Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
  • G09G—ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION
  • G09G3/00—Control arrangements or circuits, of interest only in connection with visual indicators other than cathode-ray tubes
  • G09G3/20—Control arrangements or circuits, of interest only in connection with visual indicators other than cathode-ray tubes for presentation of an assembly of a number of characters, e.g. a page, by composing the assembly by combination of individual elements arranged in a matrix no fixed position being assigned to or needed to be assigned to the individual characters or partial characters
  • G09G3/2092—Details of a display terminals using a flat panel, the details relating to the control arrangement of the display terminal and to the interfaces thereto
  • G09G3/2096—Details of the interface to the display terminal specific for a flat panel
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
  • G09G—ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION
  • G09G5/00—Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators
  • G09G5/003—Details of a display terminal, the details relating to the control arrangement of the display terminal and to the interfaces thereto
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
  • G09G—ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION
  • G09G5/00—Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators
  • G09G5/003—Details of a display terminal, the details relating to the control arrangement of the display terminal and to the interfaces thereto
  • G09G5/006—Details of the interface to the display terminal
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
  • G09G—ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION
  • G09G5/00—Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators
  • G09G5/12—Synchronisation between the display unit and other units, e.g. other display units, video-disc players
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
  • G09G—ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION
  • G09G5/00—Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators
  • G09G5/36—Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators characterised by the display of a graphic pattern, e.g. using an all-points-addressable [APA] memory
  • G09G5/363—Graphics controllers
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
  • G09G—ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION
  • G09G5/00—Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators
  • G09G5/36—Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators characterised by the display of a graphic pattern, e.g. using an all-points-addressable [APA] memory
  • G09G5/39—Control of the bit-mapped memory
  • G09G5/395—Arrangements specially adapted for transferring the contents of the bit-mapped memory to the screen
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
  • G09G—ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION
  • G09G2310/00—Command of the display device
  • G09G2310/08—Details of timing specific for flat panels, other than clock recovery
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
  • G09G—ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION
  • G09G2320/00—Control of display operating conditions
  • G09G2320/02—Improving the quality of display appearance
  • G09G2320/0247—Flicker reduction other than flicker reduction circuits used for single beam cathode-ray tubes
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
  • G09G—ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION
  • G09G2320/00—Control of display operating conditions
  • G09G2320/10—Special adaptations of display systems for operation with variable images
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
  • G09G—ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION
  • G09G2320/00—Control of display operating conditions
  • G09G2320/10—Special adaptations of display systems for operation with variable images
  • G09G2320/103—Detection of image changes, e.g. determination of an index representative of the image change
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
  • G09G—ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION
  • G09G2340/00—Aspects of display data processing
  • G09G2340/04—Changes in size, position or resolution of an image
  • G09G2340/0407—Resolution change, inclusive of the use of different resolutions for different screen areas
  • G09G2340/0435—Change or adaptation of the frame rate of the video stream
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
  • G09G—ARRANGEMENTS OR CIRCUITS FOR CONTROL OF INDICATING DEVICES USING STATIC MEANS TO PRESENT VARIABLE INFORMATION
  • G09G2360/00—Aspects of the architecture of display systems
  • G09G2360/18—Use of a frame buffer in a display terminal, inclusive of the display panel

Definitions

• a typical processing system employs a graphics processing unit (GPU) to generate images for display.
• GPU graphics processing unit
• the GPU based on information received from a central processing unit (CPU) or other processing unit, the GPU generates a series of frames and renders the series of frames at a display, such as a computer monitor.
• Two different timing factors govern the rate at which the series of frames can be displayed: the rate at which the GPU generates frames and the refresh rate of the display.
• Some processing systems improve the user experience by synchronizing the display refresh with the generation of frames at the GPU. For example, by adjusting a blanking interval of the display, the processing system can ensure that the display is refreshed at or near the time that a new frame is ready for display at the GPU.
• the display refresh rate exceeds the rate at which the GPU generates frames, sometimes by more than double.
• a mismatch in the frame generation rate versus the refresh rate of the display can result in unnecessary expenditure of processing system resources and, in some cases, flickering and other visual artifacts that negatively impact the user experience.
• FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a processing system configured to instruct a display control module for a display device to capture and replay a frame based on a mismatch between a display refresh rate and a rate at which a graphics processing unit generates frames in accordance with some embodiments.
• FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the processing system of FIG. 1 instructing a display control module to capture and replay content in accordance with some embodiments.
• FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example of the graphics processing unit of the processing system of FIG. 1 instructing the display control module to display live content in accordance with some embodiments.
• FIG. 4 is a diagram of an example of the graphics processing unit of the processing system of FIG. 1 instructing the display control module to capture content and display live content in accordance with some embodiments.
• FIG. 5 is a diagram of an example of the graphics processing unit of the processing system of FIG. 1 instructing the display control module to display captured content in accordance with some embodiments.
• FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a method of a graphics processing unit instructing a display control module to capture content and display captured content in response to a display refresh rate exceeding a frame generation rate in accordance with some embodiments.
• FIGs. 1 -6 illustrate techniques for instructing a display control module to capture content and display captured content in response to the refresh rate of a display exceeding a frame generation rate of a graphics processing unit (GPU) while reducing accesses by the GPU to memory while captured content is being replayed at the display.
• Display refresh rates often exceed the rate at which a GPU generates frames, sometime by a factor of two or more. Rather than re-transmit the same frame multiple times, the GPU instructs the display control module to replay a previously-transmitted frame.
• the GPU detects the rate of frame generation based on, for example, the frame rate of a fixed-rate video stream or the complexity of the frames being generated for a variable frame rate gaming application.
• the GPU instructs the display control module to capture and then replay captured content rather than retransmitting a frame for display a second (or more) time.
• the GPU omits accessing memory to retrieve (and resend) the frame that is being replayed, and instead sends only dummy content (e.g., invalid data) and GPU timing information so that the display control module remains synchronized with the GPU.
• the GPU thus saves memory bandwidth and power by reducing the number of accesses to memory while captured content is being replayed at the display.
• FIG. 1 illustrates a processing system 100 to instruct a display control module 160 for a display device 170 to capture and replay a frame when a display refresh rate exceeds a rate at which a graphics processing unit generates frames in accordance with some embodiments.
• the processing system 100 executes sets of instructions (e.g., computer programs) to carry out specified tasks for an electronic device. Examples of such tasks include controlling aspects of the operation of the electronic device, displaying information to a user to provide a specified user experience, communicating with other electronic devices, and the like. Accordingly, in different embodiments the processing system 100 is employed in one of a number of types of electronic devices, such as a desktop computer, laptop computer, server, game console, tablet, smartphone, and the like.
• the processing system 100 includes a plurality of processor cores (not shown at FIG. 1 ).
• each processor core includes one or more instruction pipelines to fetch instructions, decode the instructions into corresponding operations, dispatch the operations to one or more execution units, execute the operations, and retire the operations.
• the processor cores generate graphics operations and other operations associated with the visual display of information. Based on these operations, the processor cores provide commands and data to a graphics processing unit (GPU) 1 10, illustrated at FIG. 1 .
• GPU graphics processing unit
• the GPU 1 10 receives the commands and data associated with graphics and other display operations from the plurality of processor cores. Based on the received commands, the GPU 1 10 executes operations to generate frames (e.g., frame 140) for display. Examples of operations include vector operations, drawing operations, and the like.
• the rate at which the GPU 1 10 is able to generate frames based on these operations is referred to as the frame generation rate, or simply the frame rate, of the GPU 1 10.
• the frame generation rate is illustrated at FIG. 1 as frame rate 105.
• the frame rate 105 varies over time, based in part on the complexity of the operations executed by the GPU to generate a set of frames. For example, sets of frames requiring a relatively high number of operations (as a result of drawing a relatively large number of moving objects for example) are likely to cause a lower frame rate, while sets of frames requiring a relatively low number of operations are likely to allow for a higher frame rate. Further, for some applications, the frame rate 105 is fixed, and for other applications the frame rate 105 is variable. As a user switches from one application to another, the frame rate 105 can switch from fixed to variable and vice versa.
• the graphics processing unit 1 10 is coupled to a memory 130.
• the GPU 1 10 executes instructions and stores information in the memory 130 such as the results of the executed instructions.
• the memory 130 stores a plurality of previously-generated images (not shown) that it receives from the GPU 1 10.
• the memory 130 is implemented as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and in some embodiments, the memory 130 is implemented using other types of memory including static random access memory (SRAM), non-volatile RAM, and the like.
• DRAM dynamic random access memory
• SRAM static random access memory
• Some embodiments of the processing system 100 include an input/output (I/O) engine (not shown) for handling input or output operations associated with the display 170, as well as other elements of the processing system 100 such as keyboards, mice, printers, external disks, and the like.
• I/O input/output
• the processing system 100 includes a display control module 160 and a display 170.
• the display 170 is a display device that visually displays images based on the frames generated by the GPU 1 10. Accordingly, in different embodiments the display 170 is a liquid crystal display (LCD) device, an organic light- emitting diode (OLED) device, and the like.
• the display 170 periodically renders (or“draws”) the most recent frame generated by the GPU 1 10, thereby displaying the frame.
• the display 170 has a fixed refresh rate 155. Each frame render is associated with a portion of time, referred to as a blanking interval, during which the display 170 does not render image data.
• the display 170 has a blanking interval of programmable length. Accordingly, as described further herein, in some embodiments the display 170 has a variable refresh rate 155 that is adjustable by programming different lengths for the blanking interval.
• the display control module 160 controls the rendering of frames at the display 170 and is implemented as hard-coded logic on one or more integrated circuit (IC) chips, as programmable logic, as configurable logic (e.g., fuse-configurable logic), one or more processors executing a program of instructions, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments the display control module 160 performs operations including buffering of frames generated by the GPU 1 10, adjustment of the refresh rate 155 of the display 170 by programming different blanking interval lengths, and the like.
• the display control module 160 is illustrated as a separate module from the GPU 1 10 for ease of illustration, in some embodiments the display control module 160 is incorporated in the GPU 1 10. In other embodiments, one or more operations of the display control module 160 are performed at the display 170.
• the GPU 1 10 includes replay logic 120, which compares the refresh rate 155 of the display 170 to the frame rate 105 of the GPU 1 10 and determines whether the display control module 160 is to display live content (i.e., a current frame) at the display 170, capture live content at a buffer 165, and display (replay) captured content based on the relative rates, and to transmit instructions to the display control module 160.
• the replay logic 120 is implemented as hard-coded logic on one or more integrated circuit (IC) chips, as programmable logic, as configurable logic (e.g., fuse-configurable logic), one or more processors executing a program of instructions, or a combination thereof.
• the replay logic 120 detects whether a replay mode is supported at the display 170. In response to detecting that replay mode is supported at the display 170, the replay logic 120 signals the display control module 160 to enable replay mode. Once replay mode has been enabled, the replay logic 120 determines for a current frame 140 whether the refresh rate 155 of the display 170 exceeds the frame rate 105 of the GPU 1 10 by more than a threshold amount. In some embodiments, the threshold amount is double the frame rate 105. Thus, if the frame rate 105 is half or less than half of the display refresh rate 155, the threshold amount is met. In other embodiments, the threshold amount is slightly more than the frame rate 105, but not necessarily double. For example, for a fixed refresh rate display having a refresh rate 155 slightly higher than the frame rate 105, some amount of frames will be repeated, in which case the GPU 1 10 signals the display control module 160 to replay a frame 140.
• the replay logic 120 determines that the display control module 160 is to display the current frame 140 at the display 170 (i.e., the display 170 is to display live content).
• the replay logic 120 transmits the frame 140 and replay information 150 indicating that the display control module 160 is to display the current frame 140 at the display 170. Because in this example the replay logic 120 has determined that the display control module 160 is to display the current frame 140 at the display without capturing the current frame 140 or re displaying a previously-captured frame, the replay information 150 indicates only that the display control module 160 is to display the current frame 140 at the display 170 for the current display refresh cycle. At the next display refresh cycle, the GPU 1 10 will transmit a next frame and replay information to the display control module 160.
• the refresh logic 120 determines that the display control module 160 is to capture the current frame 140 for subsequent replay at the display 170.
• the replay logic 120 transmits the current frame 140 and replay information 150 indicating that the display control module 160 is to display the current frame 140 at the display 170 and capture the current frame 140 at the buffer 165.
• the display control module 160 displays the current frame 140 at the display 170 and copies the current frame 140 to the buffer 165.
• the GPU 1 10 omits accessing the current frame 140 from the memory 130 and instead transmits dummy content (not shown) to the display control module 160 with replay information 150 indicating that the display control module 160 is to use the frame rate timing of the GPU 1 10 and replay the previously captured current frame 140 at the display 170.
• the replay logic 120 repeats the transmission of dummy content and replay information 150 indicating that the display control module 160 is to replay the previously captured current frame 140 as many times as the refresh rate 155 exceeds the frame rate 105, or until a new frame has been generated by the GPU 1 10.
• the replay logic 120 transmits a current frame N 140 and replay information 150 indicating that the display control module 160 is to display the current frame N 140 at the display 170 and capture the current frame N 140 at the buffer 165.
• the replay logic 120 transmits dummy content and replay information 150 indicating that the display control module 160 is to replay the previously captured frame N 140.
• the display control module 160 discards the dummy content and accesses the previously captured frame N 140 from the buffer 165 for display at the display 170.
• the GPU 1 10 generates a current frame N+1 140, and the replay logic 120 transmits the current frame N+1 140 and replay information 150 indicating that the display control module 160 is to display the current frame N+1 140 at the display 170 and capture the current frame N+1 140 at the buffer 165.
• the replay logic 120 transmits dummy content and replay information 150 indicating that the display control module 160 is to replay the previously captured frame N+1 140.
• the display control module 160 discards the dummy content and accesses the previously captured frame N+1 140 from the buffer 165 for display at the display 170. Accordingly, during the second and fourth display refresh cycles, the GPU 1 10 omits accessing the N and N+1 frames from the memory 130 and retransmitting them to the display control module 160 while the N and N+1 frames are being replayed at the display 170.
• a single frame is displayed over an extended amount of time and unchanged.
• the replay logic 120 detects that the content of the frame is unchanging and signals the display control module 160 to capture and continually replay the static frame.
• the replay logic 120 dynamically determines on a frame-by-frame basis whether to signal the display control module 160 to replay the captured frame.
• the replay logic 120 determines whether to signal the display control module 160 to replay the captured frame independently of the GPU frame rate 105, determining instead to continue to replay captured content until the frame content changes.
• the replay logic 120 detects a static frame content and signals the display control module 160 to capture the frame, but on the subsequent frame determines that the content has changed, the replay logic 120 reverts to transmitting the current frame 140 and replay information 150 indicating that the display control module 160 is to display the current frame 140 at the display 170.
• the replay logic 120 dynamically determines to play live content, and the captured frame is not used in this case.
• the refresh rate 155 of the display 170 is more than double the frame rate 105 of the GPU 1 10. In such cases, the replay logic 120 determines to instruct the display control module 160 to display the captured content for more than two refresh cycles of the display 170. In other embodiments in which the display has a variable refresh rate, even if the refresh rate 155 of the display 170 could be synchronized with the frame rate 105 of the GPU 1 10, the replay logic 120 may determine that the user experience would be enhanced if the display refresh rate is set at a higher rate, to reduce flicker. In such cases, the replay logic 120 instructs the display control module 160 to capture live content and then display the captured live content for at least two higher-rate refresh cycles of the display 170.
• live content refers to frames generated by the GPU that have not been stored by the display control module 160 for re-display.
• the display 170 has a variable refresh rate with a range of refresh frequencies. For example, in some embodiments, the display 170 has a refresh rate that can be dynamically changed within a range of 40 Hz to 120 Hz. If a gaming application executing at the GPU 1 10 has a frame rate of 30 frames per second, the replay logic 120 determines a number of frame replays and a display refresh rate for the display 170 that will optimize a user experience. For example, if the replay logic 120 determines, as a first option, to refresh the display at 90 Hz, the replay logic 120 signals the display control module 160 to capture a frame during a first refresh cycle and replay the frame twice.
• the replay logic 120 could determine to refresh the display at 60 Hz, and to replay the frame once or, as a third option, the replay logic 120 could determine to refresh the display at 120 Hz, and to replay the frame three times. Determining a display refresh rate and number of frame replays can impact whether side effects like stutter or tearing are observable, particularly for variable frame rate content such as gaming applications.
• the second option 60 Hz, one replay
• the first option (90 Hz, two replays) is in the middle of the refresh rate range of 40 Hz to 120 Hz of the display 170, and provides less opportunity for stuttering or tearing to occur if there are frame rate changes due to frame-to-frame variations in rendering complexity.
• the first option may provide an improved user experience for variable rate content.
• FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the replay logic 120 of the GPU 1 10 of the processing system 100 of FIG. 1 instructing the display control module 160 to capture and replay content in accordance with some embodiments.
• the replay logic 120 detects that the refresh rate 155 of the display 170 does not exceed the frame rate 105 of the GPU 1 10 by more than a threshold amount, and therefore determines that the display 170 is to display live content. Accordingly, the replay logic 120 transmits the active (current) frame N 210 and a live content indicator 215 to the display control module 160, indicating that the display control module 160 is to display the active frame N 210 at the display 170.
• the replay logic 120 detects that the refresh rate 155 of the display 170 exceeds the frame rate 105 of the GPU 1 10 by more than a threshold amount (for example, the replay logic 120 detects that the refresh rate 155 of the display 170 is more than double the frame rate 105 of the GPU 1 10), and therefore determines that the display 170 is to display live content while the display control module 160 captures the live content and stores the live content at the buffer 165.
• the replay logic 120 therefore transmits active frame N+1 220 and capture content indicator 225 to the display control module 160.
• the display control module 160 copies the active frame N+1 220 at the buffer 165 and displays the active frame N+1 220 at the display 170.
• the replay logic 120 confirms that the refresh rate 155 of the display 170 still exceeds the frame rate 105 of the GPU 1 10 by more than the threshold. Because the replay logic 120 has already transmitted the active frame N+1 220 to the display control module 160 and instructed the display control module 160 to capture the active frame N+1 220, the GPU 1 10 does not need to re transmit the active frame N+1 220 to the display control module 160 or re-access the active frame N+1 220 from memory 130. Instead, the replay logic 120 transmits dummy content 230 and a replay content indicator 235 to the display control module 160.
• the display control module 160 In response to receiving the dummy content 230 and replay content indicator 235, the display control module 160 discards the dummy content 230, accesses the active frame N+1 220 from the buffer 165, and displays the active frame N+1 220 at the display 170.
• the replay logic 120 detects that the refresh rate 155 of the display 170 does not exceed the frame rate 105 of the GPU 110 by more than the threshold. The replay logic 120 therefore determines that the display 170 is to display live content. Accordingly, the replay logic 120 transmits the active (current) frame N+2 240 and the live content indicator 215 to the display control module 160, indicating that the display control module 160 is to display the active frame N+2 240 at the display 170.
• FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example of the graphics processing unit 1 10 of the processing system 100 of FIG. 1 instructing the display control module 160 to display live content in accordance with some embodiments.
• the replay logic (not shown) of the GPU 1 10 has determined that the refresh rate of the display 170 does not exceed the frame rate of the GPU 1 10 by more than a threshold amount.
• the GPU 1 10 therefore transmits the active frame N 310 and replay information in the form of a live content indicator 312 to the display control module 160, signaling that the display control module 160 is to display the active frame N 310 at the display 170 without storing the active frame N 310 at the buffer 165.
• the display control module 160 displays the active frame N 310 at the display 170 without capturing the active frame N 310 at the buffer 165.
• FIG. 4 is a diagram of an example of the graphics processing unit 1 10 of the processing system 100 of FIG. 1 instructing the display control module 160 to capture content and display live content in accordance with some embodiments.
• the replay logic (not shown) of the GPU 1 10 has determined that the refresh rate of the display 170 exceeds the frame rate of the GPU 1 10 by more than a threshold amount.
• the GPU 1 10 therefore transmits the active frame N+1 410 and a capture live content indicator 412 to the display control module 160, signaling that the display control module 160 is to display the active frame N+1 410 at the display 170 and also copy the active frame N+1 410 at the buffer 165.
• the display control module 160 displays the active frame N+1 410 at the display 170 and copies the active frame N+1 to the buffer 165.
• FIG. 5 is a diagram of an example of the graphics processing unit 1 10 of the processing system 100 of FIG. 1 instructing the display control module 160 to display captured content in accordance with some embodiments.
• the replay logic (not shown) of the GPU 1 10 has previously determined that the refresh rate of the display 170 exceeds the frame rate of the GPU 1 10 by more than a threshold amount and has previously instructed the display control module 160 to capture the previously-transmitted active frame N+1 410, as shown in FIG. 4.
• the GPU 1 10 transmits dummy content 510 and a replay content indicator 512 to the display control module 160, instructing the display control module 160 to access the active frame N+1 410 from the buffer 165 and display the active frame N+1 410 at the display 170.
• the display control module 160 discards the dummy content 510, accesses the active frame N+1 410 from the buffer, and displays the active frame N+1 410 at the display 170 while maintaining synchronicity with the timing of the GPU 1 10.
• FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a method 600 of a graphics processing unit instructing a display control module to capture content and display captured content in response to a display refresh rate exceeding a frame generation rate in
• the method 600 is implemented in some embodiments of the processing system 100 shown in FIG. 1.
• the replay logic 120 of the GPU 1 10 compares the rate 105 at which the GPU 1 10 generates frames to the refresh rate 155 of the display 170.
• the replay logic 120 determines whether the display refresh rate 155 exceeds the frame rate 105 by more than a threshold amount. If, at block 604, the replay logic 120 determines that the refresh rate 155 does not exceed the frame rate 105 by more than the threshold amount, the method flow continues to block 606.
• the replay logic 120 transmits the active frame N 140 and a live content indicator 215 to the display control module 160. In response to receiving the active frame N 140 and the live content indicator 215, the display control module 160 displays the active frame N 140 at the display 170. The method flow then continues back to block 602.
• the replay logic 120 determines that the refresh rate 155 exceeds the frame rate 105 by more than the threshold amount, the method flow continues to block 608.
• the replay logic 120 transmits the active frame N 140 and a capture content indicator 225 to the display control module 160.
• the display control module 160 displays the active frame N 140 at the display 170 and copies the active frame N 140 at the buffer 165.
• the replay logic 120 omits accessing the active frame N 140 from the memory 130, and instead transmits dummy content 230 and a replay content indicator 235 to the display control module 160.
• the display control module 160 discards the dummy content 230, accesses the active frame N 140 from the buffer 165, and displays the active frame N 140 at the display 170.
• a method includes: transmitting, at a graphics processing unit (GPU), a first frame and information associated with the first frame to a display device during a first refresh cycle of the display device, the information indicating a number of display refresh cycles during which the display device is to display the first frame; and omitting accessing, at the GPU, the first frame from memory and transmitting the first frame to the display device during a second refresh cycle of the display device subsequent to transmitting the first frame in response to the information indicating that the number of display refresh cycles exceeds one display refresh cycle.
• the method includes: signaling the display to capture the first frame in response to the information indicating that the number of display refresh cycles exceeds one display refresh cycle.
• the method includes: signaling the display to store the first frame at a buffer associated with the display device in response to the information indicating that the number of display refresh cycles exceeds one display refresh cycle.
• the method includes: signaling the display to display the first frame at the display device for the number of display refresh cycles indicated by the information.
• the method includes: transmitting, at the GPU, invalid data and GPU timing information for each refresh cycle after the first refresh cycle that the display device is displaying the first frame.
• the method includes: signaling the display device to discard the invalid data.
• the method includes: determining, at the GPU, a refresh rate of the display device, wherein the display device has a variable refresh rate, based on a rate at which the GPU generates the first frame.
• a method includes: receiving, at a display device, a first frame and information associated with the first frame from a graphic processing unit (GPU) during a first refresh cycle of the display device, the information indicating a number of display refresh cycles during which the display device is to display the first frame; and displaying the first frame for the number of display refresh cycles indicated by the information.
• the method includes: capturing the first frame in response to the information indicating that the number of display refresh cycles exceeds one display refresh cycle.
• the method includes: storing the first frame at a buffer associated with the display device in response to the information indicating that the number of display refresh cycles exceeds one display refresh cycle.
• the method includes: receiving, at the display device, invalid data and GPU timing information for each display refresh cycle after the first refresh cycle that the display device is displaying the first frame. In another aspect, the method includes: discarding the invalid data. In still another aspect, the method includes: determining, at the GPU, a refresh rate of the display device, wherein the display device has a variable refresh rate, based on a rate at which the GPU generates the first frame.
• a system includes: a memory; and a graphics processing unit (GPU) configured to: render a plurality of frames for transmission to a display device; transmit a first frame of the plurality of frames and information associated with the first frame to the display device during a first refresh cycle of the display device, the information indicating a number of display refresh cycles during which the display device is to display the first frame; and omit accessing the first frame from the memory and transmitting the first frame to the display device during a second refresh cycle of the display device subsequent to transmitting the first frame in response to the information indicating that the number of display refresh cycles exceeds one display refresh cycle.
• GPU graphics processing unit
• the GPU is further configured to: signal the display to capture the first frame in response to the information indicating that the number of display refresh cycles exceeds one display refresh cycle.
• the GPU is further configured to: signal the display to store the first frame at a buffer associated with the display device in response to the information indicating that the number of display refresh cycles exceeds one display refresh cycle.
• the GPU is further configured to: signal the display to display the first frame at the display device for the number of display refresh cycles indicated by the information.
• the GPU is further configured to: transmit invalid data and GPU timing information for each display refresh cycle after the first refresh cycle that the display device is displaying the first frame.
• the GPU is further configured to: signal the display device to discard the invalid data.
• the GPU is further configured to: determine a refresh rate of the display device, wherein the display device has a variable refresh rate, based on a rate at which the GPU generates the first frame.
• a computer readable storage medium may include any non-transitory storage medium, or combination of non-transitory storage media, accessible by a computer system during use to provide instructions and/or data to the computer system.
• Such storage media can include, but is not limited to, optical media (e.g., compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), Blu-Ray disc), magnetic media (e.g., floppy disc , magnetic tape, or magnetic hard drive), volatile memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM) or cache), non-volatile memory (e.g., read-only memory (ROM) or Flash memory), or microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)-based storage media.
• optical media e.g., compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), Blu-Ray disc
• magnetic media e.g., floppy disc , magnetic tape, or magnetic hard drive
• volatile memory e.g., random access memory (RAM) or cache
• non-volatile memory e.g., read-only memory (ROM)
• the computer readable storage medium may be embedded in the computing system (e.g., system RAM or ROM), fixedly attached to the computing system (e.g., a magnetic hard drive), removably attached to the computing system (e.g., an optical disc or Universal Serial Bus (USB)-based Flash memory), or coupled to the computer system via a wired or wireless network (e.g., network accessible storage (NAS)).
• system RAM or ROM system RAM or ROM
• USB Universal Serial Bus
• NAS network accessible storage
• certain aspects of the techniques described above may implemented by one or more processors of a processing system executing software.
• the software includes one or more sets of executable instructions stored or otherwise tangibly embodied on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium.
• the software can include the instructions and certain data that, when executed by the one or more processors, manipulate the one or more processors to perform one or more aspects of the techniques described above.
• the non-transitory computer readable storage medium can include, for example, a magnetic or optical disk storage device, solid state storage devices such as Flash memory, a cache, random access memory (RAM) or other non-volatile memory device or devices, and the like.
• the executable instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable storage medium may be in source code, assembly language code, object code, or other instruction format that is interpreted or otherwise executable by one or more processors.

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