SelfRefresh

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  • IDT's power-saving Panel Self Refresh tech coming to laptops, Ultrabooks and tablets (video)

    by 
    Darren Murph
    Darren Murph
    09.14.2011

    We aren't talking Pixel Qi-style savings or anything, but then again, IDT's not asking you to ditch the conventional LCD your retinas refuse to step away from. The company's Panel Self Refresh technology just got a major shot in the arm here at IDF, with the introduction of the world's first Embedded DisplayPort (eDP) 1.3-compliant Timing Controller with integrated PSR technology. A lot of technobabble, sure, but here's the lowdown: with this stuff in the mix, most users will see upwards of 45 minutes of battery gain, as the panels don't require constant refreshing. Granted, power savings are only seen with static images on-screen, and you'll need a PSR-enabled graphics processor to take advantage. The good news, however, is that Intel seems to be into the idea of using this stuff to boost the overall battery life of Chipzilla-based machines, so it shouldn't be too long before it starts popping up in laptops and Ultrabooks. As to how the magic actually works? IDT's PSR technology "identifies a static image and stores it local to the TCON in an integrated frame buffer; then, it seamlessly displays the image from the local frame buffer allowing the eDP main link and a majority of the GPU functions to be powered-down, resulting in significant power savings." Have a look at the unveiling video just after the break. %Gallery-133738%