Varying display refresh rate

A system comprising one or more computers and one or more storage devices on which are stored instructions that are operable, when executed by the one or more computers, to cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:

• setting, by display driver circuitry at a first time, a signal provided by the display driver circuitry to a content generation device to a first value, to prompt the content generation device to send first visual content to the display driver circuitry;
• receiving, by the display driver circuitry, a first message from the content generation device;
• and
• changing, by the display driver circuitry at a second time, the signal from the first value to a second value in response to the display driver circuitry having received the message from the content generation device, the second value indicating that the display driver circuitry is not ready to receive visual content, the second time being a first duration after the first time;
• setting, by the display driver circuitry at a third time, the signal provided by the display driver circuitry to the content generation device to the first value, to prompt the content generation device to send second visual content to the display driver circuitry;
• receiving, by the display driver circuitry, a second message from the content generation device;
• and
• changing, by the display driver circuitry at a fourth time, the signal from the first value to the second value in response to the display driver circuitry having received the message from the content generation device, the fourth time being a second duration after the third time, wherein the second duration is different from the first duration.

A non-transitory computer storage medium encoded with instructions that, when executed by one or more computers, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:

• setting, by display driver circuitry at a first time, a signal provided by the display driver circuitry to a content generation device to a first value, to prompt the content generation device to send first visual content to the display driver circuitry;
• receiving, by the display driver circuitry, a first message from the content generation device;
• and
• changing, by the display driver circuitry at a second time, the signal from the first value to a second value in response to the display driver circuitry having received the message from the content generation device, the second value indicating that the display driver circuitry is not ready to receive visual content, the second time being a first duration after the first time;
• setting, by the display driver circuitry at a third time, the signal provided by the display driver circuitry to the content generation device to the first value, to prompt the content generation device to send second visual content to the display driver circuitry;
• receiving, by the display driver circuitry, a second message from the content generation device;
• and
• changing, by the display driver circuitry at a fourth time, the signal from the first value to the second value in response to the display driver circuitry having received the message from the content generation device, the fourth time being a second duration after the third time, wherein the second duration is different from the first duration.

A computer-implemented method for varying a refresh rate of an electronic display, comprising:

• setting, by display driver circuitry, a signal provided by the display driver circuitry to a content generation device to a first value, to prompt the content generation device to send visual content to the display driver circuitry;
• receiving, by the display driver circuitry after a first threshold duration of time has passed, a message from the content generation device;
• and
• changing, by the display driver circuitry, the signal from the first value to a second value in response to the display driver circuitry having received the message from the content generation device, the second value indicating that the display driver circuitry is not ready to receive visual content, wherein a time between the first threshold duration of time and a time of the signal changing from the first value to the second value comprises a time delay of a refresh cycle of the electronic display.

A computer-implemented method for varying a refresh rate of an electronic display, wherein emission pulses of the electronic display occur at predetermined time intervals of one millisecond or less, the method comprising:

• setting, by display driver circuitry, a signal provided by the display driver circuitry to a content generation device to a first value, to prompt the content generation device to send visual content to the display driver circuitry;
• receiving, by the display driver circuitry after a first threshold duration of time has passed and before a start of an emission pulse of the electronic display, a message from the content generation device, wherein the message includes the visual content;
• changing, by the display driver circuitry, the signal from the first value to a second value in response to the display driver circuitry having received the message from the content generation device, the second value indicating that the display driver circuitry is not ready to receive additional visual content;
• and
• presenting the visual content on the electronic display concurrently with the start of the emission pulse.