MXPA01005101A - Power saving method and device for display - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of controlling individual power supplies of a plurality of displays in a computer system to which a plurality of displays can be connected, wherein resources information such as a mouse-pointer position and an active window position are added, as enhanced judging conditions, to the current screen DIM/saver judging conditions which represent a keyboard/mouse operation status. Positions of these resources on a plurality of screens are judged and if those positions are not displayed for a continued preset time on a particular monitor, that monitor is switched to a low power consumption mode.

Description

METHOD AND DEVICE FOR ADMINISTRATION OF ENERGY TO VISUALIZATION DEVICES DESCRIPTION Background and field of the invention The present invention relates to a computer system that includes a display device, and in particular to a method and a device for individually changing the modes (modes of operation) of a plurality of display devices. For a conventional computer, in particular, for a portable computer, in terms of energy savings, a display device is moved to an energy-saving mode by determining under what conditions the device is being used by a user (for example, data that they are fed through a keyboard). However, since the presentation of Windows 98, the operating system (OS) by Microsoft client, as a standard, several displays of up to a maximum of nine screens can be supported by a personal computer (( PC) for your followings in English)).

Also, since Windows 98 appeared, screen deletion (wiped from the screen) by an application using a new API can be rejected. However, screen deletion (screen clearing) is established with the assumption that it will be used mainly by a presentation application, and that an application will normally not make the use of the API unnecessary. This is cited by Microsoft on the WindowsSDK (Windows Software Development Team). As a result, only a determination about whether a user is watching a monitor screen or not can be considered to be an effective control factor. However, since a user can not always look at a monitor, although the monitor may occupy a location within the user's visual field, this is a proposition for which universal resolution is not available. Therefore, the point in this case is how well this proposition corresponds to a condition that applies to a user. The easiest mounting method is a method that provides control of all images that use the same determination references, which corresponds to the process performed by Windows 98. That is, when a keyboard and a mouse have not been accessed for a period specific, all monitors move to the DIM state (for its acronym in English (low power consumption)) according to the operating states (idle states) of the keyboard and mouse. According to this method of installation, for a job that mainly involves the typing of a document, all monitors except one are kept uselessly in the ON state. In the current Windows 98, all, the monitors are kept in the ON state as long as the keyboard or mouse is in use, and in this case, it seems that the electrical energy is wasted. According to the present invention, a method is provided for efficiently controlling individual monitors while in the conditions described above. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications Nos. Hei 6-83491 and 7-302138 constitute the prior art for the field corresponding to that of the present invention. The Japanese patent publication without examining No. Hei 6-83491 (Applicant: International Bussines Machines Corp.) describes a technique for collecting associated energy consumption data for a plurality of computer components, and for carrying it to a minimum, with Based on the data, the power consumption by the computer. Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 7-302138 (Applicant: Cannon Corp.) discloses a technique for storing, for each application, the history data for access of individual devices, and for more adequately performing a function of decreasing energy according to the request and the devices. However, in no publication is there described or shown a technique for a computer system, as in the present invention, in which, based on the information displayed on screens, the connection of a plurality of display devices is possible for the administration of the power supply to individual display devices.

Problems to be solved by the invention Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method, for a computing system to which a plurality of display devices can be connected, for managing the power supply to individual display devices.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a computing system to reduce wasted energy consumption. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a system from which only one image is activated and which is actually the one being used by a user, and from which all other images are turned off, their screens are erased, so that the user can concentrate on the display device screen that he or she is currently using. Specifically, for the configuration of the present invention, as a condition of additional determination, information is added, about the positions of a mouse pointer and an active window, to a determination condition of a current screen protector / DIM that constitutes the operating state of a keyboard / mouse. A system includes only one in two resources (an active window and a mouse pointer). The positions of the resources in a plurality of screens are determined, and when they have not been displayed on a specific monitor during a specific period, that monitor moves to a low power consumption mode (a low energy operation state) .

That is, the process carried out by the system is based on the fact that when a user of a system that uses multiple monitors is creating a document with a word processor, normally only one monitor is required, although it is being used in its entirety. the keyboard / mouse. According to one aspect of the present invention, a computer, which can be connected to a plurality of display devices, comprises: means for determining whether the screens of the plurality of display devices satisfy a predetermined condition; and means, based on the result obtained by the determination means, for changing the operating state of at least one of the display devices that satisfies the predetermined condition.

Preferred mode Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating the external appearance of a computer system which, in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, can support various display devices. Figure 1 shows a tower-type computer, a computer configuration that is popular in the market. However, the present invention is not It is limited to a tower computer, and can be applied to another type of computer, such as a desktop computer or laptop. Furthermore, the system of the present invention is not limited to a client computer, and as long as a computer can support a multiple display function, it can also be used for a server computer or a central computer. The computer system comprises the main body of the tower-type computer 100; a keyboard unit 130, which is connected to the computer 100 by a cable; and display devices 110 and 120, such as CRTs or liquid crystal displays (LCDs). The screen information that is generated by a graphics adapter incorporated in the main body of the computer 100 is transmitted to, by means of a cable, and displayed on the display devices 110 and 120. The energy states of devices 110 and 120 of display are controlled by means of the graphics adapter (which will be described later) incorporated in the main body of the computer 100. Figure 2 is a specific diagram illustrating, for each subsystem, the hardware distribution of a mother card and the other components of a specific personal computer (PC) 100 in accordance with the present invention. The PC 100 tower adapts to the specifications of the OADG ((for its acronym in English) Group of designers in open architecture of PC), and an operating system (OS), such as Windows 98 or WINDOWS NT from Microsoft Corp., or "OS / 2" from IBM Corp. is installed on this PC 100 has a variety of accessible ports on the back of the body main, and several devices that can be accessed from the front. A CPU (processor) 210, the main controller of the computer 100, executes several programs under OS control. CPU 210 may be, for example, a "Pentium" CPU chip, a "Pentium MMX technology" chip, a "Pentium II" or a "Pentium Pro" chip, all of which are produced by Intel Corp., a CPU produced by another company, such as AMD Corp, or a Power PC produced by IBM Corp. The CPU 210 connects to hardware components that will be described later, by means of three buses in layers, that is, an FSB ((for its acronym in English) (Front Side Bus) 211 which is a processor bus connected to its external connectors; a 235 PCI bus (peripheral component interface), which it serves as a 1/0 fast device bus; and an I / O bus 270, such as an ISA bus (industry standard architecture) that serves as a slow I / O device bus. The FSB 211, which is a processor bus, and the bus PCI 235 communicate with each other through a bridge circuit (a host-PCI bridge circuit) which is generally called a memory / PCI control chip 220. The memory / PCI control chip 220 in this mode includes a memory controller for controlling an operation for accessing a main memory 215, and a temporary data storage memory for absorbing a difference in data transfer speed between the buses 211 and 235. An exemplary chip is the 440EX or the 440GX from Intel Corp. The main memory 215 is volatile memory and is used as a write area for an execution program of the CPU 210, or as a work area for the Program. Generally, the main memory 215 consists of a plurality of DRAM chips (Dynamic RAM). A memory capacity of, for example, 32 MB is provided as a standard and can be extended to 256 MB. Recently, to respond to the demands of higher process speeds, it is starting to use RDRAM instead of DRAM as Fast page DRAM, EDO DRAM, synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) and unchanging EDO DRAM. The programs to be executed include device drivers that access an OS such as Windows 98 and peripheral devices, several application programs that are prepared for specific jobs, and fixed instructions such as a BIOS stored in a ROM 290. It has recently been incorporated into the CPU an L2 cache (level 2) comprising a high speed memory to absorb the time required by the CPU 210 to access the main memory 215. A very limited amount of codes and data that the CPU 210 accesses frequently can be temporarily stored in the L2 cache. Generally, the L2 cache consists of SRAM chip (static RAM), and its memory capacity is, for example, 512 KB or greater. The bus 235 PCI is a bus for the operation of a relatively fast data transfer (a bus width of 32/64 bits, a maximum operating frequency of 33 MHz and a maximum data transfer speed of 132/264 MBITE / SECOND) . PCI devices, such as a CardBus 230 controller (bus of standard size), operated at relatively high speeds are connected to the PCI 235 bus. The PCI architecture was originated and supported by Intel Corp., and instrumented a function called PnP (connect and use). The video subsystem 225 is a subsystem for performing a function associated with video. The video subsystem 225 includes a video controller that processes the graphic commands received from the CPU 210 and temporarily writes the information of the processed graphics to a video memory (VRAM), and after that reads the graphic information of the VRAM and sends them to a liquid crystal display (LCD). The video controller uses an attached digital / analog converter (DAC) to convert a video signal to an analog signal, and then send the analog video signal to the CRT port via a signal line. The video subsystem 225 is connected to the memory / PCI control chip 220 via the AGP (accelerated graphics port) bus. The video subsystem 225 will now be described in detail with reference to Figures 3 and 4. The CardBus controller 230 is a specialized controller for directly transmitting a bus signal carried by the PCI bus 235 to the interface connector (cardBus) for a PCI card slot 231 that is formed in the wall of the main body of the computer 100. A PC card (not shown), which conforms to the specifications (for example, "PC Card Standard 95") established by PCMCIA (International Memory Card Association for Personal Computers) and JEIDA (Electronic Industry Development Association of Japan), it can be inserted in the card slot. The bus 235 PCI and the bus 270 l / O are connected together by means of a bridge circuit (bridge circuit PCI-I / O) 240. The bridge circuit 240 in this mode includes a DMA controller, an interrupt controller (PIC) programmable and a programmable interval timer (PIT). The DMA controller is a specialized device for performing data transfers between the peripheral devices (for example, an FDD (hard disk)) and the main memory 215, without assistance from the CPU 210. The PIC is a specialized controller to run the programs (interrupt handlers) in response to requests Interrupt (IRQs) received from the individual peripheral devices. The PIT is a device for generating a stopwatch signal in accordance with a predetermined cycle. The cycle of the stopwatch signal generated by the PIT is programmable. The bridge circuit 240 in this mode also includes an IDE (Integrated control electronics) interface for connecting storage devices external that make up the IDE specifications. An IDE hard drive (HDD) 246 is connected to the IDE interface, and a CD-ROOM IDE unit is connected to it via the ATAPI (AT link packet interface). Other types of IDE devices, such as DVD drives (digital video disc or digital versatile disk), can be connected in place of CD-ROOM IDE drives. External storage devices, such as the HDD 246 and the CD-ROM drive, are stored within the computer 100 in an open area called "media bay" or "device bay". Other devices, such as battery packs or diskette drives (FDDs), can be exchanged exclusively for these storage devices. The bridge circuit 240 in this mode has a USB host controller (universal serial bus) and a hub (hub) router to connect a USB and a USB port 238, which is formed on the wall of the computer 100. The USB supports a work coupling function for the insertion and removal of additional peripheral devices (USB devices) while the computer 100 is on, and a connect and use function to automatically identify recently connected peripheral devices and to re-establish the system configuration. A maximum of 63 USB devices can be connected one after the other to a single USB port. Examples of USB devices are keyboards, mice, control levers, scanners, copiers, modems, image engines, and tablets. The I / O bus 270 is, for example, an ISA bus along which the data transfer rate is lower (a bus width of 16 bits and a maximum data transfer rate of 4 MBps) the speed of the PCI Bus 235. The I / O bus 270 is used to connect peripheral devices, such as ROM 290, a real-time clock (RTC), a Super I / O controller 280, and a controller. keyboard / mouse that are handled at a relatively low speed. ROM 290 is a non-volatile memory for the permanent storage of a group of codes (BIOS: Basic input / output system) for the input and output signals for hardware components, such as a keyboard and a floppy disk drive ( FDD), and a test program (POST: Power on Self Test) that is run when the system 100 first turns on. The Super I / O controller 280 is a peripheral controller for driving the floppy disk drive (FDD), and for controlling the parallel data input / output (PIÓ) by means of a parallel port, and the data input / output (SIO) series through a serial port. An audio subsystem 250 and a modem subsystem 260 will be described below. Although many other electrical circuits are required than those shown in Figure 2 to build the computer 100, they are well known to a person with average knowledge in the art. And because they are not directly related to the subject matter of the present invention, no explanation will be given for them. Furthermore, it should be noted that, to avoid making the drawings too complex, only a part of the connections joining the hardware blocks in Figure 2 are shown. Figures 3 and 4 are detailed diagrams illustrating a part of the video subsystem 225 explained with reference to figure 2. To support multiple display devices using a single computer, two methods are available: method 1, mounting on a computer a plurality of graphics adapters each of which supports a single display; and method 2, mounting on a computer a graphics adapter that supports several display devices. Method 1 is shown in Figure 3 and Method 2 is shown in Figure 4.

In accordance with method 1 in Figure 3, a plurality of graphics adapters 1 through n are used (310 to 320), and display devices 314 to 324 respectively are connected to the graphics adapters 1 to (310 to 320) via the cables 312 to 322. In the device of Figure 3, the graphics adapters 310 320 are controlled individually by means of an OS or by means of an application program, and normally, different contents are displayed on the screens. The graphics adapters 1 through n (310 to 320) include one or more graphics controllers (or CRTCs) each of which supports a single display device. In accordance with method 2 in Figure 4, a graphics adapter 410 is used, and a plurality of display devices (CRTs) 420 and a liquid crystal display (LCD) device 430 are respectively connected to the graphics adapter 410 by means of the cables 412 and 414. In the device of Figure 4, the graphics adapter 410 is controlled by means of an OS or an application program, and the same or different contents are displayed on the display devices.

The graphics adapter 410 includes either several graphics controllers, each of which supports a single display device, or one or more graphics controllers (or CRTCs) that can support a plurality of display devices. In addition to the graphics controllers, the graphics adapters 1 to (310 to 320 and 410) shown in Figures 3 and 4 generally include a video memory, a DAC, a clock generator and a connector for connecting a cable . These components can be mounted on a different card adapter board to the motherboard as shown in figures 3 and 4, or they can be mounted on the motherboard with other components. Most current computer OSs support a display power management mode via an interface for an application. For example, Windows 98 from Microsoft Corp. supports the power management architecture called OnNow by means of an ACPI (power interface and advanced configuration). In OnNow, the idle state (DI) and the suspended state (D2), as well as the normal ON state (DO) and the state (OFF) (D3), are supported as energy modes of display (operation states). In the specifications for the present invention, basically, "OFF" includes the "wait" and "suspended" states. Figure 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the screens of three display devices in accordance with the present invention. Figure 6 is a time diagram showing the durations of the operation performed by the three display devices in Figure 5. The basic procedure performed by the present invention will now be described with reference to Figures 5 and 6. The screens of the three display devices in figure 5, and the distribution that provides the use of these display devices is implemented when n = 3 in figure 3. In the first display device 1 (510) a plurality of 512 icons of windows. These window icons 5i2 are not active. A mouse cursor 524 (or a mouse pointer) is displayed in an enlarged window 522 in a second display device 2 (520). Window 522 is inactive.

An active enlarged window 532 is displayed in a third display device 3 (530). The states shown in Figure 5 correspond to the states further to the left shown in the time diagram of Figure 6. In Figure 6, the power supply state of the display device 1 is indicated by a line 610 The display device 1 is in the ON state, and the window icons are displayed which are described with reference to figure 5. Since neither the mouse cursor 524 nor the active window 532 are displayed on the device screen 1 display (to the left of time 652), it is assumed that the operation status of screen 1 can be moved to the OFF state, or the energy saving mode, after a specific idle period has passed. When the period 662 has ended, the display device 1 is turned off at time 652. On the other hand, since the mouse cursor 524 is shown on the display of the display device 2 and since the active window 532 is shown in the screen of the display device 3, unlike the display device 1, the devices 2 and 3 do not turn off at time 652 and remain on. After a specific period has elapsed after time 652, starting in time 653 a pop-up window 514 is displayed on the display device 1 for a short period. Accordingly, the display device 1 is input to the ON state to display the quick appearance window. After this, the quick-appearing window disappears upon receiving an instruction entered by a user, and when a predetermined time has elapsed, the device 1 is moved back to the OFF state (at time 655). When a period of time has passed after the time 655, and the time 654 has been reached and the data entry has stopped in a feeding device, such as a keyboard or a mouse, connected to the computer 100, after which a predetermined time 684 has expired a waiting time occurs (at time 656). The wait time for inputting data to the keyboard / mouse is used as a trigger, so that the display devices 2 (620) and 3 (630) are moved to the OFF state, or to the energy saving mode, by means of of a conventional energy saving mechanism (at time 656). Accordingly, at time 656 all of the three display devices are in the OFF state or in the energy saving mode.

When an additional period has elapsed, and when at a 660 time data is entered into the keyboard all three display devices are activated using the data input as a trigger (at time 658). It should be noted that even when the display devices 1 to 3 are in the OFF state for a period ranging from time 656 to time 658, the trigger to move the display device 1 to the OFF state differs from the trigger to move the devices display 2 and 3 display to OFF status. That is, the display devices 2 and 3 are moved to the OFF state (at time 684) by the use of a conventional trigger, the occurrence / non-occurrence of an input of data to the keyboard, while the display device 1 is moves to the OFF state (at time 652) using the contents displayed on the screen as a trigger. Figure 7 is a flow diagram showing the process contour for the present invention. The process is started in step 702, and in block 704 a check is made to determine whether the display device should be moved to a state (DIM) of low energy consumption by means of a conventional energy management function. When in step 704 the computer is not in the DIM state, the program control is moved to block 706. When the computer is in the DIM state, the program control is moved to block 728, where the process ends. In block 706 the monitor of a relevant display device is designated as an inspected monitor. In block 708, the contents displayed on the monitor are examined. In block 710 the results obtained in block 708 are used to determine if a mouse pointer is displayed on the monitor screen. When a mouse pointer is displayed on the monitor, the program control goes to block 722. But when a mouse pointer is not displayed, the program control advances to block 712. In block 712 a check is made to determine whether An active window is being displayed on the monitor screen. When an active window is displayed on the monitor screen, the program control goes to block 722. But if an active window is not displayed, the program control is moved to block 714.

In block 714 a check is made to determine if a waiting time for an idle timer of the monitor occurs. When a timeout occurs, the program control goes to block 716, and when a timeout does not occur, the program control advances to. block 718. In block 716 the monitor is put in the DIM state according to the present invention. In block 718 a check is made to determine if another monitor is present. When another monitor is present, the program control proceeds to block 720. But if no additional monitor is present, the program control goes to block 728 and the process ends. In block 720 the additional monitor is designated as an inspected monitor, and as a consequence the process in blocks 708 through 718 is repeated until no additional monitor is found. In block 722 a check is made to determine if the monitored monitor is in the DIM state. When the monitor is in the DIM state, the program control goes to block 724. Whereas if the monitor is not in the DIM state, the program control goes to block 726.

In block 724 the DIM status of the monitor is unlocked. In block 726 the idle timer of the monitor is reset (or re-established). The fast-appearing window described with reference to Figure 6 is one of the active windows in Figure 7. Figure 8 shows eight screen conditions used for an explanation of the actual operation of the present invention, as presented in detail with reference to Figure 7. To simplify the explanation of the functions that are unique to the present invention, it is assumed that for all the examples in Figure 8 the DIM, which uses the current function, is not performed. Shown from the left in all the examples in figure 8 are the screens of the display devices 1, 2 and 3. In addition, as shown in Figure 8, dotted windows represent active windows while blank windows represent inactive windows, and a mouse pointer (cursor) is represented by an arrow. Here, the description of an active window includes an active daughter window.

In case (1) 810, a plurality of window icons are displayed in the left display device 1 (812), a window and a mouse pointer are not displayed in the middle display device 2 (814), and they display an active window and a mouse pointer on the right viewing device 3 (816). In case (1) 810, the three display devices are in the ON state at the beginning. However, since neither the active window nor the mouse pointer are displayed on the display device 1 (812) and the display device 2 (814), a waiting time occurs after a predetermined period of time has elapsed. and these display devices are moved to the OFF state or the DIM state. On the other hand, in view of the fact that the active window and the mouse pointer are displayed in the display device 3 (816), the display device 3 (816) is kept in the ON state. In the case (2) 820, a plurality of window icons are displayed in the left display device 1 (822), a part of an active window is displayed in the middle display device 2 (824), and a part of the the active window and a mouse pointer is displayed on the right viewing device 3 (826).

In case (2) 820, the three display devices are in the ON state at the beginning. However, since neither the active window nor the mouse pointer are displayed on the display device 1 (822), a timeout occurs after a predetermined period has passed and the display device 1 (822) is moved. to the OFF state or the DIM state. On the other hand, since at least a part of the active window is displayed in the display devices 2 (824) and 3 (826), they remain active. In case (3) 830, a plurality of window icons are displayed in the left display device 1 (832), a mouse pointer is displayed in the middle display device 2 (834), and an active window is displayed in the right viewing device 3 (836). In case (3) 830, the three display devices are in the ON state at the beginning. However, since neither the active window nor the mouse pointer is displayed on the display device 1 (832), a timeout occurs after a predetermined period of time has passed and the display device 1 (832) is moved to the OFF state or the DIM state.

On the other hand, since at least the mouse pointer or the active window is displayed on display devices 2 (834) and 3 (836), they remain active. In case (4) 840, a plurality of window icons are displayed in the left display device 1 (842), an inactive window and a mouse pointer are displayed in the medium display device 2 (844)., and an active window is displayed on the right viewing device 3 (846). In case (4) 840, the three display devices are in the ON state at the beginning. However, since neither the active window nor the mouse pointer are displayed on the display device 1 (842), a timeout occurs after a predetermined period of time has passed and the display device 1 (842) has elapsed. it moves to the OFF state or the DIM state. On the other hand, since the mouse pointer or the active window is displayed on the display devices 2 (844) and 3 (846), they remain active. In case (5) 850, a plurality of window icons are displayed in the left display device 1 (852), a window and a mouse pointer are not displayed at the beginning in the middle display device 2 (854), and an inactive window and a mouse pointer are displayed on the right display device 3 (856).

In case (5) 850, the three display devices are in the ON state at the beginning. However, since neither the active window nor the mouse pointer are displayed on the display device 1 (852) and the display device 2 (854), a waiting time occurs after a predetermined period has passed and these display devices move to the OFF state or the DIM state. On the other hand, since the mouse pointer is displayed in the display device 3 (856), the display device 3 (856) is kept in the ON state. In this example, the display device 2 (854) is turned off, and is temporarily turned on again to display a quick appearing window. In case (6) 860, at the beginning a plurality of window icons is displayed in the left display device 1 (832), an inactive window is displayed in the middle display device 2 (864), and a window is displayed inactive and a mouse pointer on the right viewing device 3 (866). In case (6) 860, the three display devices are in the ON state at the beginning. However, since neither the active window nor the mouse pointer are displayed on the display device 1 (862) and the display device 2 (864), a timeout occurs after a predetermined period of time has passed and these display devices move to the OFF state or the DIM state. On the other hand, since the mouse pointer is displayed in the display device 3 (866), the display device 3 (866) is kept in the ON state. In this example, the display device 2 (864) is turned off, and is temporarily turned on again to display a quick-appearing window. In case (7) 870, a plurality of window icons are displayed in the left display device 1 (872), an inactive daughter window is displayed in the middle display device 2 (874), and an active window is displayed and a mouse pointer in the right viewing device 3 (876). In case (7) 870, at the beginning the three display devices are in the ON state. However, since neither the active window nor the mouse pointer are displayed on the display device 1 (872) and the display device 2 (874), a timeout occurs after a predetermined period has passed and these display devices move to the OFF state or the DIM state. On the other hand, since the active window and the mouse pointer are displayed in the device 3 (876) of display, the display device 3 (876) is maintained in the ON state. In case (8) 880, a plurality of window icons are displayed in the left display device 1 (882), an inactive window is displayed in the middle display device 2 (884), and an active window is displayed and a mouse pointer on the right viewing device 3 (886). In case (8) 880, at the beginning the three display devices are in the ON state. However, since neither the active window nor the mouse pointer are displayed on the display device 1 (882) and the display device 2 (884), a waiting time occurs after a predetermined period of time has elapsed. passed and these display devices move to the OFF state or the DIM state. On the other hand, since the active window and the mouse pointer are displayed in the display device 3 (886), the display device 3 (886) is kept in the ON state. Figure 9 is a block diagram illustrating the portion of the operating system (OS) associated with the present invention. In Figure 9, the upper portion of dotted line 992 represents a user mode (ring 3), and the The portion below dotted line 992 represents a kernel mode (ring 0) that performs the functions of a supervisor mode. A 910 application can use a Win32 API (application programming interface) 920 that is provided by a system virtual machine. The Win32 API 920 includes, such as a system service, a GDI (Device-Graphic Interface) 928 that functions as a graphics interface, a 922 kernel, a 924 user, and other 926 functions. The GDI 928 controls the 950 and 952 graphics devices by of 940 and 942 associated graphics modules in user mode and kernel mode, and the results are displayed on monitors 960 and 962. In kernel mode, a system / IOS (Input and Output Supervisor) 980 files, a VMM 990 virtual machine administrator and several VxD 970 virtual device driver types are also provided. In Figure 9, a DIM control utility 930 of several monitors is further provided to carry out the present invention. In addition, alteration of a Mini-VDD 943 is required to carry out the present invention.

The application 910 issues an instruction to the GDI 928 which has a function of drawing lines, circles, polygons and linear characters. A display mini-controller 944 includes only code that depends on the hardware of the display adapter, and transmits, directly to a DIB device 942, a call from the portion of the GDI 928 that does not depend on the hardware. The virtual device driver (VDD) 941 is required to initialize the graphical subsystem for system initialization, and to view the output from a virtual machine (typically an MS-DOS application) not from the system. The Mini-VDD 943 assists the VDD 941 in graphic subsystem operations that depend on the device. When the MS-DOS application is first operated in character mode in the full screen, and is displayed again in the MS-DOS window in the bitmap mode screen of the GUI base, the text information on the screen complete is read by means of a VDD 941 and a hook 946, and converted, by means of GDI 928, into a bitmap that is dragged in the MS-DOS window. A virtual flat frame storage device (VFLATD) 948 converts a temporary storage address into an address linear when the image adapter does not support a linear frame buffer and has only a frame buffer with an old bank structure. Figure 10 is a detailed diagram illustrating the internal structure of the DIM control utility 930 of several monitors of Figure 9. The DIM control utility 930 of several monitors includes a global message hook (MGF) 1030, a registrar ( AMR) 1040 of the active monitor and a detector (IMD) 1020 of the idle monitor. The global message hook (MGF) 1030 receives a WM_XXX message from a user (USER) 924 API. The MGF 1030 examines the received message, extracts information regarding an active window and a mouse pointer, and transmits the information to the recorder (AMR) 1040 (1032) of the active monitor. The detector (IMD) 1020 of the idle monitor receives a WM_TIMER 1022 message from the user 924, examines the individual monitor histories recorded in the AMR 1040 to determine a monitor for which the power status should be changed, and transmits the result to the Mini- VDD 943 (1010). The Mini-VDD 943 transmits the instruction to the device 95? or 952 corresponding graphics, which in turn it controls the power status of the 960 or 962 monitor connected to it. The active window is a top-level window of the application that the user operates. To easily recognize the active window, normally the active window is placed in the foreground of the screen, and the colors of a title bar, etc., differ from those of the other window. In addition, only the top-level window can serve as the active window. Therefore, when the user is working at the top level in a child window instead of a main window, the main window becomes active. Only one window can be active at the same time. The quick appearance window is also an active window. The profiles of the functions associated with Figure 10 are as follows. WM_ACTIVE is a message to be transmitted when a specific window is activated or deactivated. WM_MOVE is a message to be transmitted when a specific window moves. WM_SIZE is a message to be transmitted when you change the size of a specific window. WM_SYSCOMMAND is a message to be transmitted to a window when the user selects an order from a system menu (or a control menu), or when the user Select a button to maximize or bring the window to a minimum. WM_MOUSEMOVE is a function to report a window to which the cursor has been moved. WM_TIMER is a function to report the time span set for the stopwatch. GetSystemMetrics () is a function to return values about the system of multiple monitors. MonitorFromRect () is a function to obtain the handling for a monitor that has the largest area that intercepts a predetermined rectangle. MonitorFromPoint () is a function to obtain the handling for a monitor that includes a predetermined point (position). MonitorFromWindow () is a function to obtain the handling for a monitor that has the largest area that intercepts the rectangular frame of a predetermined window.

Advantages of the invention With the above arrangement, according to the present invention, there is provided a method, for a computing system to which a plurality of display devices can be connected, to administer the power supply to individual display devices. In addition, a computer system is provided to reduce wasted energy consumption. In addition, a system is provided of which only one display device is activated which is actually the one used by a user, and with which the rest of the other display devices are turned off, their screens are erased, so that the user can concentrate on the display device screen that he or she is using at that moment. The method of energy administration of the present invention is compatible with the conventional method, and can be carried out only by slightly modifying the conventional method. In conclusion, the other modalities will be briefly described. (1) a computer, which can be connected to a plurality of display devices, comprises: means for determining whether each of the displays of the display devices satisfies a predetermined condition; and means for changing the operating state of at least one of the display devices that satisfies the predetermined condition. (2) a computer, which can be connected to a plurality of display devices comprising: means for determining whether each of the displays of the display devices includes an active window or a cursor; and means for changing the operating state of at least one of the display devices that does not include an active window and a cursor. (3) a computer, which can be connected to a plurality of display devices having one or more operating states in addition to the ON state and the OFF state, comprising: means for determining whether each of the displays of the devices display includes an active window or a cursor; and means for changing the operating state of at least one of the display devices that do not include an active window and a cursor. (4) a computer, which can be connected to a plurality of display devices having four operating states, the ON state, the OFF state, the suspended state and the sleeping state, comprising: means for determining whether each of the screens of the display devices includes an active window or a cursor; Y means for changing the operating state of at least one of the display devices that does not include an active window and a cursor. (5) a computer, which can be connected to a plurality of display devices having four operating states, the ON state, the OFF state, the suspended state and the sleeping state, comprising: means for determining whether each of the screens of the display devices includes an active window or a cursor; and means for changing, to a different operating state, the ON state of a display device that does not include an active window and a cursor. (6) A computer, which can be connected to a plurality of display devices that have four operating states, the ON state, the OFF state, the suspended state and. sleep state, comprising: means for determining whether each of the displays of the display devices includes an active window or a cursor; and means for changing, to a different operating state, the ON state of a display device that does not include an active window and a cursor, and to change, to the ON state, another operating state of a display device that includes an active window and a cursor. (7) energy management means, included in a computer, which can be connected to a plurality of display devices, comprising: means for determining whether each of the displays of the display devices satisfies a predetermined condition; and means for changing the operating state of at least one of the display devices that satisfies the predetermined condition. (8) a recording medium for storing a power management program included in a computer, which can be connected to a plurality of display devices, the power management program comprises the steps of: determining whether each of the screens of the display devices satisfies a predetermined condition; and changing the operating state of at least one of the display devices that satisfies the predetermined condition. (9) A computer system comprising: a plurality of display devices; a processor; one or more graphics adapters that can be connected to the display devices; a storage device; means for determining whether each of the displays of the display devices satisfies a predetermined condition; and means for changing the operating state of at least one of the display devices that satisfies the predetermined condition.

Brief description of the drawings Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating the external appearance of a computer system in accordance with the present invention. Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating the main body of a computer in accordance with the present invention. Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating the external appearance (example 1) of video subsystems and display devices in accordance with the present invention. Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating the external appearance (example 2) of a video subsystem and display devices in accordance with the present invention. Figure 5 is a diagram showing the screens of the display devices in the computer system in accordance with the present invention. Figure 6 is a time diagram showing the changes in the energy states of the display devices in Figure 5. Figure 7 is a flow diagram showing the process performed for the present invention. Figure 8 is a diagram showing display screens to explain the actual operations performed by the present invention. Figure 9 is a diagram illustrating an OS in accordance with the present invention. Figure 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating the device of the present invention.

Claims (9)

1. A computer, which can be connected to a plurality of display devices comprising: means for determining whether each of the displays of the display devices satisfies a predetermined condition; and means for changing the operating state of at least one of the display devices that satisfies the predetermined condition.

2. A computer, which can be connected to a plurality of display devices comprising: means for determining whether each of the displays of the display devices includes an active window or a cursor; and means for changing the operating state of at least one of the display devices that does not include an active window and a cursor.

3. A computer, which can be connected to a plurality of display devices having one or more operating states in addition to the ON state and the OFF state, comprising: means for determining whether each of the display device screens includes an active window or a cursor; and means for changing the operating state of at least one of the display devices that does not include an active window and a cursor.

4. A computer, which can be connected to a plurality of display devices having four operating states, the ON state, the OFF state, the suspended state and the sleeping state, comprising: means for determining whether each of the screens of the display devices include an active window or a cursor; and means for changing the operating state of at least one of the display devices that do not include an active window and a cursor.

5. A computer, which can be connected to a plurality of display devices having four operating states, the ON state, the OFF state, the suspended state and the sleeping state, comprising: means for determining whether each of Display device screens include an active window or a cursor; Y means for changing, to a different operating state, the ON state of a display device that does not include an active window and a cursor.

6. A computer, which can be connected to a plurality of display devices having four operating states, the ON state, the OFF state, the suspended state and the sleeping state, comprising: means for determining whether each of the screens of the display devices include an active window or a cursor; and means for changing, to a different operating state, the ON state of a display device that does not include an active window and a cursor, and to change, to the ON state, another operating state of a display device that includes a active window and a cursor.

7. Power management means, included in a computer, which can be connected to a plurality of display devices, comprising: means for determining whether each of the displays of the display devices satisfies a predetermined condition; Y means for changing the operating state of at least one of the display devices that satisfies the predetermined condition.

8. A recording medium for storing an energy management program included in a computer, which can be connected to a plurality of display devices, the energy management program comprises the steps of: determining whether each of the displays of the display devices satisfy a predetermined condition; and changing the operating state of at least one of the display devices that satisfies the predetermined condition.

9. A computer system comprising: a plurality of display devices; a processor; one or more graphics adapters that can be connected to the display devices; a storage device; means for determining whether each of the displays of the display devices satisfies a predetermined condition; Y means for changing the operating state of at least one of the display devices that satisfies the predetermined condition.