Managing transitions of adaptive display rates for different video playback scenarios

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10991345-B2
Application number	US-201916399080-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 30, 2019
Priority date	Jun 13, 2013
Publication date	Apr 27, 2021
Grant date	Apr 27, 2021

Abstract

To manage dynamic adjustment of the refresh rate of a computer display, the operating system defines at least two playback modes: one or more custom modes that can be selected by applications, and a standard mode which is a default setting for the system that can be expected by applications. The operating system provides an application programming interface that enables an application to request using a custom mode. If approved to use the custom mode, then the application presents frames for display based on the custom mode. The operating system stores timing data for each buffered frame indicating how to play the frame in both standard mode and the custom mode. If a transition back to the standard mode occurs, the operating system uses the timing data to properly present frames of video until the application stops generating frames of video in the custom mode.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method to adjust a rate at which a computing device displays graphic content, comprising:
configuring the computing device to render, on a display associated with the computing device, frames of content at variable refresh rates;
receiving a request from an application executing on the computing device to render frames of content at an initial refresh rate;
determining whether other executing applications on the computing device are dependent on a previously used refresh rate;
displaying the frames of content at the initial refresh rate responsive to the determination that the other executing applications are not dependent on the previously used refresh rate;
determining timing data for displaying frames of content that identifies a playback duration for the frames of content at a different refresh rate relative to the initial refresh rate;
varying the initial refresh rate to the different refresh rate based on the determination; and
displaying the frames of content at the different refresh rate according to the determined timing data.

2. The method of claim 1 , in which, responsive to the request from the application, the computing device verifies that the computing device is capable of rendering frames of content at the initial refresh rate.

3. The method of claim 2 , in which the verifying includes checking with an operating system that the initial refresh rate is usable.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
providing available refresh rates to the application, wherein the request from the application to render the frames of content at the initial refresh rate is based on the available refresh rates provided to the application.

5. The method of claim 1 , in which the frames of content are displayed in the different refresh rate from the initial refresh rate responsive to an occurrence of an event associated with the application which causes termination of the initial refresh rate.

6. The method of claim 1 , in which the computing device stops determining timing data for the initial refresh rate after frames of content are displayed at the different refresh rate.

7. The method of claim 1 , in which rendering with the variable refresh rates on the display of the computing device enable the computing device to present frames of content for a given application until that application stops generating content at a given refresh rate.

8. A computing device, comprising:
a display on which frames of content are rendered;
one or more processors; and
one or more hardware-based memory devices storing computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing device to:
configure the computing device to render, on a display associated with the computing device, frames of content at variable refresh rates;
receive a request from an application to render frames of content at an initial refresh rate;
display the frames of content at the initial refresh rate responsive to the received request;
generate timing data for displaying the frames of content that identifies a playback duration for the frames of content at a different refresh rate relative to the initial refresh rate;
vary the initial refresh rate to the different refresh rate based on the generated timing data;
display the frames of content at the different refresh rate according to the generated timing data; and
stop determining timing data for the initial refresh rate.

9. The computing device of claim 8 , in which, responsive to the request from the application, the computing device verifies, with an operating system, that the computing device is capable of rendering frames of content at the initial refresh rate.

10. The computing device of claim 8 , further comprising:
providing available refresh rates to the application and the request from the application to render frames of content at the initial refresh rate is based on the available refresh rates provided to the application.

11. The computing device of claim 10 , in which the available refresh rates are provided to the application through an operating system application programming interface (API).

12. The computing device of claim 8 , in which the computing device periodically determines whether the application is approved for use at the initial refresh rate.

13. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein the computing device approves the displaying at the initial refresh rate for the application responsive to determining that other executing applications are not dependent on a previously used refresh rate.

14. The computing device of claim 8 , in which rendering with the variable refresh rates on the display of the computing device enable the computing device to present frames of content for a given application until that application stops generating content at a given refresh rate.

15. One or more hardware-based computer-readable memory devices storing computer-executable instructions which, when executed by one or more processors disposed within a computing device, cause the computing device to:
configure the computing device to render, on a display associated with the computing device, frames of content at variable refresh rates;
receive a request from an application to render frames of content at an initial refresh rate;
display the frames of content at the initial refresh rate responsive to the received request;
determine timing data for displaying frames of content that identifies a playback duration for the frames of content at a different refresh rate relative to the initial refresh rate;
vary the initial refresh rate to the different refresh rate based on the determination; and
display the frames of content at the different refresh rate according to the timing data, wherein rendering with the variable refresh rates enables the computing device to present the frames of content for a given application until that given application stops generating content at a given refresh rate.

16. The one or more hardware-based computer-readable memory devices of claim 15 , in which the executed instructions further cause the computing device to determine whether the application is displaying content in a full screen mode and, based on that determination, enable rendering of the frames of content at the initial refresh rate.

17. The one or more hardware-based computer-readable memory devices of claim 16 , in which the executed instructions further cause the computing device to determine whether any other executing application is displaying content, and, based on that determination, prohibiting the rendering of the frames of content at the initial refresh rate.

18. The one or more hardware-based computer-readable memory devices of claim 15 , in which the computing device approves the displaying at the initial refresh rate for the application responsive to determining that other executing applications are unaffected by the initial refresh rate.

19. The one or more hardware-based computer-readable memory devices of claim 15 , in which the frames of content are displayed in the different refresh rate from the initial refresh rate responsive to an occurrence of an event that is asynchronous with the application.

20. The one or more hardware-based computer-readable memory devices of claim 15 , in which the computing device is configured to periodically transition between the initial refresh rate and the different refresh rate.

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Wood Daniel
• Alexandrov Vlad
• Xu Zhigang
• Mcmullen Max
• Andrews Marcus
• Sorbo Bennett
• Baioura Andrei
• Leonov Mikhail

Classifications

• G09G5/12

  Synchronisation between the display unit and other units, e.g. other display units, video-disc players · CPC title

• G06F9/44

  Arrangements for executing specific programs · CPC title

• G06F3/14 Primary

  Digital output to display device {; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units} · CPC title

• G09G5/391 Primary

  Resolution modifying circuits, e.g. variable screen formats · CPC title

• G06T1/00

  General purpose image data processing · CPC title