JP2008158207A - Information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processor adjustable of luminance more scrupulously in accordance with the quantity of light rays made incident on a screen. <P>SOLUTION: When luminance of the screen displayed on an LCD panel 26 is controlled, the luminance of a backlight LED 25a is controlled, according to the quantity of light rays detected by a light sensor 24. The brightness of the backlight LED 25a corresponding to each pixel can be controlled by an EC/KBC (embedded controller/key board controller) 20, according to the quantity of light detected by a light sensor 24a. At least a light sensor 24 is provided to each of pixels 30 and 31 and the luminance of the display screen, corresponding to the pixels 30 and 31, can be adjusted according to the quantities of light detected by the light sensors 24, and the luminance can be controlled for each pixel, and the visibility of the screen can be enhanced. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, and more particularly to a screen brightness adjustment method.

  Conventionally, various devices have been made for liquid crystal display devices in order to improve image visibility. In particular, in the liquid crystal display, the visibility is remarkably lowered when the screen is exposed to light.

Patent Document 1 describes a method of adjusting the brightness of the entire screen with a backlight according to the amount of light incident on an optical sensor installed near the screen. According to the brightness around the device, the brightness of the screen can be adjusted to improve visibility and power saving.
JP-A-8-114801

  However, in the case of the above method, there is a problem that appropriate adjustment cannot be performed when there is a difference between the amount of light incident on the optical sensor and the amount of light incident on the screen itself.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus and a brightness adjustment method capable of finer brightness adjustment according to the amount of light incident on the screen of a display device.

  In order to achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a display device having a main body, a display panel provided in the main body, and a backlight disposed opposite to the display panel, and the display device. An optical sensor that detects the amount of light incident on the display panel of the display device, and a luminance adjustment unit that adjusts the luminance of the backlight based on the amount of light detected by the optical sensor. It is characterized by that.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the information processing apparatus which can adjust finer brightness | luminance according to the light quantity which injects into the screen of a display apparatus can be provided.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an information processing apparatus according to the present invention. In the present embodiment, a notebook computer 1 will be described as an example of the information processing apparatus. The computer 1 includes a main body 2, and a display unit 3 is rotatably attached to the main body 2 via a hinge portion 4. Further, a display device composed of an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 5 is incorporated in the display unit 3. A circuit board on which a plurality of electronic components are mounted is accommodated in the main body 2. A touch pad 6 is attached to the front upper surface 2 a of the main body 2, and a keyboard 7 is attached to the rear upper surface 2 b of the main body 2.
A power switch 8 for turning on / off the computer 1 is also provided on the rear upper surface 2 b of the main body 2.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the computer according to the embodiment of the present invention.
The computer 1 includes a CPU 10, a north bridge 11, a main memory (RAM) 12, a graphics controller 13, a VRAM 14, a south bridge 15, a hard disk drive (HDD) 16, a BIOS-ROM 17, an embedded controller / keyboard controller IC (EC / KBC). ) 20, LCD 5, touch pad 6, keyboard 7, power switch 8, and the like.

  The CPU 10 is a processor that controls the operation of each component of the computer 1. The CPU 10 executes an operating system and various application programs / utility programs loaded from the HDD 16 to the main memory (RAM) 12. The main memory (RAM) 12 is also used for storing various data buffers. The CPU 10 also executes a basic input / output system (BIOS) stored in the BIOS-ROM 17. The BIOS is a program for hardware control.

  The north bridge 11 is a bridge device that connects the local bus of the CPU 10 and the south bridge 15. The north bridge 11 also has a function of executing communication with the graphics controller 13 via an AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) bus or the like. Further, the north bridge 11 also includes a memory controller that controls the main memory (RAM) 12.

  The graphics controller 13 is a display controller that controls the LCD 5 used as a display monitor of the computer 10. The graphics controller 13 sends a video signal corresponding to display data written in the video memory (VRAM) 14 by the OS or an application program to the LCD 5.

  The south bridge 15 is connected to a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus and an LPC (Low Pin Count) bus, respectively.

  The HDD 16 stores the OS and various application programs. The embedded controller / keyboard controller (EC / KBC) 20 is a one-chip microcomputer in which an embedded controller for power management and a keyboard controller for controlling the touch pad 6 and the keyboard 7 are integrated. The EC / KBC 20 cooperates with the power supply circuit 21 to execute processing for powering on / off the computer 1 in response to the operation of the power switch 8 by the user. The power supply circuit 21 generates power to be supplied to each component in the computer 1 using power from the battery 22 built in the computer 1 or power supplied from the outside via the AC adapter 23.

  The LCD 5 includes an optical sensor 24, a backlight 25, and the like in addition to an LCD panel (not shown). The optical sensor 24 detects the amount of light incident on the screen displayed on the LCD 5. The luminance of the backlight 25 incorporated in the LCD 5 is controlled by the EC / KBC 20 in accordance with the amount of light detected by the optical sensor. Specifically, for example, the amount of light detected by the optical sensor is converted into a numerical value, the luminance of the light to be emitted from the backlight 25 is calculated from the numerical value indicating the converted light amount, and the LCD 5 is based on the calculated luminance value. The light emission of the backlight 25 is controlled.

  FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the display unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  An LCD 5 is incorporated in the display unit 3, and the LCD 5 includes an LCD panel 26, an optical sensor 24 for detecting the amount of light incident on the screen displayed on the LCD 5, a backlight 25 serving as a light source for the LCD 5, and the like. The LCD panel 26 includes two opposing glass substrates 26a and 26b, and a liquid crystal 26c is sealed between the glass substrates 26a and 26b. The glass substrates 26a and 26b are provided with electrodes (not shown) in order to adjust the orientation of the sealed liquid crystal 26c. A color filter is integrally formed on the glass substrate 26a on the display surface side, and an optical sensor 24 is provided between the pixels of the color filter.

  A backlight 25 is disposed behind the LCD panel 26, and the brightness of the screen displayed on the LCD 5 is maintained by light illuminated from the backlight 25. As shown in FIG. 3, the backlight 25 exhibits a function by being arranged so as to cover a large number of backlight LEDs 25 a. Since the color filter is integrally formed on the glass substrate 26a of the LCD panel 26, the light illuminated from the backlight 25 passes through the color filter, and the screen displayed on the LCD 5 can be displayed in color. The backlight 25 may have a configuration in which a single plate-like light emitter is provided instead of the configuration in which the backlight LEDs 25a are spread as shown in FIG. FIG. 3 shows a configuration in which a backlight 25 that emits white light and a glass substrate 26a integrally formed with a color filter are installed. However, a colorless and transparent glass substrate is installed, and the LED itself You may make it emit red light other than white light, green light, blue light, etc.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the arrangement of pixels according to the embodiment of the present invention. Pixels 30 constituting a color filter are spread over the entire LCD panel 26 to display colors on the glass substrate 26a of the LCD panel 26, but only a part is omitted for the sake of explanation. The pixel 30 is formed as a set of an R pixel 30a constituting red, a G pixel 30b constituting green, and a B pixel 30c constituting blue. An optical sensor 24 is provided in a gap between the pixels constituting the pixel 30. Since the optical sensor 24 detects the amount of light and does not transmit light toward the outside of the LCD panel 26, if the total area of the optical sensor 24 is increased too much, the brightness of the LCD panel 26 itself decreases. In the present embodiment, the light sensor 24 is provided in a gap generated by arranging the R pixel 30a, the G pixel 30b, and the B pixel 30c constituting the pixel 30 in a hexagonal shape, and light emitted from the backlight 25 can be generated. The LCD panel 26 can be illuminated as much as possible.

  When controlling the brightness of the screen displayed on the LCD panel 26, the brightness of the backlight LED 25a is controlled according to the amount of light detected by the optical sensor 24. At this time, the brightness of the backlight LED 25a corresponding to each pixel can be controlled by the EC / KBC 20 in accordance with the amount of light detected by the optical sensor 24a. For example, the brightness of the backlight LED 25a corresponding to the R pixel 30a and the G pixel 30b is changed according to the amount of light detected by the optical sensor 24a, or the R pixel 30a, the G pixel 30b, the R pixel 31a, and the G pixel 31b are changed. You may make it change the brightness of corresponding backlight LED25a. Further, the brightness of the backlight LED 25a corresponding to the R pixel 30a, the G pixel 30b, and the B pixel 30c constituting the pixel 30 is changed in accordance with the amount of light detected by the optical sensor 24b, so that the brightness of the entire pixel 30 is adjusted. It may be changed.

  With such a configuration, at least one photosensor 24 is provided for each pixel 30 or pixel 31. By adjusting the brightness of the display screen corresponding to the pixels 30 and 31 according to the amount of light detected by the optical sensor 24, it is possible to adjust the brightness more accurately. For example, when there is a significant difference in the amount of light detected by the optical sensor 24a and the optical sensor 27a, if the brightness of the screen displayed on the LCD panel 26 is uniformly adjusted, a portion where the visibility is lowered occurs. For example, when the amount of light detected by the optical sensor 24a is less than that of the optical sensor 27a, the visibility of the screen can be improved by controlling the luminance of the pixel 30 to be higher.

  FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an arrangement of other pixels according to the embodiment of the present invention. The same components as those shown in FIG. 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted. As shown in FIG. 5, rectangular pixels 40 may be arranged in a matrix so that the optical sensor 28a is positioned between the pixels 40a and 40b. As in the case described with reference to FIG. 4, the brightness of the backlight LED 25a corresponding to the pixel 40a can be controlled by the EC / KBC 20 in accordance with the amount of light detected by the optical sensor 28a. By controlling the luminance of the pixel 40b according to the amount of light detected by the optical sensor 28b and controlling the luminance of the pixel 40c according to the amount of light detected by the optical sensor 28c, more accurate luminance adjustment can be performed. It becomes possible. Also with the configuration shown in FIG. 5, the luminance can be controlled for each pixel, and the visibility of the screen can be improved.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the pixels are configured in red, green, and blue has been described. However, the pixel may be configured with seven colors of pixels or other colors. In addition to changing the brightness of the backlight LED itself as a method of adjusting the brightness of the screen displayed on the LCD panel, a light amount detected by the light sensor is provided by providing a shutter between the backlight and the LCD panel. The brightness may be adjusted by controlling the opening and closing of the shutter according to the above. It is also possible to improve the visibility according to the luminance by changing the gamma value of the screen displayed by the cooperation of software and hardware according to the light amount detected by the optical sensor. .

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment as long as it does not depart from the gist of the present invention, and various modifications are possible.

1 is an external perspective view showing an information processing apparatus according to the present invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the computer which concerns on embodiment of this invention. Sectional drawing which shows the structure of the display unit which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The schematic diagram which shows arrangement | positioning of the other pixel which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The schematic diagram which shows arrangement | positioning of the other pixel which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Computer, 2 ... Main body, 3 ... Display unit, 4 ... Hinge part, 5 ... LCD, 6 ... Touch pad, 7 ... Keyboard, 8 ... Power switch, 10 ... CPU, 11 ... North bridge, 12 Main memory (RAM) ), 13 ... Graphics controller, 14 ... VRAM, 15 ... South Bridge, 16 ... Hard disk drive (HDD), 17 ... BIOS-ROM, 20 ... Embedded controller / keyboard controller IC, 21 ... Power supply circuit, 22 ... Battery, 23 ... AC adapter, 24 ... light sensor, 25 ... back light, 26 ... LCD panel, 27 ... light sensor, 28 ... light sensor, 30 ... pixel

Claims (5)

The body,
A display device provided in the main body and having a display panel and a backlight arranged to face the display panel;
An optical sensor provided in the display device for detecting the amount of light incident on the display panel of the display device;
A luminance adjusting unit that adjusts the luminance of the backlight based on the amount of light detected by the optical sensor;
An information processing apparatus comprising:   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the optical sensor is formed integrally with the display panel.   2. The display panel according to claim 1, wherein the display panel includes pixels including red pixels, green pixels, and blue pixels, and the photosensor is provided between the pixels arranged on the display panel. Information processing device. The backlight has a plurality of LEDs arranged in a matrix,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the brightness adjustment unit adjusts the brightness of each LED based on a light amount detected by the optical sensor.   5. The information according to claim 4, wherein the brightness adjustment unit adjusts the brightness of the LED based on the amount of light detected by the photosensor so that the brightness of a pixel adjacent to the photosensor changes. Processing equipment.

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