 detect a contact with the touch-sensitive display at a first predefined location corresponding to an unlock image;   continuously move the unlock image on the touch-sensitive display in accordance with movement of the contact while continuous contact with the display screen is maintained, wherein the unlock image is a graphical, interactive user-interface object with which a user interacts in order to unlock the device;   unlock the multifunction device into the proportional configuration mode when the move of the unlock image on the touch-sensitive display results in movement of the unlock image from the first predefined location to a predefined unlock region on the touch-sensitive display; and   unlock the multifunction device into the full configuration mode when the move of the unlock image on the touch-sensitive display results in movement of the unlock image from the first predefined location to another predefined unlock region on the touch-sensitive display.   
     
     
         10 . A method comprising:
 managing a display of a multifunction device, wherein managing the display comprises:
 instructing the device to transition from functioning in a full configuration mode to functioning in a proportional configuration mode, wherein the proportional configuration mode configures a portion of a display screen of the device in a powered-on state and another portion of the display screen of the device in a powered-off state; and 
 wherein said instructing the device to transition from functioning in the full configuration mode to functioning in the proportional configuration mode is performed by the operating system of the multifunction device. 
   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein instructing the device to function in a proportional configuration mode causes the portion of the display to perform display functions and receive user input. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein instructing the display to function in a configuration mode causes the portion of the display to perform display functions and receive user input. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising instructing the display screen to function in a full configuration mode, wherein the full configuration mode configures each portion of the display screen in a powered-on state. 
     
     
         14 . A multifunction device comprising:
 a display screen;   one or more processors; and   a memory comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable by the one or more processors to implement:   a power management module configured to manage a display screen of the multifunction device, wherein to manage the display screen the power management module is further configured to instruct the display screen to function in a proportional configuration mode, wherein when the multifunction device is operational to capture an image, the proportional configuration mode configures a portion of the display screen in a powered-on state and another portion of the display screen in a powered-off state such that the other portion of the display screen in the powered-off state is unresponsive to touch-based input while the multifunction device captures an image.   
     
     
         15 . The multifunction device of  claim 14 , wherein the powered-on state of the proportional configuration mode configures the portion of the display to perform display functions and receive user input. 
     
     
         16 . The multifunction device of  claim 15 , wherein the powered-on state of the proportional configuration mode configures the portion of the display to function in a grayscale color mode. 
     
     
         17 . The multifunction device of  claim 16 , wherein the powered-off state of the proportional configuration mode configures the other portion of the of the display screen to not perform display functions and to not receive user input. 
     
     
         18 . The multifunction device of  claim 14 , wherein the power management module is further configured to instruct the display screen to function in a full display mode, wherein the full display mode configures the display in a powered-on state when the display screen of the device is in the display mode. 
     
     
         19 . The multifunction device of  claim 14 , wherein the power management module is further configured to manage the display screen of the multifunction device when the display screen is in a sleep mode, the power management module configured to direct the display screen to display at least one of a time, date and an indication of one or more messages while the display screen controller is in the sleep mode. 
     
     
         20 . The multifunction device of  claim 14 , wherein the power management module is further configured to direct the display screen to change between modes based on a configurable battery power threshold, wherein the power management module is further configured to:
 determine that a battery power of the multifunction device has reached the configurable battery power threshold; and   subsequent to said determine, instruct the display screen to shift from full configuration mode to the proportional configuration mode.